My friend Lukas is a high school senior, a whip-smart young man, and an immensely talented writer. He also has a grasp on theology and the Bible that I wish I’d had at that age.
A couple of weeks ago, he wrote a piece on his Substack based on the account in Genesis 27, where Jacob deceives Isaac to receive his twin brother Esau’s blessing with the help of his mother. Jacob has already talked Esau into giving him his birthright as the firstborn, so this becomes a double insult to Esau.
Lukas references the Anglican-Puritan theologian Richard Sibbes, who wrote, “If we come dressed in the clothes of our older brother, we are sure to receive a blessing.” Lukas compares the story of Jacob fraudulently getting Esau’s blessing to how Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross gave us eternal blessings that we don’t deserve based on our own merits.
“When Isaac looks upon Jacob, he only sees the true and honest recipient of his blessing,” Lukas writes. “Therefore, the Father then only looks upon the regenerate due to the veil of Christ upon their soul. He cannot be in communion with a spotted and guilty sinner. God hates sin and wills to extend justice on the unrighteous. But it is Jesus whom He sees when He looks upon those who are so dearly loved.”
Lukas quotes two scriptures that highlight his idea of our righteousness in Christ. First, there’s Galatians 3:27, which reads, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” We can also see this thread in Isaiah 61:10.
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.
I thought about how we can take this metaphor even further. Jacob had to don a disguise to make Isaac think he was Esau, and that included putting on some of his clothes. In a different way, when Jesus died for our sins, God the Father adopted believers into His family.
Related: Sunday Thoughts: Freedom in Christ
Lukas tracked with that too, writing, “In holiness, the Father turned His face from His Son, and I envision that he then saw his new children. The ones whom He had chosen to adopt before the foundation of the world. However, when He saw these sons and daughters, He saw His Son’s rightful robe upon their shoulders.”
This idea reminds me of Romans 8:
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:14-17 (ESV)
Later in that same chapter — my favorite chapter in the whole Bible — the Apostle Paul talks about the “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21, ESV).
Paul also reminds the Galatians in the verse right before the one Lukas referenced that “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26, ESV).
Isn’t it wonderful that we believers get to experience adoption as sons and daughters of God? Isn’t it marvelous that we get to wear Christ’s clothes in order to receive His blessing? Let that drive you toward gratitude and worship today — and every day.
PS: Keep writing like this, Lukas! I’m proud of you, brother.
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