Righteous Clay

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

The angels hovering over the ark of the covenant mirror the angels guarding the way to the Garden of Eden.

Sin cannot stand in God’s presence. God’s holiness prevents sin from coming near Him, and He has guardians that keep unrighteousness from tainting His holiness. God shares His holiness with you so that you are able to come before His presence.

Since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand. Do not be furious, O Lord, nor remember iniquity forever; indeed, please look—we all are Your people!

Isaiah 64:4-9 

God is so holy that even in our righteousness, we are no better than filthy rags. We need His holiness to make us worthy to even stand before His presence.

One sin sent Adam out of the garden.

Because God is holy and he desires a relationship with us, he took our sin upon Himself and gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Human righteousness is not enough; only His righteousness is good enough. You have to let Him cover you in His righteousness. 

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful 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 with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10

It is His garments of salvation and His robe of righteousness that you must cover yourself with. When you clothe yourself in His robes of righteousness, He adds jewels and adornment to increase the measure of God’s glory that is bestowed upon you.

The only way to become a citizen of heaven is to be a natural-born citizen. You must be born again. 

The righteousness of man will not get you into Heaven. You must have the robe of His righteousness (Matthew 22:11-13). You cannot just add His righteousness to what you are; you have to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:23-24). As you submit to Him and become a new creation, He molds you like a potter reworking a piece of clay.