In God’s Word, it is amazing how
many instances of the word ‘holy’ occur as an adjective to describe various
things and people. For example, holy law, scriptures, mountain, land, place, faith,
kiss, covenant, crown, garment, water, nation, prophets, man, holy cow Batman!
(no, that’s not in there). People and things can be declared or set apart as
holy but the basis of true holiness is God Himself.
I’m going to unpack five key
statements about the holiness of God.
1) God is Holy!
Multiple times in God’s Word, God
called Himself holy, for example, Lev. 19:2b … I the Lord
your God am holy.
Perhaps the most prominent attribute of God revealed in God’s Word is His
holiness. This one single truth about God would perhaps come closer to
describing the eternal Creator Savior God more than any other characteristic of
His.
Ok, God said He is holy, but what does this word ‘holy’ mean
when it’s describing God? The Hebrew word in this verse is ‘kaw·doshe’; meaning
sacred, set apart. Set apart from what? Set apart from evil and sin and when
describing God this word points to God’s wholeness and perfection.
Bible Scholar Charles Ryrie wrote, “Ask yourself, what does
it mean to be healthy? It means more than not being sick. Likewise, holiness is
more than absence of sin; it is a positive, healthy state of being right and
whole. This is what John meant when he wrote that “God is light and in Him is NO darkness at all,” 1 John 1:5 .
God is pure, kind of like pure light where no darkness
exists. And of course light contrasted with darkness here is a moral contrast
as well. God is holy. God is spiritually and morally pure and perfect.
2) God is uniquely
Holy.
There is none holy
like the Lord:, 1 Sam. 2:2a
For You alone are holy.., Rev. 15:4b
Bible Scholar Arthur Pink, “God only is independently,
infinitely, immutably holy. In God’s Word, He is often known as the Holy one.
This is because the sum of all moral Excellency is found in Him. He is absolute
purity. Holiness is the very Excellency of his divine nature; gloriously so,
His holiness is the very antithesis of all moral blemish and defilement.”
No one but the Lord God Almighty is truly and purely holy in
a perfect sense and it’s not that God has the ability to live up to this
perfect standard, rather, God Himself is the standard of spiritual and moral
holiness and perfection. And He’s always been this way and He always will be.
3) In Heaven, God’s
holiness is perfectly celebrated.
From a divine vision of Heaven given to the Apostle John, we
know that there are angelic creatures around the throne of God that continually
say “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty..”, Rev. 4:8b.
In Heaven, there is no sin and evil and everyone there not
only knows about the awesome holiness of God, they are also in awe of the Holy
God Almighty worshiping Him and giving Him the special attention that He
deserves for who He is and what He does; and it’s His holiness that is emphasized.
There was, however, this one moment in history when some angels chose evil but
God cast them out like lightning for God is perfectly Holy and His heaven must
be holy. Sin and evil are not allowed in God’s heaven which begs the question;
how do unholy sinners like you and me get into God’s heaven some day? How can
we ever even enter into a right relationship now with our Holy Creator God
almighty? The quick answer two these two questions is by God’s grace through
faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord we all need. If you are not sure
you are going to God’s holy Heaven when you die, or you are not sure if Jesus
Christ is your Savior or you would like to know more about trusting Jesus as
your Savior, then check out this blog entry:
I don’t believe there is anything more important than
personally trusting in and knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and
knowing you have eternal life in Christ and by the way, this is foundational to
exploring, appreciating, and being transformed by the depths of God’s holiness.
4) Outside of Heaven,
God’s holiness is contrasted with unholiness.
His holiness is certainly celebrated to some degree here on
earth but not as perfectly so as it is in Heaven. The big issue here is that this
creation, the world and the living things within in it, are sin-tainted. We are
spiritually and morally broken, unholy, so there exists this glaring contrast
between God’s holiness and what is unholy.
Consider a couple Bible examples of people encounters with
God and His holiness.
Exodus 3:2, 4-6 (ESV)
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of
a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 4 When the LORD
saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he
said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on
which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And
he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at
God.
Clearly a supernatural event took place at this moment at
this location. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush that was not consumed.
Incredible! Why do you think God declared where Moses was standing to be Holy
ground? It was holy ground because the Holy God almighty was present supernaturally
speaking through this bush and He declared this place to be holy, to be set
apart as spiritually sacred to God. God told Moses to not come any closer to
the bush and to take his sandals off. There was to be no rushing into the
sacred holy presence of God and there had to be an acknowledging moment of
God’s holy presence, a reverential response from Moses toward God. Removing the
sandals was one way to show reverence and respect the magnitude of what’s was
happening. When God spoke again, Moses hid his face which was another
reverential response to God’s awesome holiness. In this moment Moses must have
thought something like, “God, the perfectly holy and awesome One is here and I
am a sinner, unholy and not worthy to be in His presence.” Today, we show God
reverence perhaps by raising our eyes and hands heavenward, or kneeling down on
one or both knees or by laying down prostrate, or by bowing our heads, our
lives and our hearts in humility to the Holy God almighty.
