Redemptive scars...

 In early April 2006 Amy Hawkins was home with her two young sons in Hendersonville, TN.  A F3  tornado tore through their neighborhood and hit her house. She had gone to the basement  and was covering her two sons with her body. The tornado tore her house apart and broke apart the blocks of the basement. She suffered a punctured lung and a broken back. Amy Hawkins is paralyzed and scarred for life, but she saved the lives of her two young sons.

Amy’s family and community rightly considers her a hero.

The hard truth is that in this life everyone gets scarred. Moments after your birth, someone tied and cut your umbilical cord. When that little stub attached to your belly fell off, you were left with a scar.

The funny thing about scars is that identical injuries can be either marks of shame or a badge of honor, it all depends on how you gained the scar. Amy Hawkins scars mark her as a hero, but someone who obtained those same injuries from some careless or irresponsible act (such as drunk driving) would be seen in a far less favorable light.

I notice in the Bible that God is in the habit of leaving his mark on his people.
*Jacob wrestled with the angel of God and suffered a hip injury that left him limping for the rest of his life.
*The Jews, as a mark of God's covenant, were given the rite of circumcision.
*The New Testament tells us that Christians have a "circumcision of the heart".
*And yet future, in the book of Revelation, we find that there are 144,000 of the Jewish people who carry the seal of God in their foreheads.

Now lets look at Jesus.

The wounds Jesus received during his trial and crucifixion were generally considered wounds of shame. His was the death of a common criminal, but because he died for others his marks of shame became marks of glory…
Jesus returned to heaven different than when he left…

Throughout the Bible we see glimpses into the heavens. The description we always read is that of a gloriously perfect place. When we get to Revelation chapter five, however, we see that heaven's greatest glory, is a glorious imperfection.We see the rising of The Lamb that was slain. The wounds make him worthy to open the book and to act as judge.  When the scarred, wounded, resurrected Lamb rises to his feet, the deafening worship of an unimaginable multitude ensues. He stands, not in the glory of perfect beauty, but as a gloriously scarred redeemer.

I don't know what kind of scars you may carry. Perhaps they are emotional. Perhaps they are physical. Hopefully they are redemptive. Maybe you were scarred fighting for your country. Possibly you bear scars that were forced upon you through no fault of your own. Maybe you bear the scars of a past foolishness.

I have no idea what your scars are, but I can tell you there are scars about which you can brag. Those would be the scars of Jesus. He suffered shame, humiliation and death to save your soul from an eternity without God. The Apostle Paul said, "But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…"

If you don't know him today as your Savior, may I please urge you to take that step toward him? He loves you so much he was willing to die in your place. You can trust him with your life.

May God's face shine upon you today!