Holy, Holy, Holy: Encountering the God Who Redeems

As I began to plan my first message as your new pastor, I reflected on times when I was overwhelmed by the reality of God—moments when I couldn’t learn enough about Him. I discovered that once I came to know the heart of my Creator and understood His attributes, I was able to endure trials, temptations, and whatever life threw at me.  While I was in seminary, I read Knowing God by J.I. Packer, a book that profoundly impacted me. The truth is, God is incomprehensible, yet He has demonstrated—and continues to demonstrate—His character and attributes through His Word. It is through His Word that He reveals who He is and what His plan is for your life.  As your new pastor, I want to start with the basics: the foundations of why we can trust in the Lord with every aspect of our lives. So, over the next few weeks, we will explore the attributes of God to deepen our understanding of our Creator and grow closer to Him.

We will begin with the holiness of God, because it is His holiness that sets Him apart from us. God’s holiness means He is different from all other aspects of creation—pure, perfect, and unlike anything else. He is the source of all life, goodness, and beauty. His holiness reveals both His moral perfection and His infinite power. However, for us, because of sin, God’s holiness exposes our impurity and sinfulness.

Our sermon text for today is Isaiah 6:1–8. In this passage, we can see that—like Isaiah—when we truly encounter the Lord as He is, high and exalted, we recognize how unworthy and unclean we are before Him. The hope we receive from these verses is that God’s holiness is not only a standard that condemns—it is also a force that transforms. Through Jesus Christ, God’s holiness reaches out to us, not to destroy us, but to purify, forgive, and make us new.

The holiness of God matters deeply because it shapes everything about our faith and life. It reminds us that God is not to be treated casually but worshiped with awe and reverence. It calls us to pursue purity and righteousness—not out of fear, but out of gratitude for His cleansing grace. And it gives us hope, because the same holy God who commands, “Be holy, for I am holy,” empowers us by His Spirit to reflect His character to the world.

Please join me as we read our sermon text, Isaiah 6:1–8.

READ ISAIAH 6:1–8

I. THE HOLINESS OF GOD REVEALED

We begin with Isaiah’s vision of God. (READ 1–4.) Isaiah, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was caught up into the presence of God in His holy temple. This occurred “in the year that King Uzziah died,” which would have been around 740 B.C. This is significant because Uzziah had a long and prosperous reign of about 52 years—a time marked by relative prosperity, peace, and expansion. However, there was also the looming threat of Assyrian invasion from the north.

King Uzziah, according to 2 Kings, “did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh,” yet his heart was not fully devoted to God. Israel was about to experience profound changes because they had forgotten God and continued to go their own way. This was the beginning of the end for Judah, which would eventually lead to exile.

Isaiah is overwhelmed by God’s presence. He sees the Lord in all His glory, “high and lifted up,” and he sees the seraphim calling out to each other, declaring the holiness of God: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” The word seraphim in Hebrew means “to burn” or “the burning ones,” tying them directly to the holiness of God.

This scene is unlike anything anyone could experience in this world. It is literally a holy experience. God’s holiness is absolute, pure, and overwhelming. Isaiah knows he is somewhere he should not be. He is filled with fear just being in the presence of the holy and living God.

The first truth we can see here is that God deserves our praise and obedience. God is still the same God Isaiah saw that day, and all His glory and holiness continue to be displayed in His creation.  I think we have lost our reverence and awe of God. If you were given the opportunity to see God as Isaiah did, I think you would have a very different view of your problems and your tendency to hold onto secret sins. Our position as followers of Christ should never be to see God as merely our “buddy” or “the big man in the sky.” God is holy—full of pure power and strength—and there is nothing outside His control. There is no sin too great that He cannot deliver you from, no problem too big that He cannot help you with.

If your sin, struggle, or temptation is too big for God to handle, then your view of God is too small. This is not who God revealed Himself to be to Isaiah. Isaiah’s only response in the presence of the living God was humility—his pride shattered—and an awareness of the full extent of his sin.

This leads us to the second truth in our text: the holiness of God exposes our sinfulness.

II. THE SINFUL HEART EXPOSED (v. 5)

In the presence of God, Isaiah knows his place. He makes the truth of his situation clear:

“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!”  This reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 1:18–20: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth... so they are without excuse.”

Isaiah recognizes not only his own sin but also that no human being can stand in God’s presence. He knows he is unworthy and has nowhere to hide from God’s wrath, should God choose to pour it out.  At no point does Isaiah compare himself to others and say, “I’m not so bad. I haven’t killed anyone. I gave to the poor. I go to church.” None of that matters in the presence of a holy God. Isaiah’s only response is: “Woe is me, for I am lost.” In other words, “I’m dead. I have no chance to survive this encounter.” 

