GOD'S HOLINESS

The Almighty God says in Isaiah 57:15, “I am the High and Holy God, who lives for ever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.” God’s holiness sets Him apart from all created beings – the holiness of God refers to his differentness and separateness from all else, his uniqueness in kind, his uniqueness in category. There is no other god, there is no one like Him. He alone is God, with unique characteristics and unique qualities. 1 Samuel 2:2, “No one is holy like the Lord, there is none like Him, no protector like our God.” The Sovereign Lord is unique in his category, no one can be compared to Him. “I am who I am.” Says the Lord God Almighty in Exodus 3:14. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Israel, remember this! The Lord – and the Lord alone – is our God.” Isaiah 55:8-9, “’My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.’” God’s holiness also refers to his moral purity and flawlessness – God’s holiness is revealed, in this sense, in his laws and commandments and in all He does – Habakkuk 1:13, “Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people who do wrong.” Psalms 19:7-8, “The Law of the Lord is perfect; it gives new strength. The commands of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it. The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy. The commands of the Lord are just and give understanding to the mind.” Romans 7:12, “The Law itself is holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good.” The Lord our God does not approve of any evil; He is right in his dealings with us. He is holy in all He does and because of his divine holiness nothing can draw Him into wrongdoing. God is not like us. He can be exposed to all kinds of situations or come into contact with those who do evil but He will never be influenced by them; He cannot be tempted or corrupted, He cannot be led into sin. We have seen this for example in the person of his Son when He was on earth – He spent time with many tax collectors and other outcasts; He did not embrace their ways. Instead, his divine holiness drew these people to repentance. We also have seen Christ’s holiness being displayed when the Devil appeared to Him in the desert. God commands us to avoid bad companions because we are likely to copy their ways, we can become corrupted. Our God is holy and his holiness is revealed in all He does. All the Lord does is unique. Right and true are his ways. Great and wonderful are his deeds. Psalms 77:13-14, “Everything You do, O God, is holy. No god is as great as You. You are the God who works miracles; You showed your might among the nations.” God’s holiness is revealed in creation – Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

God’s holiness is manifest in everything that belongs to Him – his throne, Temple, Covenant Box and in his angels. The holiness of the Father is also seen in the Son – Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and his holiness was manifest even in the early stage of Mary’s pregnancy. Luke tells us that after the appearance of the Lord’s angel to Mary, she went to visit her relative Elizabeth who was six months pregnant. “She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said in a loud voice, ‘You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear!’” Luke 1:40-42. Christ’s holiness was also revealed at his baptism – Matthew 3:16-17, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and alighting on Him. Then a voice said from heaven, ‘This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.’” The holiness of the Son is seen in his live on earth – Christ lived a perfect life, He was without sin, distinct from all created beings. The way He lived among his people and all He did for us testify his holiness – 1 Peter 2:22-24, “He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips. When He was insulted, He did not answer back with an insult; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge. Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.” Christ was made sin by God the Father for us, because only the holy Son could satisfy the righteous demand of God’s divine justice – “Jesus, then, is the High Priest that meets our needs. He is holy; He has no fault or sin in Him; He has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens. He is not like other high priests; He does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when He offered Himself.” Hebrews 7:26-27. Our Lord’s holiness was also revealed at his death – when Christ breathed his last, Matthew 27:51-54 tells us, “The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split apart, the graves broke open, and many of God’s people who had died were raised to life. They left the graves, and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them. When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said, ‘He really was the Son of God!’” Christ’s resurrection also revealed his holiness – He rose to life three days after his death. When his disciples gathered in the evening of his resurrection, the Lord appeared to them and said: “’Peace be with you. As the Father sent Me, so I send you.’ Then He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’” John 20:21-23

God’s holiness is also manifest in his judgements – Isaiah 5:16 tells us, “He reveals his holiness by judging his people.” In Ezekiel 36:19-23 for example, the Sovereign Lord says: “I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries. Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, ‘These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.’ That made Me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went. Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: what I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name – the name you disgraced among them – then they will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 38:21-23, “I will terrify Gog with all sorts of calamities. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. His men will turn their swords against one another. I will punish him with disease and bloodshed. Torrents of rain and hail, together with fire and sulphur, will pour down on him and his army and on the many nations that are on his side. In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord.” Psalms 7:11, “God is a righteous Judge and always condemns the wicked. If they do not change their ways, God will sharpen his sword.” Psalms 119:75 says, “I know that your judgements are righteous, Lord, and that you punished me, because you are faithful.”

