A few different things from Otis Garrison’s message on Sunday have been rumbling around in my head this week. One thing, in particular, was Otis’ statement about followers of Jesus being God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). It was in the forefront of my mind on Wednesday morning as I was reading from Zechariah 3. This passage illustrates how the Gospel transforms us and makes us God’s workmanship.
Zechariah 3:4-5 reads: And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.
In the context of Zechariah 3, Satan was accusing Joshua the high priest in the presence of the angel of the LORD. The filthy garments suggest that accusations of Satan were accurate. Joshua was more than a country mile from the holiness God required of His priests. But that is not the whole story. The angel, who was probably the Pre-Incarnate Jesus, took away Joshua’s iniquity. Joshua was filthy, you could say his sins were like scarlet, but the angel made him white as snow.
Through Jesus’ death on the cross, in our place for our sins, He takes us from being filthy, even filthy to the point of being dead, and He declares us righteous and makes us pure and alive. And as alive, forgiven people who are connected to the Lord Jesus, we are made His workmanship. The clean turban being placed on the head was part of the ordination process for priests. The turban was a symbol of the priest being set apart to serve God. You could say it was a symbol of Joshua being God’s workman.
The Gospel does some amazing things in our lives. Through what Jesus accomplished for us, we go from filthy to pure. That is incredible. And then, He calls us into His service because we are His treasured and valued workmanship. Please join me in pondering the incredible beauty of Jesus in taking filth, that means us, and making us pure and useful to Him. To echo Otis, you are God’s workmanship, Zechariah 3 is offering us a picture of all that entails.