Clothed in Christ's Righteousness

Mallory Mathias • Jan 20, 2022

In our passage this week (Zechariah 3), we learn of Zechariah's vision of Joshua the High Priest.


This takes place in a heavenly courtroom, where the angel of the Lord sits as judge. Joshua, the high priest and one of the leaders of the returned exiles, is the defendant and Satan is the accuser. 


In the vision, Joshua described as being “clothed in filthy garments.” The angel orders those who were standing before him to remove the garments, then tells Joshua, “Behold, I have taken away your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 


The angel then adorns him with a clean turban, priestly garments, and a single stone “with seven eyes”.  On the stone is an engraved inscription and the promise that the Lord of hosts will remove the iniquity of the land in a single day.


This all begs the question… what does Joshua do to become worthy to stand before the Lord and serve?


Answer: He does nothing.


There was nothing he could do. He was without defense or remedy. He just stood there.


Like Joshua in his filthy robes, we too are unworthy to stand before God or serve him on our own merits.


When we consider our own failures and disobedience, how do we respond? Like Joshua, we stand guilty in a painfully obvious way.


“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” - Ephesians 2:1-4


Like Joshua, we too are clothed in alien unrighteousness. 


Joshua is not worthy, even with his new clothes, to bear the iniquity of an entire nation. So God gives him a new jewel to add to his clothes. A stone upon which is inscribed with a branch and seven eyes (Zechariah 3:9).


As Pastor Ky elaborated on, the branch is to signify “David’s Heir.” 


The seven eyes are explained more in Revelation 5, “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes.”


This all points to Jesus: the Lamb of God; the root of David; the better sacrifice; the better King. The inscription on the branch was a slain lamb.


“The only thing of my very own which I contribute to my redemption is the sin from which I need to be redeemed.”


- Sinclair Ferguson


Like Joshua, we too are accused by Satan of being unworthy.


We hear the lies of Satan every day. We hear it on Sunday morning, “Who are you kidding? I saw how you were with your kids last week. God knows what you did last night. Who do you think you are coming in here?” The answer is not to argue about how dirty our clothes are. It’s not to compare ourselves to others.


The answer is not to compare and compete, but to confess and cling.


The real danger we face in light of the Gospel is not our unworthiness itself, but our unwillingness to acknowledge it.


Imagine if Joshua would have just held on and said, “No, I’m good. If God won’t accept me like this, then I just won’t be accepted.”


One of the lies our society tells us is that, “surely our clothes aren’t that bad…” We think, “Yeah, I’m not perfect, but I’m a pretty good person, and if that’s not enough for God, then I guess I can’t do anything about that.” These beliefs fail to recognize the holiness and righteousness of God.


Our robes and our worthiness come from Christ alone. It’s only because of His righteousness that we are able to stand before the Father.

Jesus is Much More Better

15 May, 2024
Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, May 12, 2024. Sermon text: Romans 5:12-21 Adam ruined it for everyone —sin came into the world through Adam —death came into the world through sin —death spread to all men because all sinned “God has always dealt with mankind through a head and representative. The whole story of the human race can be summed up in terms of what has happened because of Adam, and what has happened and will yet happen because of Christ.” —Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Jesus is the true and better Adam “Cranfield explains, ‘That one single misdeed should be answered by judgment, this is perfectly understandable: that the accumulated sins and guilt of all the ages should be answered by God’s free gift, this is the miracle of miracles, utterly beyond human comprehension.’ The final word from God could have been “Condemned, on the basis of many trespasses.” Instead, it is “Justified, through the gift of Jesus’ righteousness.” That is why Paul declares that the gift is “much more” or “much better” than the result of Adam’s trespass.” —Daniel M. Doriani, Romans Through Jesus grace abounds and grace reigns Discipleship Questions: What are some reasons we might not like the idea that we all sinned when Adam sinned? What can help us embrace the idea that we all sinned when Adam sinned? How does that idea set us up for the good news about Jesus and what He accomplished? How does the truth from this passage build our assurance of our salvation? In what ways is what Jesus did much more powerful and better than what Adam brought us? How have you experienced the reign of grace in your life despite the reign of sin and death in the world? How can we experience the reign of grace through Jesus in everyday life?

No Fear of Judgment

08 May, 2024
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Sermon text: Romans 5:6-11 God has already done the work needed to save us He took the initiative “God has addressed the cause of the offense… Although he is the offended party, God has removed the offense. God has extended “the olive branch.” -Jay Smith He justified us He reconciled us Reconciliation is an objective event that God accomplished by removing the barrier of sin that separated himself from humanity. This result is independent of humanity’s response although it formed the basis for an individual’s subjective appropriation.” Jay Smith Appropriate: “To set apart for or assign to a particular recipient.” Christians need not fear judgment day 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Discipleship Questions: How does it change your outlook on life to know that you have peace with God? In what ways have you experienced the greatness of access to God’s grace? How does future certainty bring us lasting hope? Describe a time when you experienced joy in the midst of suffering. How has God used suffering to grow your faith and mature you? What are some ways you have experienced God’s love being poured into your heart?

The Joy of Justification

29 Apr, 2024
Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, April 28, 2024. Sermon text: Romans 5:1-5 We find joy in the blessings brought by justification —peace with God —access to God’s grace Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. —hope of the glory of God “Christian hope is not uncertain, like our ordinary everyday hopes about the weather or our health; it is a joyful and confident expectation which rests on the promises of God, as we saw in the case of Abraham. And the object of our hope is the glory of God (2), namely his radiant splendor which will in the end be fully displayed. —John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans We can even find joy in our sufferings “Various kinds of sufferings will come to us, but we can rejoice in them when we recognize that they serve a purpose: to develop our Christian character. In verses 3b–4 Paul shows how a godly response to suffering can initiate a series of virtues, culminating, strikingly, in hope. Note, however, that Paul is not saying that we should rejoice because of suffering. Evil things are still just that—evil—and we never should be happy about them. But by looking beyond the suffering to its divinely intended end, we still can rejoice in the midst of them.” —Douglas J. Moo, Encountering the Book of Romans —suffering produces endurance “ We know this, especially from the experience of God’s people in every generation. Suffering produces perseverance ( hypomonē , endurance). We could not learn endurance without suffering, because without suffering there would be nothing to endure.” —John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans —endurance builds character —character gives us confident hope Discipleship Questions: How does it change your outlook on life to know that you have peace with God? In what ways have you experienced the greatness of access to God’s grace? How does future certainty bring us lasting hope? Describe a time when you experienced joy in the midst of suffering. How has God used suffering to grow your faith and mature you? What are some ways you have experienced God’s love being poured into your heart?
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