Singing a New Song While Wearing a New Wardrobe
Singing a New Song While Wearing a New Wardrobe.
“Let the upright sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him. Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for Him on the ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song of praise to Him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.” (Ps. 33:1-3).
“Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, praise His name. Each day proclaims the good news that He saves. Publish His glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things He does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! (Ps. 96:1-4).
“Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory. His holy arm has shown His saving power! The Lord has announced His victory and has revealed His righteousness to every nation! He has remembered His promise to love and be faithful to Israel. The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.” (Ps. 98:1-3).
“I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.” (Ps. 144:9).
“Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful. O Israel, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King. Praise His name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that He honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.” (Ps. 149:1-5).
“Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing His praises from the ends of the earth! Let the whole world glorify the Lord; let it sing His praise! (Isaiah 42:10, 12).
God is the Final Frontier. When it comes to singing a new song to the eternal and almighty Lord, there will always be fresh material for a new composition. Every believer is on the endless quest to discover as much about the character and goodness of God as He is willing to reveal. There is always more to the Lord than we can understand or appreciate, so there is always something new to discover about Him and more to sing about. There will always be new ways to express our praises to God. There are countless reasons for believers to be singing new songs to God: Reasons from the past; Reasons in the present; Reasons for the future.
“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed.” (Ps. 40:1-3).
Take Off the Old and Put On the New:
“Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.” (Romans 13:14, NLT)).
Two Coats (a traditional song, performed by Patty Loveless, from her bluegrass album Mountain Soul):
“Two coats were before me, an old and a new; I asked my sweet Master, Oh, what must I do; The old coat was ugly, so tattered and torn; The other a new one, had never been worn.
(chorus) I’ll tell you the best thing I ever did do; I took off the old coat, and put on the new.
The first man was earthly, and made from the ground; We bore all his image, the whole world around; The next was my Savior, from heaven so fair; He brought me this new coat, you now see me wear.
(chorus) I’ll tell you the best thing I ever did do; I took off the old coat, and put on the new.
Now this coat, it suits me, and keeps me so warm; It’s good in the winter, it’s good in the storm; My savior has dressed me in a garment so rare; He brought me this new coat, you now see me wear.
(chorus) I’ll tell you the best thing I ever did do; I took off the old coat, and put on the new.”
b. Once upon a time there was a man invited to a royal wedding feast. The king was hosting the feast for the marriage of his son and his bride. The generous king provided clean and beautiful wedding robes to all those invited to the feast. The robes were spotless, they were robes of splendor. This man who was invited came to the door of the feast dressed in his normal working clothes… dirty, sloppy, torn, ill-fitting. This man was impudent, and arrogant, and decided not to put on the robe. For his own reasons he didn’t want to cover his dirty clothes. He didn’t think the wedding feast was important enough to go to the trouble of removing his daily garments. The man decided to reject the host’s hospitality, which insulted the king greatly. The king met the man at the door and confronted him. “What are you doing? Didn’t you take seriously my invitation to this great feast? You haven’t covered yourself in my new clean wedding garment!” The king threw the man out and sent him away. The king would not let this man into the feasting hall. The rebuked man knew there was nothing he could say in his defense. So the man, through his own choice, was exiled to the darkness outside the feasting hall, away from all the obedient party-goers who put on the clean wedding robes. (Matthew 22:1-14).
“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things, for you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God…. Take off your old self and put on your new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:2-3, 9-10).
Being Choosy. Paul is very down-to-earth as he instructs us to set our minds on things above. It turns out that C. S. Lewis was right on target when he said that those who are the most heavenly minded actually do the most earthly good. To focus on heavenly matters is to decide here on earth to live into our new mind of Christ and choose a whole new set of spiritual clothes. Believers are to take off and put on… Take off our old set of dirty clothes and put on our new set of clean clothes. We are to be vitally aware of what we are wearing, of what we are choosing to wear. The old tattered set of spiritual clothes that we inherited from Adam is to be thrown out to the trash, and replaced by our new wardrobe designed by the Lord. We take off our old natural self and put on our new natural self in Christ. To set our minds on things above is to direct our thinking to how important it is to wear Christ here below.
