The Holiness of God.

The Holiness of God.   (the antithesis of sin, from John 9.1-7)

Key verse:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”  Revelation 4.11

I can only imagine what it will be like to see Jesus … just to be in his presence!  One day, we will see him, you know—we will see him in the splendor of Heaven, ‘beyond what our finite minds can comprehend.  John describes what he experienced when Jesus took him up into Heaven, and he beheld the One seated on the throne, surrounded by a rainbow that looked like an emerald, with a sea of glass spread before the throne; flashes of lightning and thunder coming from the throne, where the four beautiful creatures flanking the throne say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’  (Revelation 4.8)

Oh my dears, our God is a holy God.  Not sure about you, but I am confident that if I were to come into his presence, I would fall to my knees, with my forehead on the ground, so aware of his holiness and splendor …  so aware of my lack of either.  The last question in my mind would be, ‘how far can I go and not sin?’  It is an incongruous question in the presence of an all-holy, all-loving God.  If we love him, if we esteem his holiness, we then endeavor to honor him in all we do … obeying his commands, distancing ourselves from compromise.    

We began our discussion because of the man born blind, referenced in John 9, when the disciples asked ‘who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’  Now let’s shift our focus to the problem of sin.  God hates sin.  He calls you and me to live a holy life (1 Thessalonians 4.8); in fact, Peter said, “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1.15-16)  Not a suggestion, but a command, and the reason the word ‘holy’ in its various forms is mentioned some 600 times in the Bible!

Revisiting Jerry Bridges’ Pursuit of Holiness, has helped me as I am sharpening my mind on the priority of holiness for my life.  To be holy is to be morally blameless.  It is to be separated from sin and consecrated to God.  “Make every effort … to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord.”  (Hebrews 12.14)

Christine

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