Clothed With Christ

For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

(Galatians 3:27-29)

Meditation

The most amazing thing about becoming a Christian is that you are clothed with Christ. Can you grasp what that means? It means when the Father looks at you, he doesn’t see your wickedness; he sees his Son, Jesus. He’s not just standing between you and the Father, obstructing the Father’s view. Your sins are covered by Jesus to the point that they are forgotten. When you come up out of the waters of baptism, you “put on” Christ. You can think of it like putting on the warmest coat you’ve ever had and one you’ll never take off. When you’re clothed with Christ, the world should not see the old you anymore. They should see the likeness and the light of Jesus where there once was unpleasantness and darkness.

This unbelieving world likes to delineate their differences. Whether it’s by skin pigment, social status, or gender, they try very hard to make themselves out to be better than someone else. Once you put on Christ, all of that should melt away. You are no longer Jew or Muslim, ditch digger or company president, male or female, you are all co-equal in the eyes of the Father. Race is meaningless to you now, because you are all the sons and daughters of God. The burden of mistrust and hatred for anyone whose different from you is lifted from your shoulders. Instead of a heart full of loathing, it’s full of love. Not only for other believers but for everyone. The petty differences that separate are left behind in the cleansing waters of baptism.

The kicker to all of this is, what comes after this life. Before you put on Christ, you were destined for eternal punishment, as were we all. You were once a slave to your sins, unable to free yourself, but you are now a slave to Christ Jesus. Not in the unhappy or brutal way, but in the loving and beautiful way of a father and child. Because you have been adopted into the family of God, you are now heirs to all his splendor. Even if your earthly father wasn’t so good and loving, your heavenly Father is there to give you every perfect gift. His love is unconditional, his forgiveness is all encompassing, and his promise is everlasting.

Prayer Time

Father in heaven, your name is holy. We worship you with our whole hearts. You adopted us as your own children when we accepted the lordship of Jesus Christ and were baptized into your Church. Since our rebirth, we bare the righteousness of Christ like a cloak. Now, when you look at us, you don’t see our sins, you see Christ and his righteousness. Thank you, Father, for saving us. Our faith is strengthened daily with the blessings we’ve received. Thank you for pulling us up out of the filth of our sins. Thank you, Lord, for our adoption as sons and daughters. We were deaf and blind orphans, stuck in an endless cycle of sin, searching for something better but not knowing what. You have made us heirs to the mighty riches of your kingdom. We belong to Jesus now and we rest on the promise of an eternity with him. It’s in his most precious and holy name, we pray. Amen!