The truth is none of us could survive the presence of God on our own. One day, each of us will stand before the holy, living Judge who will measure our righteousness against His perfect standard. There will be no excuses.  Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If Isaiah’s vision ended there, we would have no hope. But we, as followers of Christ, know a different reality: this holy God is also a merciful Father who loves us beyond comprehension.  That leads us to the third truth in our text: through confession, our merciful God cleanses us of all our sins for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

III. THE MERCIFUL GOD CLEANSES (vv. 6–7)

There is nothing we can do to clean ourselves up before God. It is impossible. I’ve heard people say, “When I get my habits under control, or when I’m done living my life, then I’ll come to God.” But that makes about as much sense as taking a shower before taking a bath.  This is not how God expects us to come to Him. We must come as Isaiah did—in humility, without excuse. A proper relationship with God begins with recognizing His authority, power, and plan for our lives, and then obediently following Him.

I love the image Isaiah describes. It shows the merciful power of God in our atonement and sanctification. God does not tell Isaiah to clean himself up before coming into His presence—God Himself cleanses Isaiah.  A seraph goes to the altar of sacrifice, takes a coal from the flames, and touches Isaiah’s lips. This holy coal, from God’s holy altar, in God’s holy presence, purifies Isaiah. God is the one who initiates forgiveness and restoration. Isaiah does nothing to deserve it or earn it—it is a gift of God’s goodness.  The seraph declares, under the authority of God: “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” The altar points to the cross of Christ, where our ultimate atonement was made. In Christ, our guilt is removed and our hearts purified. God’s holiness no longer condemns us—it transforms us.

This transformation builds and sustains God’s kingdom through generations. You have a testimony of the goodness of God in your life. You have hope to share—with those at school, at work, and in your family. You have been redeemed and cleansed, and nothing can separate you from the love of God.  In your redemption, you are equipped for service in ways you never were before. You have been cleansed to do the work of the kingdom. That brings us to the final truth in our text today.

IV. THE REDEEMED SERVANT COMMISSIONED (v. 8)

Once cleansed, Isaiah hears and responds to God’s call: “Here am I. Send me!”  Isaiah realizes that God is not going to destroy him but instead invites him to participate in His holy work. This is the essence of the gospel—it transforms and changes us.  The perfect standard of God’s law was never designed to force us into dutiful compliance as slaves. Rather, it was meant to drive us back to Him—to point us to our need for a Savior. The law convicts us; it exposes our sin and drives us to seek God’s mercy.  That is why the gospel is such good news—our salvation is not based on how well we keep the law, but on what Jesus accomplished through His life, death, and resurrection.

The law was not given as a way to be saved, but as a guide to how God desires His people to live. It reveals His will and shows us our need for a Savior. Only one person perfectly fulfilled God’s law—Jesus Christ.  As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”  When we recognize our weakness and God’s wrath toward sin, we are driven to Christ, the Savior of the world. In this, we see both Law and Gospel at work—the Law shows us what we must do (and cannot), and the Gospel shows us what God has done for us in Christ.

God’s grace leads to obedience and mission. Those who have been forgiven by God are sent to proclaim His holiness and mercy to others.  You do not need to be a pastor, theologian, or missionary to do God’s work. You simply need to be a redeemed sinner. The good news is that this church is full of them!  You don’t need special training—you just need to tell others about the goodness of God in your life, how encountering the living God of the universe changed you forever.

I’ve heard it said that evangelism is “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” That bread is Jesus Christ—the Bread of Life—who satisfies every hungry heart.  May we, like Isaiah, stand before the Lord in awe and gratitude and say, “Here am I. Send me.”

CONCLUSION

When Isaiah saw God’s holiness, he saw his sin. When he confessed his sin, he received cleansing. When he was cleansed, he was called to serve.

So it is with us in Christ. The Holy One has made us holy by His grace so that we might go and make Him known.

As we close today, let us return to where we began: when we truly know God—when we see Him as He is, holy and exalted—it changes everything. That was Isaiah’s experience, and it can be ours as well.  The holiness of God humbles us, His mercy cleanses us, and His grace commissions us. Isaiah’s story reminds us that the Christian life begins not with what we do for God, but with what God has done for us. We cannot cleanse ourselves, save ourselves, or make ourselves worthy. But God, in His great mercy, reaches down to us through Jesus Christ—He purifies, forgives, and makes us new.  And when that happens, the only right response is to say, “Here am I. Send me.”

Church, my prayer as your pastor is that we would be a people who see God as He truly is—holy, powerful, and full of mercy—and that this vision would transform us. May our worship be marked by awe, our hearts by humility, and our lives by mission.  May we be a people who not only know about God but truly know Him, walk with Him, and reflect His holiness to the world around us.

Because the God who called Isaiah still calls today. The same holy God who forgave Isaiah’s sin has forgiven ours. And the same God who sent Isaiah into a dark and broken world now sends you.

So may we go forth—redeemed and ready—proclaiming the holiness and mercy of our great God, until the whole earth is filled with the glory of His holiness.