The Fall
New Clothes
And the LORD God made garments of animal skins and clothed Adam and his wife.
– iBIBLE Chapter 2
Scripture reference: Genesis 3:21
Adam and Eve had already tried making clothing for themselves. Weaving together leaves as they hid from God following their sin, they had tried to hide their shame and their nakedness. It was a man-made solution to a spiritual problem. But a God-created, spiritual solution is needed to solve the problem of sin and shame.
As God delivered judgment on the serpent, He revealed the promise of redemption to the children He formed from the dust of the ground: the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. There would be a Savior, a solution to the curse and the pain that sin had ushered in. God then made Adam and Eve garments from animal skins and covered them.
Throughout the Bible, God uses the illustration of clothing to communicate His mercy and grace toward His people. Not only did God physically clothe Adam and Eve in the garden with animal skins, but He continually covers them and all His people forever with His perfection as a gift.
Isaiah uses clothing to show how God’s righteousness covers our iniquities, likening our relationship with the Lord as one of a bride and a groom:
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. — Isaiah 61:10 [ESV]
In the final book of the Bible, Revelation, the white robes of the saints are mentioned as they stand before the Lord's throne.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. —Revelation 7:9
The illustration of being presented holy and blameless, with clothes that God Himself makes is a beautiful reminder that our salvation is a gift. It comes to us from the Lord and it will last forever.
Not only did God physically clothe Adam and Eve in the garden with animal skins, but He continually covers them and all His people forever with His perfection as a gift.
Our Response
Just as it was for Adam and Eve, our spotless righteousness was lost in the fall of humanity. We can be tempted to try to fashion our own spiritual righteousness, but we must come to the Lord, acknowledging that we need His mercy and His grace to clothe us. We must allow God to give us His gifts instead of trying to weave together something to cover our own shame.
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. — Isaiah 12:2
Perhaps we make excuses for our sin. Perhaps we deny that we ever sinned in the first place. Perhaps we compare ourselves to others and justify ourselves, saying, “Well, at least I’m not as bad as that other person!” These are feeble attempts to present ourselves as righteous before the Lord when, in fact, all we need is faith in Christ.
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. — Romans 3:22b–24
This is what some theologians refer to as “the great exchange.” Our sin is placed on Christ. He bears all of it on the cross. His perfect life, His complete law-abiding and perfect loving attitude toward God is at the same time credited to us. Jesus gives us all that is His to us, and it is a perfect gift.
A Prayer for This Week
Dear Mighty Father, You have been so gracious to provide a covering for our shame. You clothed Adam and Eve physically, and you clothe us all spiritually with the “robes of righteousness.” Help us to always look to You for our comfort, our peace, and our salvation. When we are tempted to look inward or construct a false righteousness, help us to repent and look to You instead, from Whom all grace comes. In Jesus’s name, we pray, Amen.