“Take off the garments of sin and shame. I want to clothe you in My glory.”
Sometimes we live as though we don’t truly know or believe that we have been forgiven. We carry our past sins, regrets, shame, guilt, rejection, and fear as though it were our scarlet letter. “Yes, I’m forgiven, but I’m forever branded by my sin.” And every day we remind ourselves of it, wearing it like a uniform. But God’s idea of forgiveness is slightly different. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
God paid a high price for us to be free from sin. That means completely severed from it. He remembers it no more and He expects that we would remember it no more. He dealt with sin by laying it all on Jesus, and He poured out His wrath for all sin on His very own Son, so we could walk holy, blameless, and above reproach.
The Bible says that Jesus bore our sin and shame:
1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…
Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right had of the throne of God.
Isaiah 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Before sin entered the world, the Bible says that Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. They were clothed in robes of light that reflected the purity of God’s glory, the essence of God Himself. When they fell in disobedience to God, they became clothed in sin and shame. To cover them, God made them garments of animal skin, a temporary covering.
But we don’t have to cover our sin and shame anymore. Jesus made Himself an altar that we can lay our garments of sin and shame upon. We get to take them off and exchange them for something else, something eternal. That is part of our transformation into Christ’s image. And it isn’t our own righteousness that we are trying to fix and perfect. He gives us His righteousness, His glory. He wants to clothe us in His very own essence.
Isahiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful 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 with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.
Zechariah 3:4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
Just a few months ago I had a revelation of something God was wanting me to take off. It was in the middle of my workday when suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable in the clothes that I was wearing. I felt like they just didn’t fit me anymore. They fit a style, or a trend, but they didn’t fit me. Now, there was nothing wrong with the actual clothes I was wearing, but this is how the Lord gives me understanding. My response to this was, “I’ll just get rid of the clothes. If they don’t fit me, then I don’t want to wear them.” I recognized that this was a moment of victory for me because in the past, my normal response would have been to figure out how to change and adjust myself to fit what doesn’t really fit me. Then I had a realization, and I even said it out loud when it came:
“I am okay with me.”
Wow. I don’t know that I have ever been okay with me. I was always trying to make sure that others were okay with me and adapting myself to what I thought I needed to be. Then I realized I had stepped into a freedom that I had never stepped into before, and God was telling me that the outfit of fear; fear of man, fear of failure, fear of rejection, that I had been wearing for so many years just didn’t fit me anymore and it was time to take it off. I had been using it as a shield, keeping myself separated from people. Putting distance between myself and anyone who could possibly judge me just in case their judgement wasn’t kind. But I had undergone a transformation, and I needed a new outfit that reflected my new image. The image of one rooted in confidence and contentment that can only come from the unfailing love of God the Father. I was no longer seeking the acceptance of man, I knew I was accepted by God. The best part of this moment was knowing that my heart was finally ready for me to take off the cloak of fear and allow myself to be dressed in Light, in Glory, in Righteousness. I found the security and safety that I had been looking to man for, and I found it in the love of the Father.
Perhaps you have been living your life clothed in fear, rejection, or bitterness. Perhaps you have been wearing the unloving words that have been spoken to you or unforgiveness for things that have been done to you. Perhaps you have been covering yourself in the camouflage of lies that you are not enough or that you can’t ever be redeemed for what you have done. Whatever clothing you may be wearing today, I want you to know that Jesus has made something else available for you: freedom.
You have been liberated from the guilt, shame, and consequences of sin. Jesus has cancelled all of your debts. Every violation and record of indictment against you is null and void. All the sins and stains of your soul have been erased and cannot be retrieved. Everything you once were in Adam has been nailed permanently to the cross as a public display of cancellation.
Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse you. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his! (Romans 8:1, Colossians 2:14-15)
Let that be your outfit today.
Be Blessed.
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
