God, Me, and Us – Part IISample

Adorned in Fine Linen

The spiritual transformation described in Zechariah 3:3-4, where Joshua stands in filthy garments before the angel, is a powerful metaphor for our own condition. An airplane passenger needs an oxygen mask when the cabin is becoming depressurized. In the same way, our need for spiritual renewal is evident and urgent. Our souls, marred by sin, need to be transformed.

In this passage, we find hope. The angel commands the removal of Joshua’s filthy clothes, a symbolic act beyond mere physical change. It represents the stripping away of sin and the endowment of a new, purified identity. “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” This is the crux of the gospel—a transition from our own soiled, inadequate efforts to the righteousness bestowed upon us by Christ.

Our efforts to address our spiritual shortcomings are often futile. We might understand there’s a problem, like recognizing a ‘check engine’ light, but the solution is beyond our grasp. We need expertise beyond our own, a divine mechanic if you will. This is when Jesus steps in, offering no temporary fix, but a complete overhaul.

Chris invites us to shed our old, ineffective ways and embrace a new way of living, one that relies wholly on His redemptive work. We can be clothed in His righteousness. This act of being clothed in new garments echoes through the New Testament. In John 11:44, Lazarus emerges from the tomb, still wrapped in grave clothes. Jesus commands that these be removed, symbolizing liberation from the grip of death and sin. The act is a physical manifestation of our spiritual reality. We are bound by our old nature until Christ sets us free.

In Revelation 19:8, the imagery of clothing is used again to depict the saints. Fine linen represents the righteous acts born out of our renewed life in Christ, of the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus.

Our spiritual journey is marked by the moment when we exchange our filthy rags for the festive robes of Christ’s righteousness. It’s the moment when we avail ourselves of the oxygen mask of salvation, provided in our most desperate need. Our new clothing is not a cover-up; it’s a complete change of identity. Embrace it. See yourself not as the world sees you, but as Christ does. In Him, our obvious condition of sin is met with overwhelming grace, changing us from the inside out and enabling us to live out this new life with confidence and hope.