This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “A Savior Born for You! (WATCH HERE)
Isaiah 61:10 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 righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Are you excited when you get new clothes for Christmas? I suppose it might depend on what that clothing is. If it’s a sports jersey of your favorite player, maybe. But a pair of socks or another Christmas tie…not really. I remember as a kid getting clothes or socks at times and while grateful for something new, the toys were the more exciting gifts.
So when Isaiah “delights greatly” and “rejoices” for a new set of clothes, one’s curiosity is peaked.
These clothes aren’t just the basic necessities we wear every day or even the finest Christmas dress off the rack, but clothes that God himself has both made and given to us. They are not clothes that money could by or our effort could earn, but ones that are placed on us by his grace.
Robes of righteousness.
What comes to mind when you envision “robes of righteousness?” Flowing, ornate cloth that catches the attention of everyone, yet their eyes are fixed on the robes, not on the person. These robes are imparted to us by faith as the Apostle Paul wrote:
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Righteousness is the “right adherence to the law.” It is the perfection that God demands from each one of us. We may try to figure out what good from our wardrobe will be good enough, or we may try to reconcile that our clothes look better than most, but in reality without the gift from God of his robes of righteousness, we stand imperfect before a holy God. The outcome of this is not the favor of God, but rather the justice of God.
So no wonder that Isaiah rejoices in the LORD God because he, God, had clothed him, Isaiah, in these robes of righteousness.
Who said grace wasn’t in the Old Testament? What a beautiful picture of God’s grace than he removes or covers our imperfect, stained, torn clothes with the perfect robes of righteousness won for us by the perfect life of the baby born in the manger of Bethlehem.
And…we get to wear them every day. Like a child who has a favorite outfit that wants to wear it every day is the Christian that wants to and gets to wear Christ’s righteousness every day. What does it look like when people see these robes? Perhaps Paul again gives us an insight of what it looks like when we wear these precious robes out in public:
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Enjoy wearing this wonderful gift from the Lord this Christmas and in the New Year! Tomorrow…garments of salvation!
Apply: Every morning as you are getting dressed, remember that covering your physical clothes are the robes of righteousness Jesus puts on you. Enjoy wearing them every day!
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for coming to this earth and earning the righteousness I could not and then in your grace putting them on me as robes that I can wear every day! AMEN.