God’s holiness is also displayed in his Kingdom – Revelation 4:6-8, “Surrounding the throne on each of its sides, were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and behind. The first one looked like a lion; the second looked like a bull; the third had a face like a human face; and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and they were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day and night they never stop singing: ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.’” When the angel of the Lord talks about the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:26-27 he says, “The greatness and the wealth of the nations will be brought into the city, but nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of the living will enter the city.”

God’s holiness is manifest in our salvation as well. Our sanctification is done by the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a process where God’s Spirit progressively works in believers to conform them to the image of Christ the Saviour; He moves them from one level of holiness to the next. Only those who, through their faith in Christ, receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit are made holy or in other words, are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and therefore can inherit the Kingdom of Christ – “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” Says the Lord in John 3:5. And anyone who is born again lives to the standard set by the Sovereign Lord. He is no longer controlled by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Instead, he longs for holiness, he longs to be like Christ. 2 Timothy 1:9, “He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” The way to eternal life is paved with the Lord’s holiness and so Isaiah calls that road ‘The Road to Holiness’. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Isaiah says, “No sinner will ever travel that road; no fools will misled those who follow it. No lions will be there; no fierce animals will pass that way. Those whom the Lord has rescued will travel home by that road.” Isaiah 35:8-9.

The Lord’s holiness calls for the holiness of everything that is to be offered to Him and of anyone who comes into the presence of the Lord. Under the Laws of Moses for example, the priests that served the Lord were to keep themselves holy and the offerings presented to the Lord were sacred, without any defects. In Leviticus 22:1-3 “The Lord commanded Moses to say to Aaron and his sons, ‘You must not bring disgrace on my holy name, so treat with respect the sacred offerings that the people of Israel dedicate to Me. I am the Lord. If any of your descendants, while he is ritually unclean, comes near the sacred offerings which the people of Israel have dedicated to Me, he can never again serve at the altar.” When the Israelites were camped at Mount Sinai and the Lord wanted to reveal Himself to them, He commanded Moses, his servant: “Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes and be ready the day after tomorrow.” Exodus 19:10-11. Exodus 19:20-22 says, “The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. Moses went up and the Lord said to him, ‘Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at Me; if they do, many of them will die. Even the priests who come near Me must purify themselves, or I will punish them.”

God’s holiness also calls for the pureness of all those who are joined to Him through Christ – Hebrews 12:14 tells us, “Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it.” Matthew 5:48, “You must be perfect – just as your Father is heaven is perfect!” Leviticus 11:44, “I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16, “Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. Instead, be holy in all you do, just as God who called you is holy. The Scripture says, ‘Be holy because I am holy.”

God’s holiness compels us to worship Him and fills us with fear of the Lord – In Leviticus 22:32-33, the Lord Almighty commands us: “Do not bring disgrace on my name; all the people of Israel must acknowledge Me to be Holy. I am the Lord and I make you holy; and I brought you out of Egypt to become your God. I am the Lord.” Hebrews 12:25-28 tells us, “Be careful, then, and do not refuse to hear Him who speaks. Those who refused to hear the one who gave the divine message on earth did not escape. How much less shall we escape, then, if we turn away from the One who speaks from heaven! His voice shook the earth at that time, but now He has promised, ‘I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven as well.’ The words ‘once more’ plainly show that the created things will be shaken and removed, so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please Him, with reverence and awe; because our God is indeed a destroying fire.”

