Look at verse 22. This is the core of what the gospel is all about. The father says, bring me my robe, the best one, and put it on him. Cover him with my robe, with my initials on it, and place my identity around my son. Here you have a kid standing gaunt and dirty in the robe of a king. The covering is the core of the gospel. Adam and Eve fell from grace. They sinned against God and what did God do? He covered their nakedness with animal skins. We have the first sacrifice, the first atonement, the first covering for two people who are lost. Now come to the Passover. The spirit of death was going to pass over and God told the Jewish people to take a Passover lamb, sacrifice that lamb, and place the blood of the lamb over the doorpost as a covering of God's protection. Now we come to Jesus who was lifted up on the cross and became the sacrifice that is our covering. I've been in seminary for six years, two degrees and I still don't grasp the fullness of what this atonement and covering stuff is all about.
Many of you know that my son plays college baseball. Last year was his senior year in high school. Last October, in the fall of his senior year, he was so excited when the head coach of the University of Virginia called him and said, "Jon, you are on my baseball team." Virginia is ranked 22nd in the nation as an academic school. But the coach said, "There is only one thing, Jon. You are going to have to get a 1300 on your SAT to get into the school. I cannot cover you because I can only cover eight players and I have to cover my eight pitchers. You're a smart kid, Jon. You've got to get that 1300." Well, at the time he had 1170 on his SAT. Immediately we got him into Sylvan Learning Center and for the next nine weeks he was in the Sylvan Learning Center trying to get his SAT score up. He took the test three times because this meant he would be on the baseball team and would go to one of the top schools in the country. He opened his test scores. He needed a 1300 and it was a 1230. The baseball coach called him and said, "Sorry Jon. I really could have used you on my team but you really needed to score 1300." You talk about a kid who was down. The coach from the University of Pennsylvania had also been recruiting him all fall. He called Jon a few days later and said, "Did you get your application in?" Jonathan said, "No coach, what's the use?" Pennsylvania requires a 1450 on the SAT. It's ranked number six academically in the country. The coach said, "Jon, get it in. I'm covering you." I am covering you. This is the kind of God we have. I'm covering you, Jon, to give you the opportunity to make your dreams come true. I'm covering you, Jon, to give you the opportunity to do what you have the creative potential to do. So today my son was at baseball practice at the University of Pennsylvania and it wasn't because he earned the right to be there. He was covered.

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