“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29Being clothed in Christ is like wearing a Snuggie. Think about it. Snuggie’s are made for everyone, both male and female, young and old, black and white. Anyone can afford one, it’s just a matter of deciding if you want/need it. Snuggie’s also serve to protect and make you look good. The super-soft, super-thick, super-luxurious fleece blanket will protect you from experiencing arctic temperatures when your roommate, spouse or family member sets the thermostat to a chilling 65 degrees. And who doesn't look good in loose layers of flowing red fleece? When someone is wearing a Snuggie, all insecurities that people have about their body are hidden. You can't see kankles, potbellies, cellulite, moles, scars, bruises, or cuts. You just see the glorious, velvety, red fabric. You could also say that a Snuggie provides you with some sort of identity (especially if you buy the new designer styles) . Just think of the possibilities for you to be known as sensibly chic, functional yet trendy, economical yet cozy.
When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts as Lord and Savior of our lives, we then become clothed in Christ and reap the many blessings associated with that. The most obvious blessing is getting free admission into heaven. But how does that work exactly? It’s simple. Like a Snuggie, being clothed in Christ’s blood will protect us, make us look good, and give us identity. (Note: the reason we have this available to us is because Christ died for the sins of the world (Hebrews 2:9, 2 Corinthians 5:21))
Once we die, we will all come face to face before God almighty. At this time we will be judged according to our deeds. Well what is the standard we have to meet? Surprisingly, the Bible doesn't state that our good deeds must outweigh our bad deeds; it actually sets forth an even more absurd standard, a standard of perfection. Jesus himself says " Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). Jesus said “perfect” because he meant it. Perfect is defined as being entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings. Thus, it is wrong to assume you can qualify for perfection because you have avoided what some ignorantly call 'major sins' including murder and adultery. All sin is equal, and breaking even one is enough to separate us from God forever. " For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2:10).
So admitting that we all have sinned, where does that leave us? The Bible says the wages of sin is death and that we will be eternally separated from God. Well the great thing about being clothed in Christ is that it will protect us from getting what we deserve, a fair judgment. We will be protected from God’s judgment against our sin and Christ’s blood will makes us look good. In fact, it will make us look perfect. When a believer goes before God, all God will see is that the believer is clothed in the blood of Christ. When we hide behind the blood of Christ, God won’t be able to see the times when we worshiped things other than God, lied, dishonored our father/mother, and took credit for our own accomplishments instead of giving the glory to God. Because all God will see is Christ, our social status, gender, ethnicity and good deeds become irrelevant because our identity becomes that of Christ. Therefore, since Christ led a perfect life and will spend eternity with God in paradise/heaven, so will a believer! “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! “(Romans 5:9). Now that is Snuggylicious!
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