Choosing the Right Clothes

Tootling around online this morning while drinking coffee and trying to wake up, I noticed that certain cretins out in the anonymous world of www. were #momshaming Tori Spelling for the way her kids look.  Girl had posted an Instagram pic of them on their first day of school - - a rite literally thousands of other moms did over the past few weeks.  These are beautiful children, wearing school clothes, and yet the buzzards of www. began to pick Tori apart.....

We are pretty much obsessed with clothes and physical appearance, aren't we?  While admitting we can certainly go overboard with that, clothes do say a lot about a person.  I've heard it said that, in the job world, you ought to dress for the next position you desire.  So, for example, if you are a mid-level manager, you should dress like a manager, in anticipation of that promotion coming to pass.  

Let's take a look at the role clothing plays in the life of God's children.  Our text for today is Genesis 3:21. 

The LORD God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

Nakedness, even from the beginning, symbolized incompleteness.  

Who first clothed mankind in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve did (Genesis 3:7), when they fashioned (pardon the pun) fig leaves together in a misguided attempt to hide their nakedness.  The first "successful" clothing of mankind, however, was done by God Himself, when He killed an animal, skinned it and made clothes for Adam and Eve to wear.   This is the first animal killing seen in Scripture, and blood was shed for the express purpose of atoning for (covering) man's nakedness, symbolic of his newly sinful, fallen state of being.  The animal's sacrifice was vicarious, a big theological word meaning "substitutionary".  Thus, the first animal slain was a sacrifice, was the launching point for the Old Testament sacrificial system and prefigured that once-for-all sacrifice which would take place millennia in the future, the everlasting, all-justifying, totally-redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Now, let's skip forward through the centuries to look more deeply at how God clothes His own.

Paul uses the analogy of clothes often to describe the Christian life, or what I call "the resplendent walk".  He uses this analogy briefly in 2 Cor. 5, but I want to also show you other places he talks about "being dressed right". Before we do that, though, look at what Isaiah said in 61:10 ---

I greatly rejoice in the LORD, I exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (HCSB)

This is an interesting verse.  Some theologians want to distinguish between these two "spiritual garments" - - - the garment of salvation being one, the robe of righteousness being another.  It is an interesting distinction.  The theological point made is that God gives us salvation through Jesus Christ, and this is symbolized by the salvation garment.  But, the robe of righteousness is an additional piece that He dresses us in.
Now, to Paul:

26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:26-27 (NET)

Paul emphasizes here, as he does elsewhere, that salvation comes by faith, not by good works.  By accepting Christ, through faith, we become sons of God.  This act has "clothed us with Christ". Beyond that transformational decision, we are also commanded by Paul to adorn ourselves with the characteristics of Jesus, to imitate Him in our daily lives.  This does not secure our salvation; it is a manifestation of what has already been done in our hearts.  In this way, we "reflect" Christ. 

14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.  

Romans 13:14 (NET)

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

Colossians 3:12 (NET)

So, our righteousness comes from God the Father, through Christ the Son.  That is indisputable. However, we are responsible for making spiritually healthy choices as we live the Christian life.  This is how we "clothe ourselves".  It is a conscious act on our part, analogous to "taking up one's cross daily and following Jesus" (Matt. 16:24).  Now, look at the following passage:

6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him.10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.

2 Cor. 5:6-10 (NET)

Notice the phrase "make it our ambition to please Him". This is the conscious act of "putting on Christ" daily.  Paul goes on to say that we will have to give an account of all that the Lord Jesus has blessed us with in this life, in this body.  Our salvation is secure.  Our eternal destiny is fixed.  "There is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).  But, and I've blogged about this in previous posts - - - I'll try to find which one and post it under "Sources:" - - - all of us Believers will be given rewards at this "judgment" seat...or not.  Some of us may stand there nearly naked, clothed only in our salvation garment!  About 3 years ago, in our study of 1 Corinthians, we examined 1 Cor. 3:12-13 and saw that our actions after salvation will be tested by fire, and that some of them will be "burned up" like wood or hay or kindling.  Not cool!

Well, I want to be dressed right on that great judgment day, clad not only in my salvation garment, but also adorned with the beautiful jewelry of Christ-likeness.  I'm dressing for the next position I desire!

Good morning, Father.  Thank you for securing my salvation and clothing me in salvation.  I also realize that my righteousness comes from Your Holy Spirit living within me, bestowed on me through Your mercy.  In light of that truth, and because of how grateful I am for it, I choose to imitate my Savior.  Well, at least I try to most of the time, because I want to please You.  I confess I'm nowhere near 100% in that effort.  Help me be more like Him as I look more like Him.  In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Sources:

Resplendent Daughter blog: Honor's Day
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=967525413435341031#editor/target=post;postID=1129579313904961451;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=44;src=postname

Matthew Harmon's post at jesus.org:
http://www.jesus.org/following-jesus/discipleship/what-does-it-mean-to-be-clothed-in-christ.html

Covered or Gone?

It's funny, the things we remember, isn't it?

