Joseph’s coats (1)
2020-09-11Genesis 37:3 NIV
Let’s look at the three different coats Joseph wore, as they present a picture of our lives as Christians. The first coat is the coat of salvation. It was a ‘gift’ from his father; Joseph never paid a penny for it, or sewed a stitch, or provided an inch of fabric. And that sounds a lot like the story of our salvation. The Bible says, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). Motivated by jealousy and resentment, Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit and dipped his coat in the blood of a goat in order to convince their father that he had been killed by a wild animal. The Bible says: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin’ (1 John 1:7 NKJV). In Old Testament times, when someone sinned they brought a sacrificial lamb to the altar and the priest shed its blood as payment for their sins. But the priest did not examine the person, he examined the lamb. If the lamb was ‘worthy’, the person was accepted and their sins were atoned for. So the moment we acknowledge our sin and pray, ‘Father, I come in the name of Jesus, the Lamb of God,’ we’re totally forgiven and accepted. ‘Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV).