I've called this message this
morning, The Sinner's New Clothes. This past week I saw an ad for
a movie that is obviously a take-off
from an old fairy tale. That old fairy tale was called
the Emperor's new clothes. And I would dare to even think
of what they might do with such a thing in our day. But if you remember, the Emperor
was duped by some deceitful men into believing that they had
made for him an expensive, beautiful new set of clothes. And they had convinced him, and
since he was the emperor, there were others who were also supposedly
convinced of his new clothes and their beauty. But the truth
is, he was really walking around naked. He didn't have any covering at
all. And when I saw that and was reminded
of that, it reminded me of how this is very much like we are
as sinners. come from the womb self-deceived. But false religions of all different
kinds have added to that deception a greater deception. And so men and women are going
around thinking that they are clothed and righteous before
God. As a matter of fact, we're very
much like Adam and Eve here in this third chapter. They did exactly what God, for
their own good, had commanded them not to do. And last week we looked at what
great effect that one man's disobedience had on all of our race. But what I want us to see here
this morning is the mercy and the grace of God. that in the face of what they
had just done, not only in disobedience to His command, but also in the
face of His goodness to them, He still extends the hand of
His great mercy and grace. As a matter of fact, he'll be
the first one to declare the good news of the gospel to them. Look down, if you would, to that
twenty-first verse. Rather than destroying them eternally, The Scriptures say in verse 21,
that unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats
of skins and clothed them. He not only brought to their
attention and confession, the fact that they were naked. But He also clothed them. Sometimes the preaching of some
becomes nothing more than an exposure of man's nakedness, but the gospel. The gospel not
only is the message that exposes man's nakedness, his unrighteousness,
his sinfulness before God, but it is also the good news of what
God has done for us in grace. He made for them coats of skins
and clothed them. You see, the example that our
Lord gives us in this very garden experience is a clear picture
of what is necessary to clothe us, to cover our nakedness before
God. You see, in the book of Hebrews,
we have stated just exactly what is pictured for us in that twenty-first
verse. The apostle is led by the Spirit
to write, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood,
and without shedding of blood is no remission. Now, the truth is, if our gospel,
if that which we call our gospel, if it does not conform to what
he displayed here and pictured here in the garden, then it's
a false gospel. And that's why we have so many
warnings in Scripture about those who preach a gospel that Paul
calls another gospel. And since Paul said that the
gospel is that message wherein the righteousness of God is revealed,
the first gospel picture has to show us just exactly that,
and it does. A verse that we read last week
stands exactly true to that. Paul, writing in I Corinthians
15, he says, For since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive." They died, and yet they are made
alive. Adam and Eve violated the command
of As a matter of fact, they stood flat-footed and denied
the absolute sovereignty of God. They denied and defied His right
to be God and to rule over His creatures in all things. They sinned against God. All sin is against God. And not only that, having sinned
and found out maybe to some degree that what Satan had told them
through the serpent was just exactly the opposite, they realized
that they were naked. As a matter of fact, there is
a clear picture in that, that everything that is done by Satan
then or now, every deception is in complete defiance of what
God has said. They said God has not said that. And that is what the preaching
of our day is. Men and women looking at the
Scriptures, even reading the Scriptures, they say that this
is not really what God means. What He means is this. But I
say God means exactly what He says. And so Adam and Eve responded
in the way that has become natural to every fallen, blind, and spiritually
dead sinner. They attempted to cover their
nakedness and their shame with a garment made by their own hands,
the product of their own work. If you look back in verse 7,
it says, the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that
they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves aprons. Now, the first thing that God
showed to them and to us is that he will not accept the works
of sinners. He will not, though he himself
commands us to do a multitude of things that we are to do. He will never accept those things
as the basis of our standing, our salvation, and our acceptance
in His sight. Garments of human making, in
whatever form they take, are unsuitable for standing before
God. He is not such a one as we are. He is infinitely holy. He is glorious in righteousness. And we can never do anything
that will atone for our sins or cleanse us or clothe us to
make us acceptable in His sight. Let me read you a verse out of
the book of Exodus, chapter 20, where God, in His law, gave us
so many illustrations and so many clear statements of this
very thing. It says, And if thou wilt make
me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone. For if thou lift up thy tool
upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps
unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." That's all we are before God. We have nothing that we can do. We have nothing that we can give
or offer. And just the opposite, even under
the law, to make an altar that was carved by the hand of man
out of stone, or to set up steps to that altar was, he says, to
discover again our nakedness before God. And so, Adam and Eve are in this
awful situation. So much so, are they separated
from God in a sense that they run and hide in the trees in
the midst of the garden. Why do they do that? if they
had their aprons on. Because in the depths of their
heart, they knew that it would not cover their shame, that it
would not make up for their disobedience, that they could not stand as
they were in the presence of a thrice holy God. But God, God Himself, in His free and
in His sovereign grace, He remedied their plight. I could just look at verse 21
again and again. Unto Adam also and to his wife. Did the Lord God make coats of
skins, and He clothed them? He clothed them. Now, if you
stop and think a minute, without a doubt, I'm sure those clothes,
that covering, or tunics as the word actually is there in the
Hebrew, those coverings were not appealing to the eye. They were made of skins. And if you stop and think about
it, if you had been one of those who looked at another type of
Christ, the tabernacle as Israel set it up in the wilderness,
covered with badger skins on the outside, that wouldn't have
been appealing either. As a matter of fact, Isaiah records
the words that ought to make us stop and think. It says of
God's Christ that He hath no form nor comeliness that we should
desire Him. The natural eye cannot see the
beauty and the glory and the value of Christ and Him crucified. But if you stop and think here
in this opening book of the Bible, the genesis that God gives us
here in the first book and in these first chapters, the first
thing that dies, physically. Adam died first spiritually. But the first thing that died
physically was a sacrifice. The first thing that God displayed
After the fall of Adam and the fall of our race in Adam, the
first thing that he showed was a demonstration of his mercy
and grace in Christ. Because this is Christ in a figure,
in a picture, in a type. And in this text, is found this
glorious type of the Lord Jesus Christ in a lot of different
ways. The first being this. In this,
the innocent died in the place of the guilty. The first thing
that God did toward our father and mother Adam and Eve, the
first thing He did was show so clearly the principle of substitution. That the Lord Jesus Christ, in
order to save us, in order to clothe our nakedness before God,
had to die in our place. And if God clothed Adam and Eve
with these skins, the animal from which those skins came had
to have died. Isn't that something? The first
thing that they are made to confront, not only is their nakedness,
but that in order for God to deliver them and clothe them
in order for them to be able to stand in His presence, something
had to die. Why did these animals die? Well, they did not die as a result
of any guilt of their own. They were innocent. They had
not violated God's command. They are a picture of innocence. Not only that, they did not die
at the hands of some other animal. There was no violence in the
world until this very incident. And they did not die. on their
own. Death, though it is a result
of sin in men, there was no sin in the world until this hour. They did not die at the hand
of man for meat, because man lived on a non-meat diet until
the day of Noah much later. As a matter of fact, this is
what God said, every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you, even as the green herb have I given you all things. That's
not until Genesis 9. Now, in our day, there are people
who even go back. and say we ought to do just like
they did in the Garden of Eden and only eat that which is vegetable. We'll be vegetarians. But that
is a denial, in one sense of speaking, of the very fall. We are not in that state. And God says, I'll give you every
moving thing to eat for meat. No. This innocent animal or animals
died at the hand of God. You read anything here about
Adam and Eve killing any animals or eating any animals or anything
like that? If you go back to our verse,
it says that this is what the Lord And that's always what the gospel
is about. It's about what the Lord does. And so the skin of these animals
were removed for their covering, and therefore its blood was shed
as a sacrifice for the guilty. Are we guilty? The Bible says
all the world stands guilty. before him. And the sacrificial
death of this animal is this wonderful foreshadowing of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and this is why he is called the Lamb of
God. The Lamb of God. And like this first animal that
is sacrificed in order to clothe Adam and Eve, Christ also is
innocent of Himself. He is sinless. As a matter of fact, when Peter
describes Him, when he reminds us of how we are truly redeemed
from our sins, redeemed from the curse of the law. He said
we were not redeemed by things such as silver and gold, but by the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He is the one who is holy and
harmless and undefiled, separate from sin. He is the one who knew
no sin. And not only that, but like this
first sacrificial animal, Christ was also killed at the decree
and by an act of God. Did you know that? Hold your
place right here and turn to Acts chapter 2. They're always fussing and fighting
about the Jews killing Christ or the
