Sermon Central
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Garments Of Righteousness
Contributed by Bryan Hope on Jun 2, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: Fine linen clothing is the only appropriate garment for each guest to wear at the wedding of the Lamb, and it is furnished by the King. There is only one source for the fine linen, just as there was only one source for the covering that Adam and Eve received.
Both Christianity and Judaism have been called "bloody religions", by those who seek to discredit the Bible. Here is something I grabbed of the internet:-
One of the most well known aspects of a vampire is that it must feed upon the blood of the living; Dracula must drink to survive, (akin to people drinking the blood of Christ -the blood of divine life). However, I do not believe that this act of survival should be the basis by which the myth of Dracula is labelled as horrific and evil. The following are a few examples showing the parallels between Dracula myth and Christianity.
Christ dies for the sins of humanity and rises from his own death so that humanity may achieve life after death. Dracula dies for the sin of his bride’s (Elisabeta´s) suicide and rises from his own death so that their souls may again be linked in soul-love one day. In the Catholic mass, worshippers continually feast upon the blood and body of Christ in order to maintain their mortal link with the immortal life of the divine. Dracula feasts upon the blood and body of mortal life and incarnates immorality within himself; he becomes his own god.
(http://mural.uv.es/carodolz/christ.html)
© a.r.e.a/Dr.Vicente Forés López © Carolina Romero Dolz Universitat de Valencia Press
Christians and Jews alike depend on the shedding of blood for the absolution from sin and a means to access God. However many modern teachings tends to shy away from the subject of sacrifice and the shedding of blood. Again from the Net..
Most of Christianity teaches that salvation for the Christian is the result of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. They believe Jesus was a "literal physical sacrifice" to redeem them from their penalty for their sins, thus providing them eternal life. According to most of Christianity, all they have to do is believe and they have received their salvation. Much of this belief is based on supposition and wishful thinking rather than on what saith the scriptures. A careful study of the scriptures will reveal there is more to salvation than just believing the obvious. One needs to analyze the record of the scriptures to obtain the full truth regarding salvation of the would-be Christian. (n.b.Nostic Teaching)
….according to the teachings of Christianity today. It is believed he was made a human "blood" sacrifice by the Jews and thus ending the period of "Old Testament Law." However, until his death on the cross he lived and died under the "Old Testament Law."
The life example of Jesus is therefore our "blood of salvation"!
(“The Blood Of Salvation” by Arnold Gordon http://www.thezephyr.com/bible/bibled.htm)
The very first animal sacrifice occurred with no effort from man.
The Bible does not tell us of any ritual, prayer, or religiosity involved with that first sacrifice.
Adam and Eve had disobeyed their Creator’s commandment to not eat or touch the fruit of a certain tree. They fell from innocence and they spiritually died the moment they disobeyed just as God had said would happen.
They knew that the nakedness that they then saw in each other had to be covered. They tried to cover their nakedness with the leaves of a fig tree.
(Gen 3:21 NIV) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them
God in His love provided appropriate clothing, the skins of animals, for the two fallen sinners.
Man’s covering for his nakedness was inadequate, but God provided a more suitable and durable covering.
While the verse does not specifically state that animal sacrifice occurred, it is implied from the description of God’s procuring skins to clothe Adam and Eve.
This was the first sacrifice of atonement for man’s sin, prefiguring the death of Christ on the cross as a sacrifice and the atonement of man’s sins
For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. (Rom. 3:25 NLT)
In order to procure the skins to clothe Adam and Eve, God had to slay the animals and shed their blood. The Lord furnished the skins, fashioned the garments, and clothed Adam and Eve.
God did it all; they did nothing. After divine condemnation and judgment for this first sin, God acted in mercy to provide a way of salvation, and He demonstrated His grace to cover the shame of man.
It is important that we recognise that they could not supply their own righteousness.
Adam and Eve could not do it with fig leaves, which represented the works of their hands.
In Scripture, clothing symbolises righteousness.
Before their act of disobedience Adam and Eve, created in God’s image, were free of sin and needed no clothing. Suddenly they had died spiritually and saw the need for a "cover up" figuratively and literally.
