Righteousness can be defined as being in “right standing with God.” Jesus came to earth, living a perfect & blameless life before choosing to go to the cross, doing what we could never do and becoming the payment for OUR sins. Jesus Himself is the righteousness of God, and yet this verse reveals that Jesus has made a way for that same description to be assigned to us. Us — the sinners, the lost, the hurting, the hopeless. Us — who even on our best days, bring God deeds that are like filthy rags compared to Him. And yet, Isaiah 64:8-9 reveals something very important: “And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever.”
He is our Perfect Father and because of Jesus, we now get to live in the reality that God has forgiven our sins when we trust in Jesus for our salvation! He hasn’t just looked over our sin for the time being to bring it up later, but He has actually chosen to forget all of it…to separate it so far from us that we can now become righteous before God! He has removed our sin so far from us that we are no longer slaves to sin but can become alive in Christ!
God, we praise you today for sending your son Jesus to pay the penalty for sin on our behalf. We acknowledge that His perfect life and sacrifice were enough to cover all of our sin. It’s hard to understand that level of unconditional grace and love, but we receive it from You wholly today. Help us to see more of who You are and how You lavish us with abundant grace each and every day!