God Says: "I've Got You Covered!"

In the 3rd week of February, we had a fast and furious snow storm to hit the Triangle.  It came in so fast that people could not get to their destinations before the roads became crowded and slick.  This was the storm that left thousands stranded on the highways with some people abandoning their cars.  For others it took 4+ hours to make a 30 minute drive home. 

The triangle area was covered in several inches of beautiful white snow.  I had decided to spend the night at work in case I could be of help in the residential buildings if staff could not make it in to work.  By that evening, the ground and every building/ structure and vehicle was covered.  As I looked outside, all I could see was white and ice that sparkled as the light from the street lights shone down.

What a beautiful sight that was!!  And the next day, the scene was still beautiful even though workers had begun the task of cleaning sidewalks so that staff could move easily from 1 building to another.  By afternoon, the snow again came fast and furious but with larger white flakes.  It only lasted a couple of hours, and then the storm had finally passed.

I love watching the snow when it is coming down and seeing how it changes the landscape from green and brown grass to white.  From trees with no leaves to trees with snow covered limbs.  From vehicles of varying colors to all white.  From bushes with varying-shaped leaves and colors to all white.  As the snow begins to accumulate, even the shapes begin to look a little different.  The railing on our front porch is flat on top, but with a couple of inches of snow on it, it becomes rounded on top.

I also love that time after dark when no one is on the roads, and all is  hushed and quiet like we have never heard before - no children playing outside, no vehicles on the roads, no wildlife making sounds in the woods.  As I looked at the snow the 2nd evening I was there, I heard God say to me "the robe of righteousness, clean and white".   "The robe of righteousness, clean and white".  Just like the snow had covered the earth, God was telling me that I am covered in the robe of righteousness, clean and white. 

This "robe of righteousness" is not something that I have studied or know much about; obviously God thought it was time for me to know.  So He led me to this scripture in Isaiah: 

Isaiah 61:10:  "For 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".

"he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation" :

"clothed" (Heb - labash; lawbash')= to wrap around, to put on a garment; arm, come upon, put on or upon

"garments" = clothing; apparel, raiment, robe

"salvation"(Heb - yesha; yeh shah') = deliverance from all that separates us from God; prosperity; safety

By clothing us with the "garments of salvation", God has wrapped us up, armed us, come upon us, and put upon us his deliverance from sin and death.  He has put us into prosperity and safety in Him.

"he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" :

"cover" = to guard from attack; to lie over or envelope; to afford protection or security; to make provision for by means of a reserve or deposit".  Didn't God provide for us by sending His Son Jesus to make that deposit for us? 

"robe" = mantle, cloak, coat; it's something we put on to cover ourselves

"righteousness" = rightness, objectiveness, morality/virtue; justice; to cleanse, clear self of spot or blemish

The word "hath" is the present singular form of the word "have" which indicates present tense.  This means that God has already covered us with the robe of righteousness.  He's not waiting for some other time.  He has provided the deposit through Jesus and covered us with Jesus's blood.  He has cleansed us and made us whole.

"as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels"

In those days of scripture, the bridegroom and bride really dressed up.  When I was growing up, we would say that our friends were "decked out" if they were really dressed up.  They would embellish their appearance with ornaments and jewelry, and if their family did not have any of these items, they would borrow from their neighbors or other family members.  It was important to them to give a good showing or appearance.  But basically, the bridegroom and bride were covering themselves. 

God has covered us with His righteousness, and He's saying, "I've Got You Covered!"

After studying this, all I could think about was how the snow covered everything that I could see that night - buildings, vehicles, ground, tree limbs, etc.  In the same way, God covers us, and He covers us like no one else can, like no earthly object can. 

In our daily routine, we cover ourselves by wearing various types of "covers" - clothes, coats, hats, sunglasses (cover our eyes), shoes, comforters on our beds to keep us warm.  These "covers" protect us from varying temperatures and elements of the weather, the bright rays of the sun, and from injury.  They also keep us warm while in bed or on the couch. 

