A beautiful white wintery day! It was a change of plans to stay at home, but a blessing nonetheless. Thank You, Father, for the wonderful blessing of Your creation!

Romans 8:1-4 (<<click here to read the passage)

Our home was built in 1973. The attic insulation is not the more traditional pink fiberglass type, but it looks like shredded newspaper – something that was blown in. For quite a while we’ve had an issue, especially on windy days, with it coming down into our pantry. There were no gaping holes or anything, but somehow it was still getting in.

A week or so ago Karen was, once again, cleaning the insulation out and I had an idea. I got up on the step stool while the top shelves were cleared and could see a narrow space between the wall and the ceiling – just enough for the small particles of insulation to fall through. I jimmy-rig fixed it with duct tape! I covered that narrow space and then covered an open stud portion of it with cardboard and got it into place with duct tape as well! It isn’t pretty but you don’t see it. It has done the trick, though. We had some windy days last week and not a piece of insulation has been found.

One of my struggles while working on the project was that the insulation above my head kept falling in my face. I had to shimmy my arms and shoulders into the cavity, so getting out while holding my breath wasn’t easy! Fifty-year-old insulation full of dust and possible mouse residue requires immediate disassociation!

The thing is there were some pieces that didn’t want to come off so readily. In the end, I had to go outside and take my sweatshirt off and give it a good shake.

Paul clearly tells us that the law pointed out our sin, but it was powerless to overcome it. The only solution to the problem was for God to send his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. v3b NIV

I have an overall concept of what a sin offering is but wanted to narrow it down. On R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier website, I found an article entitled, The Sin Offering, that gave me excellent insight.

Sin is not an abstract concept but rather pollutes everything it touches. I was able to brush off some of the insolation but there was some I couldn’t see and now that I think of it more than likely minute deposits of who-knows-what are probably still on that sweatshirt! Everything that insulation touched became polluted.

In the Old Testament the only way to take care of that “pollution” – that sin – was a sin offering, but what the sin offering actually accomplished is better seen in the words purification offering. The sin offering purified the sanctuary; it removed the defilement of sin that occurred when the people broke the covenant. (emphasis mine)

Anything that that “pollution” came in contact with became unclean – the people, obviously, but also the tabernacle itself. So, the sin offering took care of the individual’s sin and, interestingly enough it also dealt with their unintentional sins and sins of omission as well.

Where an animal was required according to Jewish law, Jesus has now taken care of it once and for all. No more sacrifices. No more blood needs to be spilled. He gave of himself and now we can be forgiven. Where sin had polluted us, we are now purified.

Can I get an “amen”?!

Jan 22nd, 2023, Sun, 2:18 pm