Clothed in Christ's Righteousness

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Online Easter Video

Jesus Risen and Alive Video

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Opening Prayer

Opening Song

Kids Time

Oliver, Charlotte, and Elliot.

Easter Sunday - More than Jesus dying for us?

Hey kids!

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Sermon

Love Has Risen Video

Welcome

The end of our Stripped Series.

Stripped of Pride

Stripped for Purification

Stripped of the Old Self

Stripped in Humiliation

Stripped the Powers

Stripped of Illusions

Transition - Today is Easter Sunday… Jesus rose from the grave, stripping death of its sting.

But instead of talking about being stripped today, the Resurrection brings adornment to us. It brings something we get to put on instead of strip off.

Today, for those of us who trust in Christ and His Resurrection, we recognize that not only did Christ strip away the sting of death, but also the penalty of sin. We’ve been made clean, and that cleanness comes in the form of a robe we get to put on… the robe of righteousness. Not our own, but His.

Like Isaiah writes in His prophecy of the Lord in chapter 61, we too can now claim, “He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Is 61:10)

Many of us, have put away our old self, repented of our pride, and humbled our self before the Lord, recognizing His as the only way to be made right with our heavenly, Righteous and Holy Father.

We know His salvation. We know we cannot make ourselves right before Him and so we have trusted in His most gracious act of love, the gift of Jesus Christ, crucified, dead and buried, and then raised to life again for us.

I believe most of you listening to me right now, we will attest to that truth.

Yet, I also know that many of you still struggle to accept your new identity in Christ because of ongoing struggles with pain, anxiety, depression, or feelings of unworthiness, and maybe even old addictions and sins that you still give into.

What would it be like to know that when Jesus left His old garments in the grave, that your struggles were there with them still today? What if you would believe this? How would it affect your life, the way you see yourself today?

Do you still walk and believe as though you are condemned? Do you still fear for your salvation because of your struggles?

Filthy Garments for Righteous Robes - Old Testament

It is my hope today, that you will feel the breakthrough, the relief of, that weight being removed form your like filthy rags, and that you would feel the warm embrace of the Father’s love as He wraps you in His robe of righteousness.

And to you who may be listening and have yet to have your salvation experience with the Lord, and maybe you aren’t even sure of what I’m talking about, let me set the stage for us all with an old testament example from the story of Joshua found in Zechariah’s writing of his vision of seeing Joshua standing before the Angel of the Lord.

Zechariah 3:1–5 ESV

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

Joshua became the first High Priest of the returned Jewish community after the Babylonian exile, serving in Jerusalem during the rebuilding of the temple. He was there to encourage the people in their work of rebuilding the temple, while the Samaritans were trying to oppose their work. The people had stopped their work and instead begun to focus on their own homes and comfort.

In the vision, we have Satan, the adversary, attempting to accuse Joshua before the Lord… Joshua, in place of the people of Jerusalem here… God’s people whom God “plucked from the fire.”

Joshua’s garments were a picture of Jerusalem's sin and filthiness. God had punished them with seventy years of exile, and now he has chosen to cleanse them of their sin, calling them back to their land.

The Lord rebukes Satan for his attempt to accuse Jerusalem, not because the Lord had forgotten their sin, but now He has chosen to show them grace and mercy, displayed in the vision as Joshua is stripped of his filthy garments, saying to Joshua, “I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments. (pure = Righteous, rich, festive garments).”

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 3

from him—literally, “from upon him”; pressing upon him as an overwhelming burden.

Think about your own struggles, your own sin. Is it not burdensome and heavy? Do you still feel the weight of it?

As we see here, it is Satan who stands as your accuser. And if he can’t get the Lord to listen to him, then he may be whispering in your ear trying to remind you of who you were while in captivity.

You see, we in Christ, are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer in captivity. Our old self, he’s in the grave left behind as our old garments and God has chosen, by His grace to, to give us new, rich, festive garments.

God has chosen, not on their own merit, but by His own grace, to forgive Jerusalem. If it were based on their merit, they would be condemned. But by God’s grace, His undeserved favor, He restored them to their land and their relationship with Him.

He didn’t just cover up their filthiness, He removed and then replaced it with His righteousness.

A little further down in Zechariah’s prophecy we see a word of the prophesied Messiah to come.

Zechariah 3:8–9 “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest... behold, I will bring my servant the Branch… and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.”

Zechariah promised a ‘Branch’ who’d remove iniquity in one day (3:9). Friends, that day dawned the morning the stone rolled away.

The Day has Come - Easter Morning

John 20:1–10 ESV

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

What did Peter find when he arrived at the tomb and walked in?

The linen garments folded up and put away.

Our High Priest, Jesus, stood trial before our Lord, with our iniquities, our sins, upon Him and was found guilty. He was made filthy for us.

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement (discipline) that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:6 “...and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

He bore God’s discipline upon Himself for us upon the Cross, and He took that same filthy garment, our iniquities, our sin, to the grave with Him.

Those grave clothes, they are a symbol of the old self stripped away.

This is why Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ.” My old self, and your old self, they are dead and buried!

Maybe like Mary at the empty tomb, you haven’t recognized it yet.

John 20:11–18 ESV

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Zech 3: “The angel said, ‘Take off the filth’—here we see the filthy cloths left behind forever.”

Transformation can sometimes be hard to perceive.

Mary didn’t recognize Jesus at first because He was now glorified and she was distraught. Her brain was likely seared with the image of Jesus on the Cross. There’s no way He survived. There’s no way she would ever see the Living Savior again, and so when He appears before her, it isn’t until He calls her name that she recognizes Him.

Friends, for many of you, you once heard Him loud and clear when He called your name. And you believed.

The truth is, you still believe today… that He did indeed raise from the dead, and He lives today. And so you celebrate.

A New Identity: Clothed in Righteousness

But, I wonder. How many of you have found yourself questioning if He actually did this for you?

Did He indeed take your old filthy garments to the grave? And if He did, are you now wearing the new pure garments, the righteous garments that He offers?

Are still burdened? Are you still trying, in your own power, to make yourself righteous… or whole?

Afraid that because you still suffer from failed attempts at doing the right things, or you aren’t healed of your fears or depression, that you don’t measure up any more? Maybe He’s removed the pure garment He once gave to you, and now you’re back in your dirty old rags?

Has Satan convinced you, you can’t live up to God’s demands and therefor you are condemned?

Isaiah 61:10 ESV

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Let me encourage you to take these words to heart. For those of us in Christ, God doesn’t look upon us and see us as sinner any more. He sees us as righteous. Redeemed. Chosen. Children of the Almighty, adopted, heirs with His Son to His kingdom.

You and I are clothed in righteousness. The righteousness of the One who walked out of the grave, lays upon our shoulders.

Like a beautiful bride on her wedding day, we are adorned in white, prepared for the marriage feast and union we will have with the Lord.

Living in Our New Garments

Because Jesus was raised from the dead let me encourage you to live in the new garments Christ has given you.

1. You’re forgiven.

You are no longer defined by past failure but live in Christ’s victory.

Romans 8:1 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

You are not condemned.

Your accuser is silenced—God is not listening to him, and neither should you.

Remind yourself of this every day. If Christ was truly raised, then so are you. Your gift of salvation is secure in His righteousness, not yours.

2. You’re clothed.

God has declared you clean.

Put on your resurrection clothes as a witness, and be a witness (Mary runs to tell!).

3. You’re guarded.

You are born again, to a LIVING hope.

1 Peter 1:3-5 “... According to his (God’s) great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Christ is our LIVING hope. He is not in the grave. He is not dead. He is alive and we who are in Him are being guarded through faith for salvation. As long as He is alive, so is our salvation.

Because of Easter, you do not have to strive for your new identity, your new garments, but instead, live in them. Let us not only do this our ourselves, but remember to encourage each other to know our new identity is secure in Him.

Gospel

Closing Song

Closing Encouragement

As you end your Easter celebration, don’t forget its meaning for you and remember to walk clothed in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ and His righteous robe.