Sometimes, I think we underestimate the comprehensive change that comes through the power of the gospel. We forget that we have been brought from death to life, from darkness to light, from guilt to forgiveness. I was reminded of this recently while reading C.S. Lewis’s thoughts on the Transfiguration of the Lord in Mark 9.
Peter, James, and John were the only three witnesses to Jesus’s conversation with Moses and Elijah. They saw the brightness of his glory first-hand. In Mark’s account of the story written years later, Lewis noted that “this shining or whiteness affected his clothes as much as his body. Mark indeed mentions the clothes more explicitly than the face, and adds, with his inimitable naiveté, that ‘no laundry could do anything like it.'”1
This same whiteness characterizes Jesus’s appearance at the beginning of the book of Revelation, and it gives me hope for my own future. One day, I will stand before God, complete in him, unstained by sin, and removed from sin’s presence for all eternity. This is the power of the gospel, the mystery of God’s lavish laundry.
The Scandal of Grace’s Laundry
Doing laundry for a posse of four sons often felt more like a chemistry experiment than a household chore. Scrubbing, spraying, treating, pre-washing, and re-washing were all part of the formula, and sometimes the result was great–other times, not so much.
Unlike my laundry experiments, God’s cleansing work in the believer’s life is always a sure thing! No matter what the stain may be, there’s grace for it.
God’s cleansing work in the believer’s life is always a sure thing! No matter what the stain may be, there’s grace for it.
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Poet Luci Shaw also raised a houseful of children, and I wonder if that’s behind this vivid laundry metaphor:
Now as we yield ourselves to be washed in grace’s laundry,
the scandal of undeserved mercy acts on us
as God’s unlikely bleach.”2
We are acted upon just as surely as the stained T-shirts and muddy jeans in my “chemistry experiments,” and this becomes clear in the way scripture talks about our experience of grace:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”
(Colossians 1:13)
God is taking the active role in our salvation, and he carries us from darkness into light, from the kingdom of this world into his own kingdom of beauty, goodness, and truth.
When the method of conveyance is flawless, we can be sure of our destination!
This is good news for every believer because we know we can’t sin ourselves outside of his love. How does this impact your sense of the security of your position in Christ?
This is good news for anyone who’s praying for a prodigal or trusting God for the salvation of someone dear. God can work on their hearts and orchestrate events in their lives to bring about their “transfer” into his kingdom.
Lord,
We are certain that “no laundry could do anything like it!” We thank you for the “unlikely bleach” of your mercy, undeserved and yet poured out with abandon because of the cross. Give us courage to serve you, secure because you have carried us into your kingdom.
Amen
God takes the active role in our salvation. He carries us from darkness to light, from the kingdom of this world to his own kingdom of beauty, goodness and truth. The method of conveyance is flawless. We can be sure of our destination!
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Holding You in the Light,
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This seven-day devotional plan affirms that perseverance is so much more than simply hanging on. Those who follow Jesus Christ are familiar with the dogged patience of waiting, because we have read the words of Scripture about eternal rewards for those who endure. So we persevere—sometimes just because God has commanded us to. When the newness wears off, when we don’t feel like it, when everything just feels too hard, we press on, and we press in to Christ. He is the prize.
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Living Our Days 
Great analogy! Good thing He doesn’t give up and throw us out like when the stains didn’t want to come out.
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