SCARS - From Purple to Gleaming White (PT II)

I am human but I am unique.
First of all, part of being human is that we all carry in our bodies the unique markings of a lifetime. Our hurts linger and our wounds have lasting effects on our lives. They change us and shape who we are forever. They don’t completely go away, because even our booboos and sorrows are a part of what makes us, us. Jesus also was a man acquainted with sorrow. When he became a man, he took upon himself all the sorrows of humanity. He understands them fully and is able to fully bear our burdens if we let him.

I am forgiven but I have gained wisdom and strength.
God forgives, the wounds are cleansed, and the flesh grows back--but there will always be a mark. A shiny line where once the red blood flowed through. Now it is cleansed and sanctified, but it will never disappear because it is meant to be remembered, in the right light. Each life is sacred. Even the mistakes and foolishness of youth should be faintly remembered. God wants us never to forget who we are, without him. We are still desperately in need of his healing.

Interestingly, it is a medical fact that scar tissue is always stronger than the original flesh. Did our Creator intend a lesson here? Yes, our bodies and every wondrous thing about them reflect his character just as much as the skies provide the panoramic scroll to display his handiwork, as the Psalmist recorded. He could easily have made it so that there were no scars, or so that scar cells grow back weaker than the former tissues. But no, we are stronger when we come through a battle.

I am forever loved but I need to be continually conformed.
And just as my friend’s son could see only enhanced beauty on the face of his girlfriend, God sees only the purified and redeemed when he looks at his children. He sees us through the blood line of Jesus whose own blood ran freely from the cross on our behalf.

Even though I have complete forgiveness and cleansing from my past, I need to be continually conformed more and more into his likeness. That work isn’t finished until we see him as he is. When I finally lay aside this body of flesh and enter into his presence I shall become like him. In the twinkling of an eye I shall take on immortality at last!

Until that time, I need to be continually applying truth to my wounds, bathing in his healing forgiveness and growing in wisdom. Scars fade in time, but may they enhance my true beauty. As they lighten from deep red and purple to gleaming white, may I be purified more and more. May my scars and all my battles in life increase my beauty in the eyes of the One who loves me as I emerge more radiant, more beautiful, and more aware of his grace.

God forgets forgiven sin but he never forgets who we are.
God forgets sin but he remembers every sacred life and he notices every detail. Our names are listed in the book of life, right? A celestial record includes the identities of all generations in all the nations that ever lived and believed. Heaven alone could keep such a book and God alone could commission such a task to angels. They are watching us too remember. All our days are numbered and even the hair on our heads is counted by He who hung the stars upon nothing! It seems overwhelming that such a log could exist, or that such details would even concern the God of the universe.

Not only so, all our deeds are recorded in heavenly records forever. Our works follow us all the way through Judgment Day when the final court proceedings will declare it to be holy or profane. Why should we ever think that our lives are meaningless? Think about it! Members of the heavenly kingdom are taking notes! Unlike Vegas, what happens here doesn’t stay here.

Even in glory the scars will remain. Our heavenly bodies will still somehow carry enough of the markings of this life that we will be recognizable to one another. Nowhere in Scripture is there evidence to support the notion that we lose our identity and become boring angelic blobs. God is very much into personality, uniqueness, and individual character. Milennia of historic writings bear this out fully. We will be who we are forever! We will know each other even though we will be clothed in new skin and wrapped in eternal bodies. Oh, the blind will see and the deaf will hear, the lame will walk and there will be no more sickness, BUT we will look like ourselves, I believe, complete with our shining, healed, and sanctified scars. They will only enhance the beauty of our new redeemed bodies, reminding us of God's grace forever.

Jesus himself, in his resurrected body, appeared to the disciples in that locked room after the resurrection, held out his hands to Thomas and said, “Put your finger in the hole and thrust your hand into my side and see that it is I.” Yes, even His resurrected body still shows the scars. There will be an eternal remembrance of the extent of his forever love. Some things should never be forgotten.