Clothing is something we take for granted every day, something that Adam and Eve lived without until they disobeyed God. Since then, clothing has become a multi-billion dollar industry, a part of life we couldn't imagine living without. But could there be a higher purpose in clothing than simply to acclimate us to our climate or show off our fashion sense? According to Scripture, yes!
Follow the narrative in Genesis 2:
7then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
18Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Then, as we all know, Adam and Eve sinned against God and ate the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3 then records their shame:
(After eating the fruit) 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
However, the story doesn't end here. After God confronts them and condemns them (justly) to die for their sin, he does something rather surprising:
21And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
He clothed them! What an odd thing. They are banished from an earthly paradise, condemned to die, and clothed. Seems more like a slap in the face than anything else, right? If we remember correctly from Genesis 2, Adam and Eve already had made for themselves some clothing out of fig leaves. What we should see here with God's own clothes-making is this: He's saying, "You're clothes aren't good enough! I must clothe you."
Now let's look at another picture from Scripture - Leviticus 8
This section deals with the Consecration and Ordination of the Levitical priesthood (these are the guys who would have the task of meeting with God and offering sacrifices on behalf of Israel until Christ). What does clothing have to do with their priesthood? Well.... A LOT, actually.
5And Moses said to the congregation, "This is the thing that the LORD has commanded to be done." 6And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. 8And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Basically, the Lord made sure his priests were looking DANG good. As my pastor in Tuscaloosa said, they were even beautiful. This is significant because they represented Israel. If your representative looks beautiful, then YOU are beautiful. There are actually many other details with the requirements for the appearance of priests, but it all points to this: You must look beautiful to stand before God... really, awesome-beautiful. You must be righteous!
These two examples from Scripture lead us unquestionably to the Cross of Christ. When Jesus lived an obedient life and died a perfect, sacrificial death, God was clothing us once again. He is shouting to us: YOU CAN'T CLOTHE YOURSELVES! and also: YOU MUST BE BEAUTIFUL TO COME BEFORE ME!
Luckily for us, we have a beautiful, righteous High Priest. He is our representative before God. Just as God, in his unquenchable grace, clothed Adam and Eve and his Levitical preisthood, he is clothing us now in the most beautiful garment of all - his beloved Son. He is beautiful - we are beautiful. He is righteous - we are righteous. He is accepted by God the Father. We are accepted by God the Father.
So let's end with an excellent bow (if I do say so myself). This is from Isaiah 61 and from this is what Jesus read in the synagogue, proclaiming that HE is the one this prophecy is about:
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
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