I have a younger brother, three years younger.  One of our favorite things to do as children was to jump on the bed, trampoline-style.  It's a wonder we did not break an arm or leg.  The light fixtures were not so fortunate, I will add....
At any rate, one day when he was about 3 years old, he was jumping on the bed in my room.  I took the opportunity to tattle to my father about it.  (Brother knew I was running to rat him out.)  When Daddy and I returned to "the scene of the crime", we could not see my brother, although there was a suspicious lump under the bed covers.  Brent, my brother, thought that since he had covered himself, he was "gone".  In fact, when my father winked at me and called, "Brent....Brent, where are you?", Brent replied, "Brent gone!"

 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^b she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool^c of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.9But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^d 10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Genesis 3:6-11 (ESV)

In both these scenarios the response to a transgression was to hide it.  This is the direct result of sin's deleterious effect: not only does a sin or the general sin condition separate us from a holy God, the situation is usually compounded by our running/hiding from Him.

In both these scenarios the covering was insufficient to take care of the sin.  My earthly father laughingly revealed my brother and dealt with his comparatively minor transgression.  My Heavenly Father dealt with Adam and Eve's transgression as well.  I now want to skip over some verses here and focus on Genesis 3:21 (ESV) - -

21And the LORDGod made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

This act of God involved Him killing animals and making for Adam and Eve clothing from the animals' skins.  Blood from the animals was spilled in order to cover them.  The lives of the animals were required in order to do this.  This is the first Bible mention of blood being shed to address sins.

The word "atonement" means "to cover".  It is a word used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the sacrificial system instituted by God for the covering of mankind's sins.  In the book of Leviticus alone the word appears 40 times.  However, it never appears in the New Testament in connection with the finished work of Jesus Christ.1

Interestingly, the first time the actual word "atone" appears in the Bible is in connection with the building of Noah's ark.2  In Genesis 6:14, Noah was instructed by God to cover the inside and outside of the wood structure with "a covering".  The word translated "pitch", actually means "to atone", or "to cover".  The pitch on the ark protected the structure by covering the wood, so that the waters of judgment could not seep in or overwhelm, during the months-long journey to safety. Similarly, the Old Testament animal sacrifices protected sinners from the wrath of holy God.  The sins were not removed; they were covered.  Best example in Scripture of this is Psalm 32:1-2, where David exclaimed:

  1Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

The finished work of Jesus Christ, to whom the Old Testament sacrifices pointed, is radically different.  His spilled blood does not merely COVER sin; it goes beyond to obliterate the sins as if they had never been committed.  Once again, as foreshadowed in Genesis 3:21, God spilled blood to address sin.  This time, however....by spilling the blood of His Son, this once-for-all time, He dealt sin a death blow.  He provided complete eradication, complete justification to the sinner who, by faith, accepts Jesus' perfect sacrifice.  My pastor explains the meaning of "justification" as "just as if I had never sinned".  So beautiful!

You see...atonement was temporary, fleeting and (ultimately) ineffective at reconciling man to God.  Although it was God's idea, atonement was something man did to approach God, an act to temporarily appease God's anger at sin.  It was "as good as it gets" for that epoch of time.  But, in the end and even back then in the OT, it was still faith that reconciled men and women to God.  Even then (see Hebrews 11), it was impossible to please God through any other method than by faith.

God gave His first hint of the true gospel of Messiah Jesus Christ in Genesis 3:15, a verse commonly referred to as "the protoevangelium"3, or "the first gospel".

15I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring^e and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

This is no mere "covering" described here.  A more accurate rendering of "bruise" in "he shall bruise your head" is a decisive crushing.  The perfectly-delivered work of Jesus Christ has decisively crushed the rule of sin and satan forever.  The eternal, spiritual death that is the legacy of unrepentant, uncured sin no longer is merely "covered" from God's anger.  Through Christ, that sin is GONE.

The verbiage used in the New Testament is radically different from the Old in this regard.  Atonement is nowhere near propitiation, a word used in the New Testament to describe the final appeasement of God's anger over our sin, appeasement provided through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. The New speaks of Christ's eternal sacrifice - - the emphasis is on its completeness and permanence.  Read through the book of Hebrews, for instance, and you will see this language used throughout.  I love Hebrews 10:1-18, where the writer states that the Old Testament sacrificial system was a "shadow" of the perfect work of Messiah, which was, under the pre-Christ system of animal sacrifices, a future promise, still to come.  Read it and rejoice in your salvation, Christian!

1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me;

6with burnt offerings and sin offerings

you were not pleased.

7Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—

I have come to do your will, my God.’ ”^a

8First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16“This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”^b

17Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”^c

18And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Hebrews 10:1-18 (NIV)

Hallelujah!  All praise to the Ever-Loving One, who immediately provided a remedy for man's sin condition in Genesis, Who did not leave man to languish in separation from Him.  He is The WayMaker!  And, then, through Jesus Christ His Son, He provided a perfect, eternal path to Him!  Behold, how GOOD God is!


Notes and Sources:

1    Some would argue Romans 3:25 uses "atonement", but other translations use "propitiation". When you view the original Greek, "hilasterion"{"propitiation"}, is the more accurate rendering. There are a handful of other NT scriptures where the authors quote the OT uses of atonement to prove the insufficiency of that man-initiated act.  Examples: Romans 4:7, 1 Peter 4:8, James 5:20.

2    http://www.judev3.co.uk/1SinsCoveredOrGone.htm

3    https://www.gotquestions.org/protoevangelium.html