Romans killing Christ. Humanly speaking, Jew and Gentile
had a heavy hand in just exactly that. But we ought not forget
one thing in particular. Acts chapter 2, and listen to
what Peter says in verse 23. Him being delivered, by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. You have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." They did just exactly what they
wanted to do. They did it with malice of heart
They did it by their wicked hands. They crucified Him and they slew
Him. But when they did it, they did it
under that determinate counsel and foreordaining decree of God
Almighty. Just like it was in Genesis 3
at the hand of God, so is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ
being slain of God for His people because it says that He is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Not only that. But like that
first sacrificial animal which was killed in its innocence for
the sin of Adam and Eve, Christ is said to be the Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world. Now, what does that mean? Number one, it means He's the
only one who takes away sin. Number two, it means that the
way he takes away sin is by his sacrifice. And number three, it means he
is the one not only for Jew or Gentile, He is the one not only
for a people who live in this area or a people who live in
another area. He's the Savior of the world. He's the only one that there
is. And He saves a people from among
men out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue. And He has taken away the sins
of his people by shedding his own blood, offering one sacrifice
for sins forever, and he did it once. When Paul asks the question, how can God freely give us all
things? Or when he makes a statement,
as it rather is, how shall he not also freely give us all things? The response to that is this,
it is Christ that died. And the sacrifice provided a
covering for the guilty. Adam and Eve were clothed in
the skin of the sacrifice, which is a picture that we see all
through this book. It's not only the skins that
clothe Adam and Eve. It is the robe that is spoken
of. It is the garment that is talked
about. It is the clothes. It is the
wedding garment. But they're all pictures of that
righteousness, of that salvation, which is in the doing and the
dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because just as God, through
this sacrifice, covered the physical nakedness of these guilty sinners,
even so He has also, by the righteousness of Christ, covered the spiritual
nakedness of every one that Christ died for. It says in Psalm 132 that the
people of God shall be clothed with righteousness. You see, He's not only put away
our sins, but everything about us now in the sight of God is
righteousness. because he hath clothed us with
the righteousness of Christ." He has imputed to us the very
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in the New
Testament when we're instructed in this way? If a man has two coats, And there's somebody who has
need. He's to give him one of those coats. Now, that's more
than just a good moral lesson and instruction. Because in every
sense, the Lord Jesus Christ is that one man who in this sense
truly does have two coats. He has his essential righteousness
as God. But he has also that righteousness
which he brought in and established as the God-man before God. And his people all have need
They're all like Adam and Eve. They're naked before God in themselves. And worse than that, they have
gone about sowing their own little fig leaves of righteousness together. They've gone about trying to
establish their own righteousness, and yet they're even the worst
naked before God. He says, This is the legacy or
the heritage of my people. Number one, no weapon that is
formed against them shall prosper. And number two, their righteousness
is of me, is of God, just like Adam and Eve's covering was of
God in another, thy righteousness is not our own, but that of the
Lord Jesus Christ, which we are brought to receive as the gift
of God through the faith that he gives." One of my favorite
passages in all of this book is Ezekiel 16. In Ezekiel 16 and verse 8, this
is what God says, Now when I passed by thee. Where did Adam and Eve's covering
and deliverance begin? It began with God. They're hiding
over here in the trees in the midst of the garden. And if left
to themselves, if left to their own vain and evil imaginations,
they'll perish. He says, Now when I passed by
thee, this is in Ezekiel 16 and verse 8. Now when I passed by
thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. I clothed thee also with broidered
work, and shod thee with badger skin, and I girded thee about
with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk, and thy renown
went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect." Not just good, not just better,
but it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon
thee, saith the Lord God." You see, the Lord brings His
people to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, to delight in His sacrifice,
And as Paul says, to be found in him, not having mine own righteousness
which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness of God, which is by faith. That means that
every believer, whoever they are, in whatever time they are. Every one who God in grace has
brought to believe on Christ and to trust His shed blood and
His perfect righteousness, every one of them can say what Isaiah
said. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." Now, turn over with me to Revelation
chapter 7. Now, this is something that all the
