The Fashion of Christ

This is my second day living on my own, and while I sorely miss my fiance, I am getting used to being the only person in the house. Quite frankly, I'm enjoying decorating how I want (which means no decorations at all), stocking the house with the food I want, and a bathroom all to myself (which is nice coming from a house with three sisters). However, I eagerly await marriage and the arrival of my bride into the house, which would mean a much more pleasant house, cooked food, and a clean bathroom. As I've already been told, it will also mean a much more fashionable Greg. She plans on picking out my clothes each day to avoid my favorite matching schemes, such as stripes and plaid, white and off-white, sneakers with dress pants, and checkered pants with anything. I understand I'm not the most fashionable guy, so I will gladly accept her choosing my clothes. However, this does not completely take away my responsibility in clothing myself, I'm a guy, not a child. I will still be putting the clothes on.

Lately, I've been finding much pleasure in seeing Christ and the beauty of the Gospel in the minor prophets. Such has been the case today in the book of Zechariah. The book cries out for a Savior from the line of David, "On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1). Chapter 3 contains a beautiful picture of that cleansing fountain, which we now know as Christ's cleansing blood.

Zechariah 3:1-10 tells the story of Zechariah's vision of Joshua the High Priest being clothed by the angel of the LORD. I challenge you to place your name in the blanks in the story to see how wonderfully redeemed and saved you are from God's wrath...

There he was, ___________ standing before the angel of the LORD, who most believe to be Jesus Christ. _____________ looked terrified and confused as Satan, the accuser, the full manifestation of God's wrath, stood at his right accusing him of all the sins he's ever committed. But then the Most High God silenced Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen ___________ rebuke you!" It wasn't hard for Satan to accuse ___________, because he was wearing filthy clothes with his sins written all over them. Originally white, they now had every single inch covered in the sins and filth of his lifetime. After God silenced Satan, the angel of the LORD commanded angels to remove the filthy, sin-covered garments from _______'s body. Then the angel of the LORD declared, "I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." The angels removed the filthy garments and clothed him in pure garments from head to toe. With this transformation, ___________ is encouraged to follow Christ with access to the courts of Heaven.

It is beautiful picture of the Gospel. May we never forget that we cannot even put on the righteous garments, but it is the work of Christ that saves us from the accusations and wrath. We echo the praise Isaiah sings to God, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). Amen!