Clothes - Pt 2

The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:20-21 ESV). I suppose I could have changed the title to today’s devotional to make it a bit more “catchy” although that doesn’t seem to be my general proclivity. I could have called it something like “fig leaves to fur coats” and perhaps it would have piqued interest in reading it a bit more than “Clothes – Part 2”. The message would be the same though. Let’s see if we can dig in a bit and see a characteristic of our gracious God that will be encouraging to you today. The story of creation begins with Eve and Adam as naked. They didn’t care. There was no worry about protection from the elements, they were perfect; there wasn’t any shame or guilt, there wasn’t any sin or imperfection in creation yet; and, their beauty in how God had made them was apparent, they were perfect in every way. This was true until the day they ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Suddenly they realized they were naked and were ashamed. Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves by wearing clothes they had made of fig leaves. Of course that didn’t work. God saw it all. The curse of sin had entered the world when God confronted Adam and Eve in the Garden. If the consequences weren’t so tragic, it would almost be laughable. Adam and Eve thought they could hide from God behind fig leaf clothing. Think of it. Fig leaves are neither durable nor comfortable. Can you imagine having that rub against you every time you moved! However, as a first attempt at clothing and camouflage, that was the best they could do. I don’t know they could have won any awards for design, but it did function for the moment. That moment quickly passed. God saw through their disguise and knew that they had disobeyed. Because God and sin cannot coexist, he sent Adam and Eve from paradise into the rocky, thorny, painful world outside the garden. But not before he made for them more suitable clothing. God knew that fig leaves were not long-term protection. So he provided leather and fur clothing that was both long-lasting and warm. God provided these gifts even to his sinful children. He still provides for us. This action is a beautiful foreshadowing of what God was going to ultimately do through Jesus. Once we realize our own sin we try so many different ways to put a different spin on it. We develop all kinds of excuses and reasons for our failure. The truth is they are about as effective as fig leaves. The only satisfying means of transforming our wardrobe is to take on the righteousness of Jesus. We do that by faith in the work he has already performed on our behalf. Is it time for you to change your wardrobe?