Lord's going to confess. If you look
down, first of all, in Revelation 7 and verse 9, listen to what
it says. John says, After this I beheld,
and lo, a great multitude which no man could number. That doesn't mean God hadn't
numbered them, but no man can number them. of all nations and kindreds and
people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb
clothed with white robes and palms in their hands." Well,
it goes on a bit in verse 13, "'And one of the elders answered,
saying underneath What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? Where did
they come from? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Where did these white robes come
from? Through the blood of the Lamb of God. Sad it is that we as sinners
imagine that anything that we think we are of ourselves, or
that we might do, or might even be enabled by God's grace to
do, could contribute one thread to the garment of salvation,
that we have in any way contributed to that complete, full, covering
robe, which is the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Do you remember when that prodigal
came home? What did his father say? He commanded
the servant. to put on him the best robe. He's fresh from the swine pants. He must have been a sight. And
his garments must have been ragged and tattered. He said, put on
him the best robe. We live our life And apart from God's grace, we'll
come before God one day and have to confess that all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. Adam and Eve saw a need to be
covered. But it wasn't until God showed
them that He would not accept a covering of their works and
reveal to them the covering that He gives by grace that they were
safe. He says in Revelation 3, Because
thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing. And knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." He said, I'll spew you out of
my mouth because you say these things and don't know that you're
naked. to buy of me gold tried in the
fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mightest
see." As a matter of fact, the command of God, even to those
He is always this, put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's always our salvation. He's always our only righteousness. He's always the only sacrifice
for sin. He's always the only covering
and clothing for sinners. An old hymn writer expressed
exactly what I'm trying to say to you this morning. He said, Jesus, thy blood and
righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress. Midst flaming worlds in these
arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head." We're only covered, we're only
clothed before God if we're clothed with the garment
that He put on us, gave us as a gift in the Lord Jesus Christ. One day the Scripture shows a wonderful time, an actual public display of the
Lord's people with Christ, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But it also gives us a warning.
of a supper a man made for his son, a wedding supper, and there
was found a man in that supper, or trying to get into that supper,
who had no wedding garment. And he said, bind him, hand and
foot, cast him into outer darkness. Now why was that? Well, under
the Eastern traditions, in that day, in Christ's day. In many cases, in the prospered
households, it was the custom for the master of the house,
for the father of the groom, to not only give the feast, but
provide garments, wedding garments, for everyone who was to attend. So it was the highest insult
and offense to try to get into that supper without the garment
he had provided to display his glory. Christ's blood shed. His righteousness established. That's the sinner's new clothes. And everything else is just filthy
rags. Our Father, this day we give
You thanks for the greatness of Your grace, for the boundless
mercy and goodness You show to Your people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, we show ourselves to be
such when we confess Him before men,
when we believe on Him and rely on Him and trust Him alone, His
sacrifice, His perfect work, His glorious death in our place, as that one basis For that one robe, that one covering that makes us, Lord, to be acceptable
in thy sight, that makes us to be perfectly free from all sin and perfectly righteous before
the throne of your justice, for all eternity. Clothe us afresh and anew. Cause us to feel the wrapping
of that glorious robe which bears the mark of all the
King's Lord, we thank you for our Christ. We thank you for all that you've
made him to be to us. We thank you that you've clothed
us. And we desire no other garment
and confess that we are totally naked in our sin without him. Lord, as we go out into the week,
we pray that you'd watch over us and keep us, help us, give
us wisdom and grace and strength and faith and understanding. Cause us to walk in the paths
of righteousness for thy name's sake. We thank you for your goodness
to us. in every way, we acknowledge
that all that we are and all that we have, we are and have
by the grace of our good God. Blessed Father, we pray and help
our children. Bring them to a knowledge of
yourself. Lord, rather than making them
prosper, rather than making them healthy, rather than making them
all the things that we desire for them to be after the flesh. Make them to know Christ, and
love Christ, and love your gospel, and love your people. Do it,
we pray, for His glory. and upon the basis of what he
has accomplished. For we thank you and we praise
you, and we confess to you, thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven. Amen.