Clothing Us

I had a difficult conversation with someone last night who is struggling incredibly with their identity in Christ. Struggling with recognizing God as caring, as faithful, as protective. And then, as His providence would have it, I found myself reading at the front end of Genesis the account of the fall, fall of mankind that is. Often reading through these passages I would be struck by the serpent's deception, by Adam's finger-pointing or by the grief that must have come upon these two as they no longer were able to enjoy God's walking in their midst.

But today something else stood out to me. God, in the midst of being offended against, of being disregarded and ignored, of having two people want to have their own share of god-like power, did something that I found to be incredibly caring, faithful and protective. He gave them something to wear. Instead of forcing them to walk around in the shamefulness that their own actions had created, with a 'you made your bed, now lie in it' sort of attitude, He shows tenderness and compassion alongside his anger and justice.

What a picture of Christ's righteousness clothing each one of us. Not deserved. Not earned. But because of the great love with which He loves us, He covers us in our shame. Like the father of the prodigal son throws an undeserved robe around his own, God wraps Christ's perfection, Christ's righteousness, around us making us able to stand facing the world, who no longer sees our shame, but sees His son!

Christ-centered Sanctification

This week’s reading in one our classes found me thirsty and left me quenched. One quote that I highlighted was “The foundation of sanctification is rooted not in humanity and their achievement of holiness, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with Him.” The author, Sinclair Ferguson, depicts Christ as “our source and our model” for holiness. Not only do we find in Him our identity (righteous and free) but also we find in Him our blueprint for living (imitator and glorifier).

Ferguson’s depiction specifically of union with Christ I thought incredibly helpful in understanding holy living. Everything about who I am as a Christ-follower is defined by Jesus Himself. I have lived a perfect life - because He has. I have victory over death and sin - because He has. I no longer carry the weight and burden of guilt for my sin - because He has. All that I have, I have from Christ. All that I am, I am only through Christ. All that I will be, I will be in Christ. I am a free man “who has been brought from death to life” and the life that is lived within me is no longer mine but Christ’s.

The freedom, from not only death and sin, but from the slavery of having to accomplish holiness on my own is a liberating one. My moralistic, ‘good boy’ complex can sometimes plague and paralyze me. Christian culture, which unfortunately sometimes reinforces my misguided attempts toward holiness, weighs me down with inaccurate measures of what the standard of holiness is supposed to be. This week’s reading reminds me that the standard of holiness is Christ Himself. My responsibility to holy living, and how I view myself, is now not only as a sinner deserving of death but also a new creation living in grateful response for the life I have in Him.

A Missing Piece

I have never had a problem understanding or relating to passages of Scripture in which people whether it be Isaiah, John the Baptist, Peter or Paul remark of themselves in light of who God is. Some loose paraphrases: Woe is me, for in comparison to Your holiness, what comes out of my mouth is painfully messy. I am not worthy to even attempt to mess with the sandals that God-man is wearing. Don't look at me, LORD, You're just too good and I'm crazy messed-up. Sign me up as the leader of the mess, the chief of sinners.

Grace is so incredibly amazing when we see ourselves accurately in light of who God is because it cultivates in us humility partnered with gratitude where we can finally begin to look our Maker in the eye and respond to His offer with "Thank you for loving this mess."

But a problem I have experienced over time was the ability to grasp whether God would ever be able to actually use this mess. Continuous second guessing of abilities and giftedness, the ticker at the bottom of my brain displaying all of the mess in my life that should disqualify me from being used by God and the paralytic force that comparison to others has in keeping me off of the field of play. How could God use me?

But in my reading this week, I was given a glimpse into what I would consider to be a beautiful response to this question - it's about empowering grace. It was if God was saying "I am best able to use you when you are most able to need Me." Looking back over my life, specifically in ministry, the times in which I most experienced the fulfillment and satisfaction of being used by God were those times in which I acknowledged myself to be completely unqualified and utterly dependent. When I knew I brought nothing, in and of myself, to the table and surrendered myself fully and desperately, to the work of His grace. I want grace not only to generate a response of humble gratitude toward Him but propel me to live everyday in ridiculous dependence on Him. This is the power of the Gospel...

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2Co 12:9-10)