New clothes

I have been searching the Bible lately on the subject "clothes". Clothes are a symbol for our identity and who we are. It is not just for looks but it carries a much deeper meaning, when the Bible talks about clothes and what we are wearing, so to speak. Of course it is a metaphor for deep, spiritual realities.

I have heard that anything that is very important and foundational about human life and God you can find in the first three chapters of Genesis. If it is not found there, it is probably not that important. Well, I had a look for "clothes" in the first chapters of Genesis and I was struck by what I found in Gen 3:7.

Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together and made coverings (aprons) for themselves.

We have all seen cute paintings of Adam and Eve dressed in their fig costumes like fashionable bikinis but once I read that the actual word for those clothes were "aprons" it all made sense! When do we wear aprons? When we are working! This is all about our own striving! We try to cover ourselves by good works, achievements, titles etc etc. This is universal! This is a profound truth about mankind and our fallen state.

God on the other hand has a better option. He sees that our coverings that we try to make for ourselves are sort of ridiculous.

Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin /long coats (tunics) for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

"Garments of skin" implies that he had to kill an animal to create these garments - the first sacrifice for our sin - which points forward to the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ that was already planned at this point! This is the kind of clothes that God has for us! We get to put on the righteousness of Jesus like a splendid coat that covers us from top to toe. It is not about us anymore and what we can or cannot achieve. It is about who we are in Him. This coat is a beautiful, shining, splendid, pure, royal garment, the garment of salvation. It is the "best robe" that the prodigal son received from his father when he returned home battered and bruised from his long, dishonoring journey (Lk 15:22).

As I realized this, all of a sudden this verse in Deut 29:5 made sense:

"I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out upon you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet."

I have always marveled over this verse and I am sure God does supernatural things like that but now the significance of these clothes that never wore out made sense - it is a picture of the righteousness of Christ!