“God’s power is so great that we cannot come near Him.” Job 37:23. Prior to his appearance to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, the Lord God Almighty, through his servant Moses, instructed the people to honour his presence by keeping some distance from the mountain. The Sovereign Lord says to Moses in Exodus 19:11-13: “On that day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see Me. Mark a boundary round the mountain that the people must not cross, and tell them not to go up the mountain or even get near it. If anyone sets foot on it, he is to be put to death; he must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching him. This applies to men and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up the mountain.” When the Holy Sovereign Lord God Almighty touches something ordinary or when his dazzling light passes somewhere, that place or thing becomes transformed, it becomes holy. It was the case for example at Mount Sinai and also when the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush. The Bible tells us that “Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up.” Exodus 3:2. He thought it was strange and wanted to move closer to see. “When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer, He called to him from the middle of the bush and said, ‘Moses! Moses!’ He answered, ‘Yes, here I am.’ God said, ‘Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.’” Exodus 3:4-5. We also have among others the example concerning the use of the East Gate of the temple in the vision that Ezekiel had about the future temple of Jerusalem – Ezekiel 44:2 says, “The Lord said to me, ‘This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have entered through it. It is to remain closed.” God’s holiness sets Him apart from all his created beings and there is no word to describe the supernatural power that He transfers to anything set aside for his service. For instance, in the Old Testament only those who were designated by the Lord could touch and even set their eyes on the sacred objects that were used in his Temple.

Our God is the Holy One and we ought to have reverence for Him. We cannot tamper with God’s holiness. The singularity of our God, which is revealed to us in his holiness, compels us to worship only Him and to submit to his will. The Lord is Sovereign, He rules supreme over all creation. Any blaspheme, the rejection of the gospel of Christ, any act that is not considered an act of worship to the Lord is greatly offensive to God; it is irreverent and sinful. It does not honour the holiness of God. Unfortunately, many people blaspheme the Lord’s holy name, they make disgusting comment about God and others use his holy name for evil purposes, although the Lord commands us in Exodus 20:7: “Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.” People in their pride alter the word of God to come up with a message tailored to their carnal desires. In Deuteronomy 4:2 the Sovereign Lord says through his servant Moses, “Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away.” In Revelation 22:18-19, inspired by the Spirit of Christ, John wrote: “I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to his or her punishment the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes anything away from the prophetic words of this book, God will take away from them their share of the fruit of the tree of life and of the Holy City, which are described in this book.” From the Bible we learn how God’s Temple was profaned multiple times in the past. Human depravity is a great sin against the holiness of God. What we ought to understand is that God’s name, his Son, his Spirit, his Temple and everything linked to his person must be honoured. We must worship Him and glorify his holy name. The Lord’s wrath will fall upon anyone who dishonours his name. In the same way “whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” Says the Lord Almighty in Matthew 12:31. Hebrews 10:28-31 warns us, “Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The Lord is holy and must be praised and honoured. The Lord is not like us, He is the Holy and Sovereign God; He is different and separate from us; He is alone in his category, with unique attributes and unique qualities. His holiness is the essence of all his other attributes. Human brain cannot fully apprehend it but no one can claim to be ignorant of the holiness of our God. For as Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “Ever since God created the world, his invisibles qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made.” Romans 1:20. Therefore, the lustful are all guilty before the Lord. “God did no call us to live in immorality, but in holiness.” 1 Thessalonians 4:7. Our God deserves all glory, praise and honour. He created all things for his own glory and power belongs to Him alone: the power to plant and the power to pull up, the power to build up and the power to tear down, the power to kill and the power to restore. All knees must bow before Him. When king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia grew proud and was bragging about the capital city he built in his kingdom to display, he said, his power, might, glory and majesty, he greatly offended the Lord, he violated the first commandment. Daniel 4:33 tells us, “Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails as long as birds’ claws.”

