The Holiness of God
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Opening verses:
Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace.
What does it mean to say that God is Holy?
God’s holiness encompasses to distinct characteristics.
First, God’s Holiness is an ontological reality.
Essentially, in His being, God is Holy, distinct, and set apart from all of creation.
There are many things that we reflect from God.
We are made in His image, we have a conscious, we work, we rest, we love, we do so many things that represent and show off our creator.
However, there is a huge difference between us and God.
R.C. Sproul says that God’s Holiness “signifies everything about God that sets Him apart from us and makes Him an object of awe, adoration, and dread to us.”
In a sense, God’s Holiness is what makes God, God.
Second part of Holiness is God’s Moral Holiness.
All that God does is morally good and pure, and aimed at fulfilling the greatest purpose of all giving Him glory.
This may catch us off guard at first, but we have to remember what creation was made for, and the fact that there is no one more deserving of praise than God.
Thus God glorifying Himself is the greatest good that He could do.
It is this moral perfection that makes God so frightening to the sinner.
To see all of this played out, we will look at an encounter that Isaiah had with God.
Isaiah 6:1-7
V. 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.
Isaiah in journeying to the temple was caught up and given a vision of the heavenly throne room.
Here He is allowed to see the Lord, but we need to note that God’s appearance is not necessarily described. This is likely on purpose.
Though it very well could have been a Pre-incarnate vision of Jesus that Isaiah saw, the point is not God’s appearance but the circumstances from which He ruled.
God is on a throne- pointing to His sovereignty.
God is highly exalted, and His robes fill the entire temple.
If we think about the temple, it is the place in which God would meet with His people in the OT, and now because of the Holy Spirit dwelling within God’s people, when we read this it comes with a new and greater meaning.
God truly dwells with His people, and all of life is under His reign as King.
V. 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.
Here we have a description of the angels that surround God.
Though they are holy(sinless) they still cover themselves from the pure holiness and glory of God.
V. 3- And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
These sinless beings proclaim just how Holy God is.
In Hebrew, repition is used to express a greater magnitude of an attribute.
This is the only place in the Old Testament where a Word is used in a threefold repetition.
This is to express just how holy, grand, and majestic God is.
He is the most Holy, transcendent, and majestic being in existence.
V. 4- The thresholds shaking, and smoke filling the temple point to Isaiah’s inability to be in the presence of and see God.
And we see Isaiah’s reaction to the magnificence of all that is front of him in the next verse.
V. 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!”
What’s surprising here, is that Isaiah had already been serving and following God.
This is not necessarily His conversion.
But being in the presence of God put a deeper understanding of his sinfulness with Isaiah, and it shook him to his very core.
Isaiah was likely the most righteous of all his people, and yet he knew that he was wretched when he saw God.
This is the reality that a sinner has to come to grips with. We are nothing but wretched in comparison to our God.
A person that denies his sin, is a person that doesn’t know God.
But here we see the grace of God as well.
V. 6-7- Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
God instead of smiting Isaiah for his unrighteousness, has made an atonement for him instead.
This is what is required of us as well. Christ had to make an atonement for us, that we may be made holy.
Some people have the mistaken idea that we have to do a certain level of good deeds in order to attain a level of holiness and be accepted by God, but this is the opposite of what we see in scripture.
Instead we see the Holy God of the universe, condescend and provide a way for His people.
God makes us Holy, and in response we seek to live Holy lives in gratitude for what God has done.
If you have not been made Holy however the Holiness of God should be something that absolutely terrifies you, but for those of you who have, God’s holiness is an encouragement.
As a Christian I know I belong to a Holy God, who is morally pure and always does the highest good possible. I know His love for me is pure and unwavering, and because of this I live with joy and peace.
Discussion Questions:
What does it mean that God is Holy?
In Hebrew, repetition is used to express a greater magnitude of an attribute. r to Isaiah’s vision? What should this make us think about Jesus?
How does seeing God as Holy effect how we worship Him?