September 8, 2010
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Identity #34 – I Am Clothed With God’s Grace (Isaiah 61:10)
Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden their eyes were opened to sin and they felt shame for being naked. They attempted to clothe themselves with fig leaves but they failed, so they tried to hide from God. They knew that despite trying so hard they could not make themselves presentable before God because of their sin. And the same goes for so many today: attempting to make themselves worthy before God by all their works but always coming up short.
God knows we can’t cover ourselves on our own. That is why in Isaiah 61:10 His promise is that He clothes us in garments of salvation and in robes of righteousness. The promise means we don’t have to do a thing to make ourselves presentable before God. We are only presentable before Him by His grace, and He is the one who covers us with it.
Leviticus 8 is an awkward chapter marking the consecration and anointing of Aaron to become the great high priest of Israel and his sons to become top level priests as well. What is awkward about the process is that Aaron and his sons are not allowed to do anything during the whole consecration process. Instead, Moses is the one to wash them, clothe them, anoint them, make the sacrifices for them. He does everything for them! But what stands out is the washing and the clothing… that had to be the most humiliating part for Aaron and his sons. But it was meant to emphasize to them that they had not earned their position on their own works but rather by the grace of God. It was God’s grace that enabled them.
God loves us. Our relationship with Him is not merited upon the works we do or don’t do, but it is merited upon His grace. It is only by His grace that we can approach Him, and Hebrews 4:16 encourages us to boldly approach God because of the grace He has clothed us with. We no longer have to strive to be accepted. We are secure before Him.
