For one whole summer when I was in high school, ankle high socks became really cool. Everyone on the football team wore them. Only a sissy would wear anything else. My disgust for traditional tube socks ran deep. It got to the point where I judged everyone on the basis of the socks they wore. You were either in or you were out. I wore them. My brother wore them. The neighbor kids wore them. Everyone cool wore them.
And then there was my Dad. One summer we went on vacation in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It was just us guys, my Dad, my brother, and I. We were set to hang out for a whole week at the world’s largest air show! But as we all slipped into shorts, my brother and I suddenly realized that Dad wasn’t so cool. There he stood in his white tennis shoes, in calf-high tube socks. We might have tolerated them if they were white, but they had an earth tone tint to them. That week we persuaded Dad to replace all his colored tube socks with white, ankle-high sport socks. And for that summer Dad was really, really, cool.
But December came, and the brutal winter weather with its frigid temperatures settled in. Early one winter morning my brother Mike and I awoke before dawn. By lantern light, we assembled a team of horses and began to trudge some twenty miles to school through ten foot snow drifts, and across icy, waist-deep streams. Okay, so it was just fifteen miles! Suddenly those ankle high sports socks weren’t so cool. In fact, they were freezing! And just as quick, tube socks were back in vogue! Of course, my Dad continued wearing his white, ankle-high sports socks for years. After all the trouble we’d gone through, we decided to just leave it alone!
Life before clothing and fashion.
Have you ever wondered why clothing and fashion is such a big deal? In Genesis we catch a glimpse of life before clothing and fashion. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were perfectly united together as one in marriage. They were without sin and for the time, living fully within God’s will. They walked in God’s presence and found purposeful work in the garden. Genesis 2:25 (NIV) says, "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."
Before the fall, Adam and Eve were comfortable in their skin. Literally. They were comfortable in their sexuality, in their identity as male and female, and as husband and wife. They were comfortable in their relationship to one another and in their work. Like newborn babes, they were completely unaware of their nakedness and vulnerability before one another and God. In their relationship, there was complete truthfulness and mutual acceptance. There was nothing to hide, or mask. There was no sense of inadequacy or shame. Adam and Eve were pure and holy, through and through.
And so in the beginning there was no need for covering anything, and thus no need for clothing and fashion. But in Genesis 3:1-6 Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan and succumb to sin. Genesis 3:1-6 (NIV) says, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden?' The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' 'You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."
Suddenly, their innocence is lost. Their hearts are filled with evil desires, and they see the infinite possibilities for sin in their relationship. In fear, they fashion clothing and cover themselves. Genesis 3:7 (NIV) says, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." And so here in Genesis 3:7 we discover the truth about clothing and fashion.
The truth about clothing and fashion.
Clothing is one of the ways we cover up the very real inadequacies, the nakedness, that exist in our relationship with God and with one another. We choose that uniform, that power suit, to feel adequate in our work or profession. We choose that swimwear, that muscle shirt, those jeans, in order to accentuate the things we like about our bodies and to cover up the things we hate about our bodies. We choose that latest fashion to be noticed, to experience genuine love, to feel secure in our sexual identity, to boost our self-esteem, to find deep and lasting acceptance, to signal our interest in another person, to fit in, or because we're proud. Or we choose that well-worn outfit to make a statement, to signal our pain and anger, to reflect a depressed mood, to indicate loneliness, to cry out for help, to push others away, or to signalour desire to sin.
Clothing is truly an expression of our fallen, human nature. It is an expression of our sense of inadequacy before God and our fellow man. It is an expression of our fear. You should stop and ask yourself these questions. "What does my clothing say about me? What does it say about how I view myself? About how I view others? About my relationship with others? About my relationship with God?"
The limitations of clothing and fashion.
In Genesis 3:8-20 we come to understand the limitations of clothing and fashion. Genesis 3:8-20 (NIV) says, "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.' And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?' The man said, 'The woman you put here with me-- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.' So the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.' To the woman he said, ' I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.' To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat of it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it and all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return' Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living."
