There is a great contrast between the thoroughness with which God does a job and what men try to do. This is particularly true with the matter of the forgiveness of sins. People may try their best, but they always come sort and leave a mess. It's kind of like the true story you might have read out of Oregon a few years back.
It seems that Florence, Oregon, had a big, stinking problem. A dead sperm whale had floated in on high tide and it was left to rot on their beach. Now dead rotting whales are not the most aesthetic backdrop to a nice stroll on the beach, or swim on the surf.. Tourism was at stake. Something needed to be done and time was of the essence.
Since Oregon does not have a whale removal department, the task was turned over to the local division of the highway department to get rid of the stinking carcass. But how do you remove 8 tons of stinking whale? They thought of burying it but they were afraid that the tide would uncover it and they would have to do the job over…. probably a worse mess than the original one. Perhaps they could cause it to disintegrate enough so the Sea Gulls and other carrion birds would consume what was left. Surely enough dynamite, rightly placed would do the trick. How about twenty cases, a half ton of the stuff? The theory was that that much would vaporize most of the critter and what was left would soon be consumed by the birds and crabs.
It seems that Florence, Oregon, had a big, stinking problem. A dead sperm whale had floated in on high tide and it was left to rot on their beach. Now dead rotting whales are not the most aesthetic backdrop to a nice stroll on the beach, or swim on the surf.. Tourism was at stake. Something needed to be done and time was of the essence.
Since Oregon does not have a whale removal department, the task was turned over to the local division of the highway department to get rid of the stinking carcass. But how do you remove 8 tons of stinking whale? They thought of burying it but they were afraid that the tide would uncover it and they would have to do the job over…. probably a worse mess than the original one. Perhaps they could cause it to disintegrate enough so the Sea Gulls and other carrion birds would consume what was left. Surely enough dynamite, rightly placed would do the trick. How about twenty cases, a half ton of the stuff? The theory was that that much would vaporize most of the critter and what was left would soon be consumed by the birds and crabs.
When word got around, a large, curious crowd gathered to watch the exciting event. The men carefully packed the explosives under the beast. They made a special effort to pack the landward side, so the pieces might be blown into the ocean. The crowd was ushered back a full quarter of a mile. The plunger went down. The blubber wen up. The crowd looked up as the blubber came down...huge chunks of the stinking stuff that sent the crowd scurrying for cover. One car parked a quarter of a mile from ground zero had its roof crushed by a whale of a big hunk of blubber. As he watched the highway men remove the meat, the owner was heard to say, “My insurance company will never believe this.” The plan did two things. It distributed the stench over a much wider area and scared all the carrion birds away.
This reminds me of man’s efforts to get rid of the guilt of his sin. If only I can pack the carcass of my sinful life with enough good works and religious deeds I can get rid of my guilt. Trouble is it doesn’t work. For “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” (Isaiah 64:6). “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20). Better to go God’s way. “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea.” (Micah 7:19) This God can and will do because Jesus finished all that was necessary to pay the price of our redemption. He cried, “It is finished.” Isaiah 53:11 tells us that God was satisfied with what His suffering servant did. We may rest in that satisfaction.
