Revive Us Again – Part 2
I saw that it is no light thing to be a Christian. It is a small matter to profess the Christian name; but it is a great and sacred thing to live a Christian life. There is but a little time now to secure the immortal crown, to have a record of good acts and fulfilled duties recorded in heaven. Every tree is judged by its fruit. Everyone will be judged according to his deeds, not his profession or his faith. The question will never be asked, How much did he profess? but, What fruit did he bear? If the tree is corrupt, the fruit is evil. If the tree is good, it cannot produce evil fruit. {1T 454.2}
God calls for us to be trees of righteousness. There are many fruits the child of God is required to display to the glory of God; Galatians 5:22, 23 comes directly to mind. Are there other fruits, equally as lawful as love, joy, peace, longsuffering etc to be displayed on the person that indicates the inner condition of the Christian tree?
Was there a visible change in the outward appearance of Adam and Eve after they had sinned? What did this visible change represent? Does this outward representation still have significance and meaning today? Let us explore the scriptures and Spirit of Prophecy to find out exactly how connected the leaves and fruit on the Christian tree is to the inner condition of the heart.
Genesis 2:25 “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. “Adam and Eve were not clothed with the cloth or skin type of garments that man covers himself with today; they were covered with light. How do we know this? In Genesis 1: 26 we hear God say : “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
Does the Bible tell us that God was clothed ? If so, what was He clothed in?
Psalm 104:1,2 ” Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.”
The garment of innocence, a covering from God, which surrounded them, departed; and they supplied the place of this heavenly garment by sewing together fig-leaves for aprons. {1BC 1084.4} This passage explains that the light that clothed God was like a garment. Adam and Eve were clothed in a garment of light because it says that they were not ashamed.
In Genesis 3 we find that Satan beguiled Eve and she coveted something that was not her’s. She turned her trust away from the words of God and let herself be influenced by another master. The lovely character of Jesus she was given as a covering was marred and immediately disappeared. When the garment of light had left them, they realized their nakedness and felt ashamed.
Although Adam and Eve were wearing their fig leaf aprons, they still considered themselves naked. The SDA Bible dictionary says that the word “apron” comes from the Hebrew word “Chagorah,” which comes from “Chagar,” to gird oneself with a belt. How much of the body does a belt or woman’s girdle or even an apron cover? Whatever it was we can be certain that it was only a small piece of covering that left the majority of the body still naked. This type of covering fitly symbolizes the inadequacy of man’s works to right his condition before the Lord.
This is the covering that the transgressors of the law of God have used since the days of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. They have sewed together fig-leaves to cover their nakedness, caused by transgression. The fig-leaves represent the arguments used to cover disobedience. When the Lord calls the attention of men and women to the truth, the making of fig-leaves into aprons will be begun, to hide the nakedness of the soul. But the nakedness of the sinner is not covered. All the arguments pieced together by all who have interested themselves in this flimsy work will come to naught. {RH, November 15, 1898 par. 11}
The Lord Jesus Christ has prepared a covering, the robe of His own righteousness, that He will put on every repenting, believing soul who by faith will receive it. Said John, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Sin is the transgression of the law; but Christ died to make it possible for every man to have his sins taken away. A fig-leaf apron will never cover our nakedness. Sin must be taken away, the garment of Christ’s righteousness must cover the transgressor of God’s law. Then when the Lord looks upon the believing sinner, he sees, not the fig-leaves covering him, but his own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah. {RH, November 15, 1898 par. 12}
Let’s continue reading: Genesis 3:21: ” Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”
How are we going to find out how much of the body these coats covered? Is it important to know? Yes indeed it is, for God is very accurate throughout His Word to portray in symbols exactly what He means. You will find it is His character to be very specific in every detail, and equally so in this passage.
The coats of skin were symbolic of the Righteousness of Christ. In order to have this covering an animal had to be slain. The slaying of the animal represented the death of Jesus in order that the reflection of His character, which was lost in Eden, can be restored in us.
When God made the coats for Adam and Eve, they were completely covered, literally, even as the death of Christ completely covers us spiritually. His sacrifice is a complete work of restoration. Jesus did not half save us, He did a complete work for our redemption. He wants to completely renew our minds to reflect the character of Christ and to restore all things that were lost.
What is the dress code of heaven like? We saw earlier that God is clothed in light. As God and Jesus are one, they would both be wearing the same kind of clothing, don’t you think? When the apostle John, in Revelation 1:13, looked into heaven through a vision He saw Jesus standing amongst the golden candlesticks and we are told that he was clothed with a garment down to the feet.
In Early Writings page 16 and 17 we find that the 144,000 are similarly clothed. ” And they were all clothed with a glorious white mantle from their shoulders to their feet.”
In Isaiah 6 we see that as the Seraphim come to the throne of God to worship Him, they cover their faces and even their feet as they sing Holy, Holy, Holy. Complete covering is a sign of worship and reverence to the Most High. Thus we can see that the dress code in heaven is from shoulders to the feet as it is verified in the sanctuary services of the Old Testament. The earthly sanctuary was a copy of the heavenly, down to every last particular detail. So, as we look at the garments of the priests we know they were a copy of the style of dress in heaven.
Therefore when God made them coats of skin they would definitely have to have been from the shoulders and arms to the feet. That is the way all dress in heaven above. Jesus is coming to re-clothe us into His image.
It is very significant to note that the first purpose of clothing in Eden was not to keep warm, nor for adornment but in order to cover nakedness, and now their sin was instantly displayed on their person.
To be continued …