Isaiah 6:1-4 (ESV) 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six
wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with
two he flew. 3 And one called to
another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the
foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the
house was filled with smoke.
Isaiah saw a God-given vision of angels surrounding the Lord
God Almighty on His throne, crying out these words; Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!” This praise of “Holy, Holy, Holy” sets God’s holiness apart
from His creation and certainly from fallen creation. God in three divine persons,
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is perfectly holy. This truth about God
stands out. They were not crying out “Love, Love, Love” or “Just, Just, Just.”
They cried out Holy, Holy, Holy to God about God because God’s perfect holiness
stands out everywhere among everything and everyone. How did Isaiah respond to this vision of God’s
holiness?
Isaiah 6:5-7 (ESV) 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I
am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having
in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold,
this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah immediately recognized his own unholiness when he was
in this special presence of the Holy God almighty. He admitted to having
unclean/unholy lips. He recognized he was not worthy to be in the awesome holy
presence of God. Fortunately, one of the Angels came to Isaiah and used a
burning coal from the heavenly altar to cleanse Isaiah of his unholiness. This
process was illustrative of God forgiving Isaiah and spiritually purifying him
and in the context this was associated with a divine call to set Isaiah apart
for the Lord’s holy ministry here on earth.
Consider an example in the New Testament of God’s Word where
we read that the eternal Son of God became the incarnated God-man, Jesus Christ,
who was and is the personification of perfect holiness. Jesus had the fullness
of deity. He was without sin and never sinned. He was and is the holy One which
is what the Apostle Peter called him in John 6:69. Consider an earlier
encounter Peter had with Jesus when he couldn’t catch any fish but Jesus told
Peter to go out again and then a ton of fish were caught. Luke 5:8 (ESV) But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying,
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” After this miracle fish
catch, brought on by Jesus, Peter realized immediately that he was in the
presence of the Holy One, the Son of God, who was displaying His power and Peter
was convicted internally of his own unholiness.
Whenever someone with unholiness, like you and me, has an
encounter with God’s perfect holiness, it is convicting spiritually. God’s
holiness stands out and our unholiness is brought into the light of God.
5) God’s holiness
deserves a proper God honoring response.
I’ve already pointed out how a few believers responded to
encounters with God’s holiness. Ps. 99 gives us an example of magnifying the
holiness of God.
Psalm 99:1-3, 5, 9
(ESV) 1 The LORD
reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned
upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2 The LORD
is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the
peoples. 3 Let
them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! 5 Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! 9 Exalt the LORD
our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!
Three times in these 9 verses of God-honoring praise the
holiness of God is emphasized. We should emphasize the holiness of God in our
lives as we live for His glory and praise Him and worship Him. For He is truly
Holy and we fall short of His glory! We should keep learning about,
acknowledging, communicating, and being in awe of God’s perfect holiness, thanking
Him for His holiness, and praising and worshiping Him according to His
holiness. And we should desire and let God’s holiness transform us into His
holy people.
God’s spiritual expectations of His people flow out of His
own holy nature. To the Israelites, He said, “You shall be .. a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6); “You shall be holy, for I the Lord
your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). And to Christ-followers, we read the same
commanding exhortation ..but as He who
called you is holy, you
also BE
holy .. (1 Pet. 1:15).
We are all created in the image of our Holy Creator and He
expects us to be holy because He is holy. Today, we have this potential to have
God-honoring holiness in our lives by God’s grace through faith in Christ as
our Savior and Lord and as we consistently seek to become holier. The key is growing
in our relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and becoming more like
Him.
What’s next for you and me regarding the
holiness of God? How is God right now leading us to respond to Him regarding
His holiness? Perhaps you or I need to commit to keep learning about,
acknowledging in private and public, communicating to the world these truths
about God and His holiness? Perhaps, you or I need to commit to being in awe of
God, to being thankful for His holiness, and commit to praise and worship Him more
often according to His holiness; all for His glory? Perhaps, you or I need to
repent of unholiness in our life, sin that has not been confessed to God yet;
sinful ways and strongholds that have not been turned away from yet to instead pursue
holiness and righteousness in Christ.
However God is leading let’s take this moment right now
personally to respond to the Holy God Almighty as He calls us to respond. May
we humble ourselves before God and His holiness. May we be in awe of God and
His holiness. May we magnify God and His holiness. May His holiness transform
us and guide into being the people of God He calls us to be; all to His glory!
Mike
