God=Holiness
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1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because 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 live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
“Who Is God?”
Introduction
When God created us, He created us in His image. What that means, at least in some measure is that we are to reflect God to the world. But in order to reflect Him to the world we must have a clear understanding of who He is. Who is this holy God, our Creator? We ought to learn all we can about Him, since we are created in His image. As we learn about Him, we learn more about His plans for us. You want to know who He really is? Let’s look at Psalm 99:9
9 Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.
I. God Is Holiness
A. Holiness is not simply one positive God quality among many; it defines all of God’s other attributes or characteristics. When we speak of God’s qualities or characteristics, we sometimes say that He is holy, and just, and loving, and all-powerful, etc. But His holiness really is not just one of those characteristics, it is who He is, and all the other characteristics of God stem from His holiness and are defined by His holiness.
1. Holiness defines God the way light defines the sun.
2. Holiness is the essence of who God is.
B. From His holiness flow all of God’s other attributes. Closely related to His holiness, we find this description of who God is in
6 Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah
II. God is Righteous
A. When we say God is righteous, we mean He follows the moral rules He established. He always does the right thing.
B. So God’s holiness guarantees righteous actions.
In addition, we also read this about our God in
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
III. God Is Love
A. A great chasm separates holiness from everything unholy. But God’s love closes the abyss between His holiness and our unholiness and draws us to His loving heart.
B. He reached out to us before we even knew we needed Him.
1. He held out hope to change our unholiness into holiness.
2. So He offers us this holy gift.
Another description of who He is is found in
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
IV. God Is Grace and Mercy
A. God’s grace and mercy flow from His holiness.
B. His holiness gives us what we do not deserve (grace) and does not give us what we do deserve (judgment). Several years ago, the Newsboys had a song that described God’s grace and mercy in this way: “When we get what we don’t deserve, that’s a real good thing—When we don’t get what we deserve, that’s a real good thing.”
C. He shows compassion on us in our unholy spiritual condition, and He acts kindly toward us when we deserve judgment.
Jesus says this as a description of who God is in
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
V. God Is Truth
Truth flows from God’s holiness, so we can rely on what He says to be correct.
1. He never lies, misrepresents, or misleads us.
2. So when His Word tells us that god loves us or is gracious and merciful to us, we know these statements are factual.
3. Because God is holy, He always bears truth.
God’s Holiness in the Bible
Throughout the Bible we find numerous references to God’s holiness. We could begin with Genesis and continue through Revelation and see His holiness represented throughout the scriptures.
VI. The Book of Genesis
Genesis does not speak specifically about God’s holiness but hints at it in various ways.
3. Unholiness always hides from holiness.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
4. Noah pleased God because he was righteous and blameless.
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
5. God called Abram to be blameless.
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Let’s continue our walk through the Bible and see God’s holiness in Exodus
VII. Hearing Holiness in Exodus
A. We began to hear specifically about holiness when Moses stood before the burning bush.
5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
B. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses sang of God’s holiness.
11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
VIII. Understanding God’s Holiness
A. Our understanding of God’s holiness takes shape as we read Leviticus.
1. The holiness of God and His hopes and dreams for our holiness set the backdrop of the entire book.
2. All of the symbols and images point toward holiness in one way or another.
44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
B. The holiness code in Leviticus (see 20:26; 21:8, 15, 23; 22:9, 16, 32).
26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
8 Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.
15 Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”
1. This code constantly reminds the Hebrew people that wherever they go and whatever they do, they must never forget one thing—God is holy.
2. Our call to holiness in Leviticus stems from God’s holiness.
IX. Expressing God’s Holiness
A. The book of Psalms frequently references the holiness of God.
B. Everything related to God becomes holy.
1. Holy hill (see 3:4).
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
2. Holy Temple (see 5:7, 11:4).
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
3. Holy heaven (see 20:6).
6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand.
4. Holy place (see 28:2).
2 Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
5. Holy mountain (see 43:3).
3 Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.
6. Psalms links God’s holiness and His name in praise.
4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
X. The complete picture of God’s holiness
A. One of the most complete pictures of the holiness of God comes from the life of the prophet Isaiah in the text for this morning’s message.
B. Isaiah’s experience gives us a clear image of our holy God.
C. Isaiah’s divine encounter transformed him.
D. What an example! We, like Isaiah, cannot come into God’s holy presence and remain the same.
Conclusion
Whether it’s the “holy, holy, holy” of Isaiah 6:3 in the Old Testament or of Revelation 4:8 in the New Testament, the idea is the same. God is holy at the very core of His being. Our God is a holy God. Holiness threads its way through all of God’s other attributes to help define them. Who He is exemplifies what He wants us to be.