Since the Garden of Eden, our sin moves us out of God’s presence. Instead of feeling at home with God, we feel naked and alienated from God and others. Because of our sin, we can’t bear the thought of our lives coming under the holy gaze of God, so we cover ourselves. Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves. Like them, we do whatever we can to make ourselves feel safe.
There are actually two ways to cover yourself. You can be irreligious and say, “I’m a free thinker and I can do whatever I want to do!” This is the prodigal son who left his father to spend all his money on prostitutes (Lk. 15:30). But you can also cover yourself by being really religious and condemning everyone. This was the older brother in Jesus’ parable (Lk. 15:25-30).
The point of Jesus’ parable is that the irreligious and the religious need to come in to the Father. In the parable, the Father goes out to meet both sons because both of them need redemption and covering. Breaking all the rules and keeping all the rules are two different ways of doing the same thing, namely, covering yourself with fig leaves.
We’re all trying to cover ourselves because we want to be in God’s presence, but we also have a deep sense of inadequacy. So we cover ourselves with our perfectionism, workaholism, image management, taking control, and looking good.
We desperately want to be in the presence of God because we were made to live with God but our sin has taken us away from him and him away from us. So we live our lives trying to cover ourselves and uncover everyone else. We want to get back into the garden where we’re safe and seen and unashamed, but we don’t know what to do.
In a sermon that Tim Keller preached on Genesis 3, he points out that the only way back into the presence of God was through a sword, not a door. He points out that the tabernacle and temple were designed to teach us that the only way back into the presence of the Lord was to pass by an altar and go through curtains with cherubim on them. The point is that the only way back into God’s presence is if our sin debt is paid and if justice is satisfied. In the Garden and in Israel, something had to die for sins to be atoned for.
This is why Jesus had to die on the cross. He had to walk under the sword for us to come back into the Garden. He took the knife so that we can confidently walk into the Lord’s presence. Because the sword fell on Jesus, God clothes anyone who trusts in him with his goodness.
As long as you’re trying to clothe yourself by doing good or bad things, you’ll remain cut off from God. Keller points out that most of what we do isn’t bad and that we need to ask why we’re doing the good that we’re doing? Why are we working hard at work, wanting to get married, having kids, making money, serving in the church? He says that it’s often because we know there’s something deep in us that needs covering, so we’re driven to cover it with a hundred good things. But God wants to cover us with the goodness of his Son so we can stop trying to cover ourselves.
This doesn’t happen when we say, “I’ve been bad now I’m going to be good.” Cleaning up your life and being religious can just be more fig leaves. We have to say, “Lord, I’ve been trying to control my life by doing bad things and good things, but I understand that you’re the only covering that can save me, so I uncover my need to you.” When this happens, the Lord will cover you. But if you refuse to uncover yourself to God, then you’ll live your whole life covering yourself and uncovering others so you feel covered.
How do you know if you’re resting under God’s covering? Keller says there are four things that characterize people who’ve begun to let God cover them. First, they don’t mind showing their faults. They let people see who they really are. They’re transparent and willing to admit when they’re wrong. They don’t spin things. They find that repentance is much easier because they know they don’t need to cover themselves all the time.
Second, they no longer need to show other people their faults. They’re not the kind of person who needs to put people in their place, put people down, score points and win every argument. They don’t look for ways to uncover everyone else to make themselves feel more covered.
Third, they’re not scared to tell people their faults as needed. If you, like me, hate confronting people, it may be because you’re trying to cover yourself with their approval. If you’re covered by God, you don’t like conflict, but you don’t avoid it.
And fourth, when you think you’re going to lose something you love, you ask yourself, “Is this a good thing I’m trying to hide myself in?” And you remind yourself that you don’t ultimately need the thing because you have Jesus.
Our sin moves us out of God’s presence where we feel naked and alienated from God and so we cover ourselves. What does your covering look like? Jesus came for people who’re desperately trying to cover themselves with everything but him. Are you resting under his covering?
In Need of Jesus’ Covering, With You,
Pastor John