Clothes of Compassion

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” (Ge 3:21 AV)

I found this especially precious this morning.  A perfect picture of the imputed righteousness of Christ.  Adam and Eve did their best to cover the consequences of their sin.  Being husband and wife, they were not in sin being naked before one another.  What sin did was pervert what God gave.  God gave intimacy between a husband and wife to be enjoyed and edifying.  Yet, the devil turned it into something perverse.  God provided the means by which Adam and Eve could dwell with one another and among mankind in a modest and righteous way.  As they stood by and watched an innocent lamb or lambs slaughtered for their sin, it had to affect them that something died that they might be covered.  What I see above is the tenderness of God by providing the means to His creation by which they might be acceptable to Him and one another.

There is a service being advertised lately.  I haven’t seen it in a while.  It is for those of us who might be fashionably challenged or who simply cannot shop successfully for clothes.  They are the wrong size, or they simply do not lay straight.  This service offers outfits on a rotating basis.  The client enters measurements and body type, style choices, and other information.  Then the service designs a look for you, ships out the clothes, and shows different combinations that work.  The outfits are tailored to the individual.  Whether a service like the above, or a suit that needs tailoring, it is a special thing to have clothes that are made just for you.  I have bought many suits over the years.  The tailors who altered the suits varied in ability.  There were some that were perfectly tailored.  I have one that wasn’t done well.  It makes a big difference when clothes are made just for you.

Jesus is that person who clothed us in His righteousness.  This robe of righteousness was made just for you.  It fits who you are and what you have done.  Each of us is different, but each of us is the same.  We are all sinners.  We all come short of the glory of God.  Our sins might be different, but in nature they are the same.  Compared to the sinless perfection of God, we are all horribly sinful.  So, the Father decided to impute our sin to His Son and His Son’s righteousness to us.  The tenderness that is evident is special.  I don’t imagine that when the LORD provided animal skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve that He did so dispassionately.  I imagine there was tenderness as a parent who dresses his child.  I imagine when the LORD imputed the righteousness of His Son upon this hopeless sinner that the same tenderness was evident.