Clothing does not fundamentally change our relationship with God or with one another. Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together, but they still felt naked and ashamed. Adam and Eve covered themselves with hand-made garments, but God still saw their sin. At best, clothing provides a false sense of identity and a false sense of security. In the end, the garments Adam and Eve had fashioned for themselves proved inadequate. The clothing that covered their bodies could not change what was inside their hearts.
And so in his grace, God intervened. God sacrifices a living animal and uses its skin as a covering for Adam and his wife. So in Genesis 3:21-24 (NIV) we read, "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.' So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to the guard the way to the tree of life." Only through God’s sacrifice and the garment fashioned by God’s hand could Adam and Eve live in a world that was now marred by sin and which was devoid of the life of God.
This morning, in the spirit of the show "What Not to Wear", the worship team decided to violate some clothing and fashion rules. (Note to reader- the worship team was dressed in shorts, sunglasses, baseball caps, team shirts with logos, barefoot, etc.) I spent all week shopping around Springfield, shopping around St. Louis, visiting Goodwill stores, looking for that one purple velvet blazer that would allow me to stand here this morning and shout, "Soul Patrol, Soul Patrol"! But it wasn’t meant to be.
The point is that this morning God wants us to cast aside our earthly garments and accept the garment he has fashioned for us in his grace. In TLC’s "What Not To Wear", they use a garbage can for this purpose. In order to be transformed and to receive a new and better wardrobe, each person must agree to cast aside their old worn garments and never take them up again. This is what Adam and Eve had to do after they sinned. They had to cast aside the garments they had fashioned and accept the garment of skin, the sacrifice God had made available to them in his grace.
(Note to reader- at this point, a video clip from "What Not To Wear" was played. The person being transformed watched as all her old clothing was thrown in the garbage can and she protested and tried to hang on to some of her favorite items).
Four priceless garments from God.
The garment God provided Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:21 foreshadowed something greater. The garment God provided Adam and Eve through the sacrifice of an animal, allowed them to live in a world marred by sin and devoid of the life of God. But the garment God provides all men through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, also allows us to live life victoriously in a world marred by sin. But Jesus' sacrifice has the added promise of eternal life.
In the New Testament there are four priceless garments God provides to all who believe. God does not leave us naked and ashamed in our sin. He promises to clothe us as we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. In Matthew 6:28-34 (NIV) Jesus says, "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
We are clothed with Christ.
What are the garments God asks us to seek, and that he promises to clothe us with? First, God clothes us with himself, with his Son Jesus Christ. In Romans 13:14 (NIV) Paul says, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." In Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV) he writes, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
According to God’s word there is only one thing that covers our sin, and that is the blood of Jesus Christ. In baptism we give up our vain attempts to cover our sin, and we freely accept God’s perfect sacrifice, putting on Christ’s forgiveness. Some questions are, "Have you been baptized? Have you put on Christ? Have you accepted God’s perfect sacrifice? Have you put on Christ’s forgiveness?"
We are clothed with righteousness.
Second, the Bible speaks of being clothed with righteousness. God’s intention is to do far more than merely cover, or forgive, our sins. He wants us to live us an entirely new life in holiness and righteousness. He wants us to put on the life of Jesus Christ, and live out his righteousness in real and tangible ways. In Colossians 3:8-17 (NIV) Paul says, "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
We are clothed with power.
Third, the Bible speaks of being clothed with power. It is foolish to attempt the Christian life by human power alone. In Luke 24:49 (NIV) Jesus promises his disciples, "I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." God promises to clothe us with the power of his Holy Spirit. Ordinary clothing has no power to change us whatsoever. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, God promises to transform us from the inside-out.
We are clothed with immortality.
Fourth, the Bible speaks of being clothed with immortality. The garments we choose for ourselves wear out and can never provide lasting life. But the garment God provides will never perish or fade. In 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 (NIV) Paul says, "I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'"
Before you is a steel trash can. (Note to reader- there was a steel trash can beside the speaker's podium.) You know what garments need to be cast away. Why not trade in your old clothes and be clothed with Christ’s forgiveness? Clothed with Christ’s righteousness? Clothed with the power of God’s Holy Spirit? Clothed with life and immortality?