Clothed by God: Finding True Covering for Sin in Christ

Jimmy Fortunato

• 3 min read
Clothed by God: Finding True Covering for Sin in Christ
God's provision of perfect covering through Christ's righteousness replaces our inadequate fig-leaf attempts to hide sin through good works and self-effort.

"Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." - Genesis 3:21

The Inadequacy of Self-Covering

After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their eyes were opened to their nakedness, producing immediate shame. Their first response reveals humanity's natural instinct when confronting sin: self-effort.

Genesis 3:7 tells us, "they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." This makeshift covering represents all human attempts to hide, minimize, or compensate for sin through our own efforts.

These fig leaf coverings were:

  • Self-made
  • Temporary
  • Inadequate
  • Fragile
  • Unable to truly address shame

Like Adam and Eve, we often try to cover our spiritual nakedness through:

  • Good works
  • Religious rituals
  • Moral behavior
  • Charitable giving
  • Comparison to others

God's Provision of True Covering

Consider this profound truth found in Genesis 3:21: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

This divine intervention of the Lord, reveals several crucial aspects of God's character and plan:

  1. God takes initiative in addressing our sin problem
  2. God provides what we cannot provide for ourselves
  3. Blood sacrifice is required (animals died to provide the skins)
  4. God clothes us completely rather than partially
  5. God's covering is permanent unlike our temporary solutions

This act of clothing Adam and Eve foreshadows the ultimate covering God would provide through Christ.

Modern Fig Leaves

Today, people continue attempting to cover their spiritual nakedness through various "fig leaf" approaches that include:

  • Redefining sin as personal choice or self-expression
  • Embracing moral relativism
  • Substituting psychology for spiritual transformation
  • Creating customized spirituality that avoids accountability
  • Using success or achievement to mask spiritual emptiness

The Problem With Self-Covering

Mankind's attempt to cover sin through self-effort always fails.

What Adam and Eve made as a self-covering wasn't enough. They had to be clothed by God to cover their sin. No amount of self-effort was able to properly cover their sin. All of us need to be properly clothed with the righteousness that is provided only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Human solutions to sin always fall short because:

  • They address symptoms rather than the root cause
  • They cover the external but not the internal
  • They temporarily hide but cannot remove guilt
  • They rely on imperfect human effort
  • They lack the power to transform

Christ: Our Perfect Covering

Just as God clothed Adam and Eve with garments of skin, He offers to clothe believers with the righteousness of Christ. This spiritual covering is:

  1. Divinely provided - "It is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8)
  2. Blood-purchased - "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22)
  3. Completely sufficient - "By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14)
  4. Freely given - "Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:9)
  5. Eternally effective - "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17)

Receiving God's Covering

How can we receive the covering that God provides?

  1. Recognize your need - Acknowledge that your own efforts cannot cover sin
  2. Repent of self-sufficiency - Turn from trusting in your own righteousness
  3. Receive Christ's sacrifice - Accept His death as payment for your sin
  4. Rest in His righteousness - Trust in His perfect covering rather than your own efforts
  5. Reflect His character - Live as one clothed with Christ (Romans 13:14)

Remember, nothing else can provide a covering for your sin. The reason why Jesus Christ came, and died on Calvary's tree, was because we all have a sin problem. He is able to properly clothe us with His righteousness if we would simply receive the free gift of salvation that's offered by Him.

The Family Application

For Christian families, this truth has profound implications:

  • Parents: Model dependence on Christ's righteousness rather than self-righteousness
  • Children: Learn that performance can't earn God's favor—only Christ's covering suffices
  • Marriages: Base relationship healing on mutual forgiveness rather than merit
  • Families: Create grace-based rather than performance-based homes

Remember that no family was more spiritual than Adam and Eve were before the fall, and they still fell into sin. Simply put: we ALL need God's covering through Christ.

How have you tried to cover your spiritual nakedness with "fig leaves" of your own making? Or, are you fully trusting in Christ's covering?

#RighteousnessInChrist #GodsCovering #FigLeaves #SalvationTruth #GraceNotWorks

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