Clothed by God by Jenn Fromke

I like clothes. It’s good to be covered, if you know what I mean. But some days I can’t decide what to wear . . . Adam and Eve had a day like that once.

They realized they didn’t have a thing to wear, so they looked in their closet, which happened to be the most beautiful garden ever created, and “they sewed leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7) I don’t know what kind of fig leaves they were, but I’m pretty sure that even leaves from the Garden of Eden would not wash well.

A few verses later, we read, “And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21) Man sinned, covering himself with shame. God looked at him and covered him with clothes made from an animal—requiring a sacrifice.

Why did God do it that way? He easily could have invented polyester right on the spot, I’m sure. He also could have given them a spinning wheel and pointed them toward a field of cotton. But God never wastes a situation. I think He required a sacrifice to cover their shame in order to foreshadow what Christ would ultimately do to cover our shame for all time.

So people lived for hundreds of years, all wearing the smear of sin on them. Isaiah 64:6 says, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment . . .” No matter how hard we may try on our own to be good, act good, or at least look good, everything we try ends up looking like cruddy clothes to God.

So what did He do? Destroy all of his creation? No. He made a different way. Isaiah 61:10 says, “. . . He [God] has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness . . .” What an incredible picture of love! He covers our filthy rags with a robe of righteousness. Think of a judge’s robe – it covers everything underneath. The only thing visible to God, when we are covered by His garments, is righteousness—and that righteousness is from God. (Romans 3:21)

This is how Jesus’ blood covers our sin. He covers us with His righteousness. It’s a transfer of His righteousness to us. It’s not that we become righteous all by ourselves when we get forgiven. We are transformed by the blood of Jesus when we accept His sacrifice as payment for our sins.

If you still don’t believe God is concerned about how we are clothed, Revelation 7:9-14 will convince you. This passage speaks about the multitude in heaven at the end of time, all standing before the throne of God, wearing white robes . . . and then we get a laundry tip from God. Those people “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)

Notice it says, “the Lamb.” (emphasis mine). Any old lamb’s blood will ruin your clothes. Anything you try on your own will give you filthy rags to wear. If you want a white robe of righteousness, it can only come from God and be made white by the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

I thought surely this would be the end of God’s wash and wear program. But He actually takes us a step further. Galatians 3:26-28 says, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

What do our new clothes look like? Christ! We clothe ourselves with Christ. What happens when everybody wears the same thing? I thought immediately of the military. Their uniforms show for which side they stand; for which side they fight. If we as believers all clothe ourselves in Christ, then the world around us will see that we stand for the same God and fight against the same enemy.

Next time I find myself staring into my closet wondering what to wear, I will consider the clothes offered me by my heavenly Father, and I’ll listen to the words He spoke to me about this singular problem:

Matthew 6:25-30 (exerpts)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? . . . Why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”