The story of Allah’s plan begins in the Garden.
Adam and Hawwa received the command. They disobeyed. And immediately they knew what they had lost.
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ قَدْ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًا يُوَارِي سَوْءَتِكُمْ وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ
“O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your shame and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness, that is best. That is from the signs of Allah, so that they may remember.”
Surah Al-A’raf 7:26 | quran.com/7/26
What did Adam and Hawwa do immediately after they sinned?
قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
“They said: Our Lord, we have wronged our own souls. If You do not forgive us and bestow upon us Your mercy, we shall certainly be lost.”
Surah Al-A’raf 7:23 | quran.com/7/23
They reached for leaves and tried to cover themselves. Their own effort. Their own work. Allah did not accept their covering. He covered them with something else. An animal covering. Something that required the death of an innocent creature.
This is the first sign. What Allah does here in the Garden He will do again and again across the entire story of the prophets, until the final provision arrives in the person of Issa al-Masih.
What is the Garment of Righteousness?
Look again at Surah 7:26. Allah says: We have bestowed clothing to cover your shame. But the clothing of righteousness, that is best.
The physical covering is given. But Allah immediately points beyond it to something better: the clothing of righteousness. This has not yet been given. Allah calls it a sign. A sign points beyond itself to something coming.
The clothing of righteousness is not something Adam could make for himself. You cannot weave your own righteousness any more than Adam could cover his own shame with leaves. It has to be provided by Allah.
Where does the clothing of righteousness ultimately come from?
Follow the thread. Surah 7:26 points to a covering Allah will provide. Surah 37:107 points to a momentous sacrifice. Surah 19:21 names the predestined Mercy of Allah. The thread leads to Issa al-Masih.
From the Injil
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Injil, 1 Corinthians 15:22 | bible.com/bible/111/1CO.15.22
The Injil sees the same connection: what was lost through Adam’s transgression is restored through Issa. One story. Two ends of the same arc.
A Parable
A man fell into a deep pool and could not swim. He grabbed at everything near the edge. Leaves. Mud. Roots. None of them held.
Someone on the bank threw him a rope. A strong rope, not woven by the man’s own hands, made by someone who knew what ropes needed to be made of.
The man held on. He was pulled to shore.
Later someone asked him: how did you survive?
He said: I reached for everything I could find. None of it held. Then someone threw me something that did.
They asked: where did the rope come from?
He said: I did not make it. I only held on.
Allah covered Adam and Hawwa with something they could not provide for themselves.
This is the first sign. Man reaches for his own covering. Allah provides what man cannot.
In your own life, what have you reached for that has not held? And what has Allah been trying to provide that you have not yet received?
Sit with that. Bring it honestly to your prayer.