"But I saw not sin: for I believe it hath no manner of substance nor no part of being, nor could it be known but by the pain it is cause of."
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 27)
God is good and everything that God made, including humanity, is good. That is what is real: God is real, the good creation is real, the good humanity is real. But sin doesn't have any substance or being. In that sense, it is not even real. It is the absence of something - the absence of good. It is like darkness, which is the absence of light; when you turn on the light, the darkness is gone because it wasn't a real 'thing' at all, just the absence of something. God is real, God is good, we are real, we are good. God has substance and we are made of His good substance. His real substantial goodness is in everything, is in us. He is being itself, and our being is in His being. But sin has no being. It has no substance. It is a nothing! When God looks at us, He doesn't see sin; He just sees what is real and substantial - He sees our goodness, our beingness, in Him! So sin is not some evil entity attacking us, and sin is not some 'thing' that changes our essential goodness or makes us different from what we were created as. We always are God's good creation. Our substance is always of God and therefore good. So God doesn't see us as evil sinners but as good little children who get confused about who they really are, the good creations of a good God. Whenever we do wrong acts, we are acting out of an illusion, a false idea of ourselves, acting as who we are not instead of who we truly are. Whatever wrong thing we do in ignorance or under delusion or pain or fear, God only sees the good He is doing at all times, in spite of and even through that wrong. God does not see sin. God only sees what is of real substance. God only sees good. God only sees good in us. God only does good in us!
"God saw all that He had made, and it was very good."
Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
A Prayer: Thank You that for seeing the goodness in me even when I can't see it!