Dressed in white

Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7).

Freshly fallen snow is a beautiful thing. All the drab, brown deadness of the fields is covered in white. A few inches of snow covers every hard edge with soft and gentle curves. Broken toys and muddy ground are quickly hidden when snow blankets the yard.

New snow reminds us of Christ’s righteousness. The Bible describes His righteousness like a cloak: he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). In Revelation chapter 3, the color of that cloak is revealed: He who overcomes will…be dressed in white.

Christ dresses His followers in a white cloak of His righteousness. This clothing functions like a new blanket of snow. Like the fields of winter, we are drab and lifeless—Scripture says you were dead in your transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1). But Christ covers our sins with His righteousness; clothed by Jesus, we become a brilliant, beautiful white, the color of light and life!

Our lives are filled with hard edges and jagged corners; sin makes us brittle, and when pressures come we snap easily, causing pain to all who touch us. But enough snow will round off even the most jagged edge, and when we let Christ dress us with His garment of salvation, our rough spots are covered up. Christ makes it possible for others to embrace us safely.

Our lives are characterized by filth and brokenness; as we tromp through each day, we step in the mud of sin and we break things by our poor judgment and impulsiveness. A fresh blanket of snow covers up the filth and conceals the junk in our yard. In the same way, the righteousness of Christ covers up the filth of our sins and conceals all the things left broken by our careless words and destructive behavior. When Jesus forgives us, His mercy covers up our sins and our history of mistakes, just like a white garment covers up a filthy body and conceals old scars that have never healed properly.

A coating of fresh white snow gives the world a beautiful new look; that’s exactly what Jesus offers to everyone who is willing to be dressed in His righteousness.