Devotional 07 July 2025

July 07, 2025 • Steve Torres

Hebrews 10:1.jpg

"For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4, ESV)

From the very beginning, humanity has known the weight of shame. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Gen. 3:7). That nakedness was more than physical—it was spiritual. In disobedience, they lost their covering of righteousness. Their immediate response was to hide and to sew fig leaves together, trying in vain to cover themselves. But no human-made garment could clothe them before a holy God.

In mercy, God intervened: “The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). Blood was shed. Yet even this covering pointed to something deeper that was still needed—a sacrifice that could do more than conceal sin. It needed to remove guilt and restore access to God.

The old covenant sacrifices functioned like those animal skins: temporary, external coverings. They reminded people of sin but could not cleanse the conscience (Heb. 10:3–4). Like fig leaves or filthy garments, these rituals could never make a person truly clean. “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa. 64:6).

But God promised more. In Zechariah’s vision, the high priest stood in filthy garments, accused and unclean. Yet the Lord declared: “Remove the filthy garments from him… I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments” (Zech. 3:4). This foreshadowed what Jesus would accomplish.

Jesus came as the true and better sacrifice—not earthly and repeated, but heavenly and final. In Him, we are not merely covered, we are cleansed. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). Through Christ’s death and resurrection, our guilt is taken away, and we are given the righteousness of God. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14).

And how do we receive this clothing? “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). It is not a washing of the body, but a cleansing of the soul. “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21).

In Christ, we no longer stand exposed in our guilt. We are clothed in His righteousness, welcomed into God’s presence as His beloved children. Clothed in pure white before Him (Revelation 7:14). The shame that once kept us from drawing near is gone. Let your heart rest today in this truth: in Jesus, you are clean, covered, and called His own.