But what God covers us with is different from what we cover ourselves with.  It is the fine linen, clean and white.

Rev. 19:8:  "for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in the fine linen, clean and white:  for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints".

"the marriage of the Lamb is come" - the marriage has already taken place so we don't have to die and go up yonder in the blue to be with Jesus and put on our long white robe; our marriage with God was completed when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and received the Holy Spirit; this is the union, the marriage that we have with Him; we have already come into union with Him and don't have to wait for anything or anyone.  By this marriage, God has already planted the seed in us, which is Himself, which is the Word.

"his wife hath made herself ready" -

"wife" = the true woman - the church; those who have come into the full knowledge of the revelation of who God is

"made herself ready" = to prepare, provide; to construct, create, build, make, ordain

How does the church do this?  Our Pastor has taught us that we make ourselves ready by:

1.     studying the Word, the seed that is already planted in us

        2.     worshipping God in spirit and in truth
        3.     putting on the mind of Christ and letting this mind be in us
       4.     girding of the loins of our minds
       5.     walking in the light

We must make ourselves ready by taking action and believing

"And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in the fine linen, clean and white:"

"granted" (Gr - didomi; did o mee)= bestow, give, bring forth, offer, have power; Webster defines granted as "to consent to carry out for a person; allow fulfillment of; to permit as a right or privilege; implies giving to a petitioner something that could be withheld".  But it was not withheld because the wife, the church, made herself ready

"arrayed" = clothe; put on; adorn; to set or place in order

"fine" - free from impurity, pure, keen, superior in quality, conception or appearance

"clean" (Gr - katharos; kath ar os')= pure; free from dirt or pollution/disease/moral corruption/offensive treatment; thorough, complete

"white" (Gr - leukos; lyoo kos') = free from spot or blemish; bright; luminous (illuminate which means furnish knowledge)

The woman (the church) has been given a gift, a right, a privilege of the fine linen.  She did not earn it herself by just doing "good works", but it was given to her because she was ready!  She had prepared herself.  And because of this preparation, He gives us the most beautiful gift of all - His righteousness. 

2 Corinthians 5:21: "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him".

We are adorned, set in order with a cover or robe of superior quality which is pure, free from disease/moral corruption/offensive treatment; free from spot or blemish.  God has put on us the fine linen, clean and white, which is that robe of righteousness.  

But why linen?

Linen is a fabric woven from yarn made of the fine fibers of the stalk of the flax plant and noted for its strength, coolness, and luster.  In ancient times, the flax stalk grew quite tall and was cut or pulled out by the roots near full growth, dried for a time in the sun, then pounded vigorously to separate the fine fibers, washed and bleached, and then it was ready for the weaver. 

This flax plant had to go through a process before it's fibers could be used by the weaver to produce a finished fabric called linen.  But not until it went through the preparation stages of being dried, pounded, washed, and bleached was it ready to be used to make the linen. 

Doesn't that sound like the preparation process that God uses with us 

1.     to be cut or pulled out by the roots from the religious system

       2.      dried for a time in the sun to drain the untrue teachings of the religious system out of us
              so that the living waters can be poured in
       3.     pounded to remove everything that is not like God and
       4.     washed & bleached in the blood of Jesus. 

This preparation is needed before we can be fully ready for God to produce the woven tapestry

of our lives.  To weave means to unite in a coherent whole; to make by intertwining;

contrive = to form or create.  Just as Pastor Hansley told us a few weeks ago how God is a potter,

our God is also a weaver who forms and creates us to be just like Him.

The term “fine linen” in the Bible refers to a sheer, almost translucent material of the expensive finely woven linen worn by royal and wealthy people or the priests of the Temple.  "Fine" means superior in quality or appearance; excellent; distinct; keen; pure (spotless, stainless)

The Lord speaks of His blessings to Israel in terms of beautiful cloth and clothing.  Ezekiel 16:10-13: “I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with leather, I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk....Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth”.  

