Day 3: The Gift…New Clothes
Read: Revelation 3:5, Revelation 4:1-6a
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit it. I love a new outfit! I love the hunt (shopping), the find, and mostly, wearing it. Sorry guys, this one might be better suited (no pun intended) for the female audience, but perhaps you can still appreciate the feeling that putting on new clothes brings.
Remember the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, this change of clothes happens “in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye.” The trumpet blast and the new apparel all occur simultaneously! In flight.
Our need for pure and clean raiment goes all the way back to the garden (Genesis 3). What is it Adam and Eve immediately do after sinning against the Lord? That’s right, they grab a fig leaf to try and clothe themselves. They could no more cover up their sin than we can. Notice that a blameless sacrifice was needed to rightly clothe them. Yes, there is a complete lesson in and of itself here, but I will move on.
Romans 13:14 says, “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV). The moment we give our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ and accept the ultimate gift of salvation, we are clothed in Jesus and at the moment the trumpet blasts from heaven, our faith becomes sight and we will be rightly dressed for the occasion to come. Actually we will be righteously dressed. There simply are not adequate words for the enormous cost of this new outfit!
“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Challenge: Have you accepted the Lord’s gift of salvation or are you still trying to fig-leaf your way through life?
Prayer: Oh Lord, thank you for your gift of salvation and the adornment of Your righteousness. A perfect fit!