Sermon Snippet –Let It Snow? Let It Snow!
INTRODUCTION – Most of you know that I am not a particular fan of snow. Of course, I accept it as part of life in Maine. More importantly, snow is presented to us in positive ways in Scripture.
1. SNOW IS USED AS AN EXAMPLE OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
Job 37:5-6a teaches, “God thundereth marvellously with His voice; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend. For He saith to the snow, ‘Be thou on the earth.’” God is in control, down to the last delicate snowflake. Isaiah 55:10-11 speaks of the authoritative power of God’s Word in individual lives. Just as “the snow from heaven“ has the efficacious effect of bringing “forth” needed crops, so the Bible “shall prosper in the thing whereto [God] sent it.” People will hear (or read) and be saved.
2. SNOW IS A UNIQUE EXPRESSION OF GOD’S CREATIVITY
Psalm 148 is a song of exultation. It mentions numerous disparate parts of God’s creation, including “snow” (verse 8) and the “stormy wind fulfilling His Word” (also verse 8). Even the snow, which could be viewed as monotonously colorless, expresses the eternal creativity of God.
3. SNOW IS A PICTURE OF GOD’S REFRESHING
Proverbs 25:13 wisely states, “As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him, for he refresheth the soul of his masters.” This is a word picture of the necessity of cold mountain water, derived from melting snow, upon the arid agriculture of Israel. Similarly, God provides refreshment for us, including through others who are especially impactful in our lives. May He use each one of us to bring vitality into the lives of others.
4. SNOW IS A SYMBOL OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS
Isaiah 1:18a-b is a well-known verse: “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ saith the LORD: ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’” Changing something from white to scarlet is easy; transforming something from scarlet to white is hard. God’s miracle of free, full, and forever forgiveness is available to all and cleans all of our sins, as David personally testified: “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7b).
5. SNOW IS A DESCRIPTION OF GOD’S PURITY
God as Judge is described in Daniel 7:9 as wearing clothes “white as snow.” At the Transfiguration, God the Son, Jesus Christ, is similarly depicted: “His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mark 9:3). “His head and His hairs [are] white like wool, as white as snow” (Revelation 1:14a) in heaven. This purity is absolute.
CONCLUSION – To be snowed in by Jesus is as good as it gets.