In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, and immediately realized they were naked. Before sending them out of the garden, God made clothes for them.
And from that moment, through the end of Revelation, we regularly hear about clothes. Joseph is given a coat of many colors. Priests are instructed to dress a particular way. Mourners are instructed to wear sack clothes. The saints are said to be clothed in white robes.
But perhaps the most startling statement comes in Galatians 3, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
God doesn’t just make clothes; God clothes us with God’s own self.
It’s a radical thing for Paul to say.
We know something about clothes. Because we all wear clothes.
We have a sense of what clothes are appropriate for what occasions. We know, at least in theory, when we need to grab the warm winter coat rather than the light windbreaker. We know when we need to put on our formal attire rather than sweats and a t-shirt. We know when long pants are basically a necessity and when we can finally break out the shorts.
But what might it mean to understand ourselves as clothed with God?
Is God the winter coat or the windbreaker, the formal attire or the sweats, the long pants or the shorts?
Well, I don’t have an answer for that. But what strikes me is how our choice of clothing shapes our behavior. If we’re wearing that warm winter coat, we’re likely doing something different than if we’re wearing the windbreaker. The formal attire brings out a different side of us than the far more comfortable sweats and t-shirt. Wearing pants is a different experience than wearing shorts.
So then, if we’re clothed with God, shouldn’t that also change our behavior?
Grace and peace,
Kimmy
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