What is the cleanest place on Earth?

If you guessed a room where semiconductors are made, you’d probably be right.

A microchip factory has to be exceptionally clean to avoid introducing contamination into the chip-making process. In fact, the air in their “cleanrooms” is filtered to be vastly cleaner than that of a sterile hospital operating room.

Anything that sheds particles must be avoided in a microchip cleanroom. Contaminants include human hair, dead skin cells, makeup, bacteria, and even micro-dust from pencils or paper.

So semiconductor workers must wear head-to-toe “bunny suits,” protective glasses, booties, hoods, face masks, and two pairs of gloves. These suits may include self-contained HEPA filter packs, because even human breath contains contaminants.

Let’s assume that I arrived one morning at a microchip factory as a new employee.

Let’s say I told the supervisor that I’d cleaned myself diligently in the shower that morning, washed my hair twice, gargled with Listerine, scrubbed my hands with bleach, and put on brand-new clothes. I was certain that I was clean enough to enter the factory.

The supervisor would say, “Hold your horses, Lori. You still have to put on a protective covering before you can come into the cleanroom.”

I might argue, “But I’m already cleaner than 95% of other people. I don’t need a covering. Let me in!”

My boss would say, “I’m sorry, but you’re not as clean as you think you are. We have very high standards here. You have to suit up first.”

Isn’t that sort of what entering Heaven is like?

Heaven is the habitation of a perfectly holy God. Nothing contaminated by sin can enter His presence.

Many of us assume that we’ll go to Heaven when we die because, after all, we’re pretty good people. In fact, we’re probably better than 95% of other people. We haven’t murdered anyone, we’ve never robbed a bank, we don’t lie (much), and we help frail people across the street.

But we’d be fooling ourselves. We’re not actually as good as we think we are.

Scripture tells us in Mark 10:18 that no one is good except God alone.

Romans 3:23 says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

So how can we enter Heaven if we’re contaminated by sin?

We have to put on a covering first.

God loves us so much that he fixed the sin problem that was separating us from Him. His Son, Jesus, the only perfect person, died on the Cross, bearing the punishment for our sins. Scripture says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, but Jesus’ shed blood paid that price for us.

When we believe in Christ, His righteousness is imputed to us. That’s a fancy way of saying that we get to “borrow” Jesus’ perfect record. His sinlessness covers our sinfulness.

Romans 13:14 tells us to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The blood of Jesus acts as a covering, allowing us to enter into the presence of a holy and perfect God.

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” (Romans 4:7)

Do you want to enter a microchip factory’s cleanroom? Follow their rules and suit up properly.

Do you want to go to Heaven? Follow the procedure God laid out: believe in His Son and accept His covering for your sins!

“Wash me clean of my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.”

psalm 51:2

© 2024 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.