Blog

I’ll bet most of you have experienced the embarrassment of realizing you’d worn a new garment while it still had its’ price tag attached. It happened to me recently. I discovered it while placing my clothing out to wear for church one Sunday. There it was, glaring at me, a large, hard-to-miss price tag still attached to a pair of new slacks that had already been worn twice before that day. As I cut it off, it was hard not to think about whether-or-not someone may have noticed it those two other times. While there was nothing I could do about what may have already occurred, in my heart I hoped it had been well covered by the blouses I’d worn those other times.

Then, as I sat in church listening to the message, something occurred to me. What if we purposely wore a price tag on our clothing that was conspicuously visible. Only the tag would say something like this: Garment of Sin.  Price for Pure garment: Too Expensive, but pre-paid by Jesus. And in small print- See explanation & cleansing instructions on the back of this tag and in the Bible.

The concept of putting clothing on to cover our sin goes all the way back to Adam and Eve after they’d eaten of the forbidden fruit. In that infamous story, of the first sin, God found them wearing outfits made of fig leaves sewn together. They had suddenly realized they were naked and were ashamed. In my book, The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café, Elise is at church listening to the pastor talk about that very story. When he mentions “the leaves were fashioned into clothing”, Elise laughs inwardly thinking about how it would make a “unique” dress design but if they were autumn leaves it would be “too seasonal and scratchy.”

This got me thinking about a question I was recently asked while teaching our small group Bible study. The person wanted to know what our bodies will be like when we go to heaven. Searching my mind for a good biblical answer, I began with: “Well, we often use the metamorphosis of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly as a metaphor for the spiritual change that happens when we’re born again. And the beauty of a butterfly would be nice.” I started with. “But, perhaps with that transformation, our new bodies will be covered in a brilliant light. A radiant one that God wraps around us to purify and outshine all of our remaining sin.” As soon as that answer escaped my mouth, my heart and mind sought solid affirmation to back it up.

Then, a few weeks later, there it was hanging like a tag on a few scripture verses.

In Psalm 104:2, it says, “Oh Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment.”  Then, in Mark 9: 2-3: “There He was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone one in the world could bleach them.  While both of these verses are about Jesus, to me, they seemed to be a clue about how our bodies will also be clothed one day. I also considered Exodus 34:29-33 of how Moses’ face glowed with “radiance” when he came down from the Mountain after his encounter with God Almighty. His face was so brilliant with light, they had to put a veil over his face. And in 2 Corinthians 3: 13-18 it talks about the veil that Moses wore too. In verse 18 it finishes with; “But all of us with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  

All of those verses and so many more, tell me that God’s final purification of us will involve our fleshly bodies. That it will happen in the twinkling of an eye as we encounter God face to face and are about to enter eternity with Jesus. He will give us our final cleansing that makes us fully holy and able to be in God’s presence forever. It might be a radiant light much like Moses had on his face or maybe we’ll have bodies similar to beautiful butterflies. But as for now, while we’re still in these weak bodies, we also have scripture that encourages and prepares us to receive our future bodies. According to 1 John 1:6-9, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I read a funny story recently about a senior woman who stood nude in front of her full-length mirror. “Oh, my goodness! I look so fat, old, and wrinkled.” She bemoaned, then glanced at her husband who was sitting nearby. “I sure could use a little encouragement right now. Can’t you think of one positive thing to say about me?” She told him. He paused for a few seconds then replied: “Well, your eyesight sure is good.”

Well, if you got a chuckle out of that you probably feel a little like I do too. The more I look at my aging and weakened body, the more I yearn for a new one. One that’s clothed in the pure light of Christ and will never wrinkle, wear out, or go out of style.

Can I get a Hallelujah and Amen!