Guilt Free

I was reading in Isaiah 6. At the time that God called Isaiah into ministry, Isaiah says "I saw the Lord...." He goes on to explain what all he saw, and in it all, he was overwhelmed by the HOLINESS of God. In fact, he was so overwhelmed by God's holiness that he immediately felt exposed in his impurity saying, "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips....'"

Just then a seraph (possibly an angel-like being) touched his lips with a hot coal saying, "'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.'"

After that, the Lord says He needs someone, and Isaiah responds, "'Here am I. Send me!'" No feelings of shame for the impurity that existed in him before God cleansed him. And no sense of inadequacy for being used by God. I think he just knew he was clean and ready to go where God wanted to lead him.

What I'm most moved by is the idea of the hot coal. As believers today, we have Christ's atonement for our sin, and we have been purified through His death and resurrection. I see the coal as being the equivalent of Jesus' blood dripping down the cross. He calls us to drink His blood (i.e., wine as a symbol of His blood), which touches our lips and infiltrates our entire body, symbolizing the same cleansing of our entire being just as the coal cleansed Isaiah's unclean lips.

If we have accepted the atonement, we are guilt free! And we can stand purified, and move in freedom, and be ready for Him...whatever He has for us.