Another way to put portions of Colossians 3 is, “Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life, is with Christ in God. He is your life… So you’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with His label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.” (MSG).
Spiritual Clothing. Paul loved to use this idea of putting off and putting on, for in the Greek both terms refer to one’s clothing. Paul used this picture of spiritual clothing in other passages as well:
Romans 13:14, “Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 3:27, “You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Ephesians 4:22, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:8, “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
Colossians 3:12, “Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
THE CLOTHES CLOSET. Christians have a holy garment to put on. We put on Christ, we wear garments of His Presence. Faith indeed has a uniform. Following Jesus is like putting on a whole new wardrobe, a new set of clothes. We are now wearing Christ, we have a new identity, a different look, a new style that reflects our heart’s desire. Following Jesus means we are now clothed in a different line, we have a new fashion designer. We have changed wardrobe consultants, and we are now covered in a new garment, a robe of righteousness. We have put on God’s goodness as our garment, and righteousness as our covering. Our new uniform reflects a right standing with God, as well as a pursuit of what pleases God out of our response to His love. Our new wardrobe now reflects God’s nature and character as He transforms us from within. We are now clothed in Christ, displaying the very virtues of God, reflecting a state of righteousness offered through the grace of Jesus. Our uniform has an identity. We want to identify ourselves with Christ. We want our clothes to reflect our faith.
Ancient Clothing That Is Always New and Never Wears Out. Holiness has a uniform. HOLY: Set apart for special use; assigned to a godly purpose; sanctified; consecrated; designated for a sacred function; separated from that which is ignoble or dishonorable. To be holy is to wear a redeemed wardrobe. Isaiah talks about putting on garments of splendor (Is. 52:1). The psalmist refers to being clothed with godliness (Ps. 132:16). Job claims that he has put on righteousness and it clothed him, wearing justice like a robe (Job 29:14). Isaiah once again said that God dressed him with the clothing of salvation and draped him in a robe of righteousness (Is. 61:10).
First, Take Off. Before we put on, we have to take off. We need to strip ourselves of the old Adam as we put on the new Adam. Putting off our old garment starts with repentance, to confess our old nature to God. Our new wardrobe represents repentance, our confession, our desire to strip off the old and put on the new. God’s grace is the only power strong enough to enable us to take off and put on. When we put on our new set of clothes, we need to keep growing, making sure the outside is matching up with the inside. We need to make sure our new identity matches up with our growing faith. It’s easy to simply obey a set of rules, to simply put on holy appearances, a righteous exterior, a superficial goodness. Jesus gave some stern rebukes to those religious leaders who were hypocrites, actors wearing a stage costume of righteousness. Putting on Jesus means we have genuine character on the outside, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, which matches up with the maturing faith on the inside. A mere costume of goodness is not sufficient, because we know that “people judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Our Clothes in Sync with our Character. We choose a wardrobe, not a costume. A costume is something we wear when we want to play a part, as if we were in some religious play. A costume is put on for appearance’s sake, something we put on and take off depending on the performance. Costumes don’t reflect the person behind the appearance. Costumes don’t reflect the inner person behind the costume. Our new clothing line is intended to reflect our new identity in Christ, God’s character and nature. At the same time, while wearing the character of God, His Spirit is transforming us within. The outer behavior grows in synch with the inner heart of faith.
“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” (Col. 3:15-17, MSG).
So hire Jesus to be your new clothing consultant. It won’t cost a thing. Set your mind on heavenly things by asking God to give you His heavenly clothing here on earth. Wear the spiritual clothing of Christ. Only the mind of Christ in you will enable you to discern what to put on.