David wore garments made of this fine linen when the Ark was removed.

1 Chronicles 15:27:  “David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark”.

Royalty and priests were covered in this expensive and delicate fabric.  Aren't we a "royal priesthood" as described in 1 Peter 2:9? 

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light".

As our Pastor has taught us, we have to become dressed in the light of God; in the beginning when He said "Let there be light", he was saying "let there be knowledge", and knowledge is power.  He has called us out of darkness and into his light with the revelation knowledge.

Nothing can cover us like God can with His fine linen, clean and white.  He gives us the best of everything! 

Don't forget - God says "I've got you covered!"

In the beginning, Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves from God because they knew their eyes had been opened, and they knew they were naked.  In Genesis 3:21, God made "coats of skin and clothed them".  He covered them then because of their sin.  And he continues to cover us now!  Same God then; same God now!

We can cover our bodies, but we alone cannot cover ourselves.  We alone cannot fight the effects of this world.  Think again of the snow covered landscape that I saw.  What happens to the snow over the next few days?  The snowplows come out in full force.  The leaf blowers are blowing snow off of the sidewalks.  The shovels are scraping against the sidewalks and parking lots.  And the previous appearance begins to change from the beautiful white snow-covered landscape to piles of plowed up snow at the edge of the parking lot or on the sides of the sidewalks and the roads. 

The exhaust of vehicles will dirty the snow that is piled in the parking lots.  The dead grass will cling to the clumps of snow on the sides of the road.  The tire tracks of vehicles will leave dirt where it once was white.  What was once a beautiful white covering of snow has become dirty and dingy with the effects of this world. 

But God says to us, "I've got you covered"!  He has clothed us in the robe of righteousness as we begin the journey of living into His image - becoming like Him, taking on His mind, and living into the purpose He has for our lives through eternal life.

As life happens, we face the dirt and hurt of this world and realize how easily it can become attached to us and try to ruin our fine, white linen covering.  We go through tribulation; we go through trials; we go through the pains of this world. 

Rev. 7:13-14:  "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 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".

"These are they which came out of great tribulation".  We are not strangers to tribulation.  It can take on different forms - dirt gets thrown into our faces; dirty and dingy grass stains are seen on our white robes; the peace we once had is interrupted by the sounds of gossip, complaints, or jealousy; the scraping sounds like the shoveling of the snow make us think that the white layers of our righteousness are being scraped off of us, and we begin to wonder if we can hold onto the threads of our white linen robe and what Jesus did for us.

But that's why God has given us His armor to fight off the evils and hurts of this world.  Because greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.

"have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"

Have you ever had a spot of blood on your clothes?  It's so much easier to get the blood out if you can rinse it under cold water right away.  If not, it takes some work to remove it and sometimes it will not come out.  But that is how man washes blood and other stains out of our clothes. 

God did just the opposite.  He used the blood - Jesus's blood - to wash our sins away and make our robes white.  How does that work? 

We .know that the blood is critical to our life because there is life in the blood; but does our blood have redemptive powers?  Think about it:  it is not the blood of man but the blood of the Lamb that can wash away sin and make the soul clean and white in the sight of God. 

Religion preaches that we are going up yonder in the blue to put on the robe of righteousness, but we already have it!  We have it because it is this righteousness of God that He gives to us when we accept Him and manifest Him within us.  Just as the butterfly emerges from the cocoon as a new creature with beautifully colored, exquisite wings, we are transformed within and become a new creature with the robe of righteousness covering and enveloping us.

I think I am safe in saying that we won't have any more snow storms until possibly later in the year.  The next time you witness a snow storm, I pray you will remember this message.  But regardless of the weather outside, regardless of whether you are feeling the effects of this world, always remember:  "God says:  I've Got You Covered!"

~  Deaconess Rachel West