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By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
| ONE SIZE FITS ALL What parent can forget the moment you see your child for the first time? Naked and so vulnerable. And let’s face it, not always looking their best (lol), but instantly a God-given love rises up within you. They are beautiful and precious in your sight. When they handed our son to me for the first time, all wrapped up in a warm blanket, he was sleeping so peacefully, so secure. Even though I didn’t know the Lord back then, I remember that deep down I knew this baby was a gift to us from God. He was/is precious to us and I knew we would love him unconditionally! No matter what! Well, I recall a church service years ago when the Lord revealed a powerful truth to me. We had opened our Bibles and our Pastor began speaking to us about the Saints of God, (born-again children of God) who are spiritually clothed/wrapped in a robe of righteousness at their new spiritual rebirth. (“…But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the BEST robe and put it on him…. for my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:22,24)Righteousness simply means to have a right standing with God. For Christians, the minute you were born again in the spiritual the Holy Spirit wrapped you in this robe of righteousness and presented you to your Heavenly Father. And He is well pleased with you. Our Pastor went on to teach that when we quit depending on our own good works as a way to earn salvation and put our faith in Jesus, in the spiritual realm we are clothed in His righteousness before God. Not our own. (Our own righteousness is like filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6)After the fall of man, Adam and Eve were found naked, and fearful. They had always been physically naked but they were unashamed/unaware of it – they were relating to God (and each other) in their spirits with Agape love- no sin (carnal nature) separating them, until they chose to be separated from God by rebelling against Him. But how did God respond? He made clothes out of animal skins for them. God made the first sacrifice on their behalf. Now, skip forward four thousand years to another sacrifice God made- His Son Jesus on the cross, a sinless man taking upon Himself our sins, our unrighteousness, so we can choose to be clothed once again in His righteousness before God. In the natural, people may be clothed in rags or riches, but in the spiritual sense, it means nothing before God. In His eyes, we are still (by fallen nature), naked, vulnerable, and afraid. Orphans. It is our hearts that God chooses to look upon. When God looks at/relates to His children, He sees perfection! He sees the Spirit of His Son inside you. He’s not looking at your physical body or even your actions. (Stay with me here.) John 4:24 tells us that, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, there is no other way to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6Our wrong actions (sin) can open a door for Satan to steal, kill, and destroy. Our actions can hurt us, physically, emotionally, and financially, affecting relationships around us. And our actions can harden our hearts (dull our senses) toward God to different degrees. But God’s love toward us/for us is unconditional and remains the same- it is based solely on His love for Jesus- It’s not a little bit of our good works plus Jesus that gives us right standing with God. Nope, your faith has to be solely based on what Jesus did for you on the cross, and you should receive it by grace… or none at all!!!! (“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” Eph. 2:8-9) And out of His love for us, we will serve Him with gladness and His love can flow like a river through us others. So if you know Jesus, not just heard about Him, but you know Him, and it’s not solely based on water baptism or a religious act performed over you sometime in your life. But if you have been spiritually born again, according to John Cpt. 3 and Romans Cpt. 10, then you have a new sinless nature inside you. You became “joint heirs with Christ,” and clothed in His robe of righteousness. And in God’s kingdom, one size fits all … in Christ. (Isaiah 41:10, Titus 3:5, John 10:10, Gen. 3:21. And I would encourage you to read/study the book of Romans/Galatians/Ephesians with an open heart and ask the Lord to reveal these truths because it is so far from what most religious backgrounds have taught us.) Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com |
