Garments of Splendor

 

By Stephen Terry

 

 

Sabbath School Lesson Commentary for May 14-20, 2011

 

 

 

 

"For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations." Isaiah 51:8, NIV

 

Have you ever reached for that favorite sweater from Grandma only to find when you put it on that moths got to it while it was in storage? How devastating it is to have a beautiful gift destroyed. The garment we wanted to wear proudly to an important event is now little more than rags. Maybe we could wear it to work on the car or in the garden, but not to anything special. We were counting on wearing the sweater, but its usefulness is at an end. It must be replaced with something more suitable.

 

While our sweater experience is disappointing, it symbolizes something spiritual as well. Whether a pull-over, a cardigan, a cable knit, or some other style, all sweaters are man made. We can knit them by hand or machine, but they will not last forever, eventually they will wear out. The Bible talks of clothing that lasted for a very long time with God's help. "Yet the LORD says, 'During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.'" Deuteronomy 29:5, NIV  However, even forty years meant they eventually wore out.

 

This clothing that wears out represents our inability to provide completely for ourselves. We like to talk of self-made men who are self sufficient, but in reality there is no such thing. We all need help. We may want to rely on ourselves, but the Bible tells us this is impossible. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." Isaiah 64:6, NIV  No matter how much we want to rely on ourselves and our own ability to do right, in the end we have nothing but rags. We end up little better than the moth-eaten sweater. We find that we are useless to ourselves and others. But is that the end of the story? Are we doomed to be tossed aside without value, our usefulness at an end?

 

Fortunately, it does not have to be that way. We have a choice. Because of His love for us, God has invested the infinite resources of heaven to give us that choice. He sent Jesus to provide a better option. God's closet has clothing that is immeasurably better than anything we can find to wear on earth. Jesus is the key to unlocking that closet.

 

We were all destined to be tossed aside like that worn out sweater, but Jesus took our place and was "tossed aside" on our behalf. He was willing to become "filthy rags" that we might wear clean clothing, and that we might be clean.  And because God wants it that way, we might have that clean clothing forever. Scripture says "...the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV  

 

Wouldn't it be great to have beautiful clothes that would last forever?  One day we will have clothing like that. The Bible says of that garment, "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness..." Isaiah 61:10, NIV  This robe was purchased through the blood shed by Jesus on the cross. Tinged with His blood, it is nonetheless white as the purity of His righteousness. We could find no more beautiful garment to wear.  God's love is woven into every fiber. John 3:16 tells us that. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." NASB 

 

Why does God love us so much? Because that is His nature. John the Disciple, who was often referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved, put it this way, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." 1 John 4:7-9, NIV

 

You see, as John says, "God is love." He could no more stop loving than He could stop being God. As humans we have such a limited understanding of love that we have a hard time grasping the significance of that statement. That kind of love is beyond measure, and since it derives from God's nature it has all the divine attributes. His love is all knowing and yet loving. His love is all seeing and yet loving. His love is omnipresent. No matter how dark the valley, deep the ocean, or vast the universe God's love is there. That is why King David could write "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me..." Psalm 23:4, NIV  He knew the power of God's love.

 

That love has the power to sustain us for all eternity. Not only does God not forsake us as we previously read in Deuteronomy, but His love is the reason why. Paul the Apostle wrote, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39, NIV  So the robe of righteousness is really a robe of love. That robe is God's loving arms enfolding us in an eternal hug of joy and peace. And unlike our moth-eaten rags that continually let us down when they fail to clothe us, His robe will last forever.

 

One day, I want to stand in God's presence, clothed in His loving robe of righteousness. I want to thank Him for His gift of love. I want to share with Him how His love has comforted me and uplifted me through my walk here on earth.  I want to see you there also. I want to hear your story of how His love has been there for you as well. Won't it be great to spend eternity with a God like that?

 

Bible texts marked NASB, are from the New American Standard Bible and used by permission of The Lockman Foundation.

 

 

This Commentary is provided by Still Waters Ministry

 

 

 

 

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