God’s fiery anger is cast down on those who do not have reverence for Him, the proud and those who do not respect the sacredness of the things that belong to our God. Under the reign of king Saul, 1 Samuel 5:1-4 tells us, “After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box, they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdod, took it into the temple of their god Dagon, and set it up beside his statue. Early next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downwards on the ground in front of the Lord’s Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place. Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left.” 1 Samuel 5:6 tells us, “The Lord punished the people of Ashdod severely and terrified them. He punished them and the people in the surrounding territory by causing them to have tumours.” These people then called together all five of the Philistine kings and asked them to take God’s Covenant Box to Gath. 1 Samuel 5:9,12, “But after it arrived there, the Lord punished that city too and caused a great panic. He punished them with tumours which developed in all the people of the city, young and old alike. Even those who did not die developed tumours and the people cried out to their gods for help.” Among his own people, 1 Samuel 6:19 tells us, “The Lord killed 70 of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box.” When king David and the people were bringing the Lord’s Covenant Box to Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 6:6-7 says, “As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence.”

We also have the story of king Belshazzar, son of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to help us understand that we always ought to have reverence for the Holy Lord God Almighty. Reading from the Book of Daniel chapter 5:1-6 – “One night king Belshazzar invited a thousand noblemen to a great banquet, and they drank wine together. While they were drinking, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups and bowls which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he, his noblemen, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. At once the gold cups and bowls were brought in, and they all drank wine out of them, and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Suddenly a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall of the palace, where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly. And the king saw the hand as it was writing. He turned pale and was so frightened that his knees began to shake.” What was written on the wall was God’s judgment against the king. Daniel decrypted the message for the king and said to him: “You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honour the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do. That is why God sent the hand to write these words. This is what was written: ‘Number, number, weight, divisions.’ And this is what it means: number, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; weight, you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light; divisions, your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians.’ That same night Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, was killed; and Darius the Mede, who was then 62 years old, seized the royal power.” Daniel 5:23-28,30-31. God’s anger is also revealed for all those who violate the sacredness of God’s word by altering it or by rejecting it. – Isaiah 1:28 tells us, “He will crush everyone who sins and rebels against Him; He will kill everyone who forsakes Him.” 1 Thessalonians 4:8, “Whoever rejects this teaching is not rejecting a human being, but God, who gives you his Spirit.” 1 Samuel 15:23 says, “Rebellion against Him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry.” As Psalms 96:9 says, “Bow down before the Holy One when He appears; tremble before Him, all the earth!” For “The Lord’s ways are right, and righteous people live by following them, but sinners stumble and fall because they ignore them.” Hosea 14:9. “God is powerful; all must stand in awe of Him.” Job 25:2. “Worship the Lord, all the earth! Honour Him, all peoples of the world! When He spoke, the world was created; at his command everything appeared.” Psalms 33:8-9.

Our God is Holy, but we are not - we are radically depraved; evil has established its dominion in our hearts. The Lord Almighty does not stand the sight of evil nor does He tolerate those who do evil, and so our depravity has led to our separation from our Creator. The first sin that our forefather committed in the Garden of Eden was enough to separate us from God. But in his mercy and love, the Lord has provided a means by which our sins are forgiven, a means to reconcile us to Himself - his own Son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is written, “Salvation is to be found through Him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us.” (Acts 4:12). Christ willingly gave his life so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but inherit eternal life. Christ's substitutionary death atones for the sins of those who put their trust in Him. He clothes them with his own righteousness and they shall see God. If you have not yet put your trust in Christ, I urge you today to do so. Repent of your sins and believe in Christ. He is holy and righteous, but you are not; you cannot save yourself, but Christ is the Saviour. Unless you throw yourself on the mercy of Christ, the holy wrath of God will consume you on the day when Christ comes in his glory to judge the ungodly. Run to Christ and seek refuge in Him. Humble yourself and get on your knees before the Holy God. Repent of all your sins, recognize your need of Christ, confess Him as Lord and Saviour and put your trust in Him. He will impute his own righteousness to you and you will be treated by God as righteous and thus escape the wrath to come.

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