God is Love... Or...
The most common description of God from people in America? Love.
The most common description of God in the Bible? Holy.
Psalm 99:5 (ESV) Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!
Three times this Psalm calls the King of glory Holy!
In the Scriptures, God is called holy more than He is called loving, just or kind. The Bible uses the word, "holy" or "holiness" over 900 times. He is absolutely Holy. In the Hebrew language, you didn't emphasize words by capitalizing or italicizing them. And words like "very" or "really" were not around to provide emphasis. So the Hebrews repeated the word for emphasis. That gives us greater understanding of Isaiah's experience in the Temple as he watched the angels cry to one another:
Isaiah 6:3 (ESV) And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Here in Psalm 99, we see the scene set again in the throne room of God:
Psalm 99:1 (ESV) The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
His holiness is awesome.
But do not make the mistake that this word, "holy" is about personal righteousness. God is perfectly righteous AND holy. They are different attributes. Holiness has to do with His transcendence. The word "holy" comes from the word meaning "to separate." So God's "otherness" that we cannot fathom. The whole of the Universe is not able to contain Him for He made it with His speech!
The word can also be "sanctify" or to "set apart." Which is what the Lord is doing right now.
Ephesians 5:25 (ESV) Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
There are two things the Lord has done in this verse:
1. He has cleansed - that is removed from us the sin and stains of our past.
2. He has washed - the word refers to ceremonial washing of items to prepare for special use.
Child of God, you are not simply washed of the bad things you've done, you have been set apart for the good things God has for you to do:
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
You're not just clean, you are consecrated. But that means more than you think. Back to Psalm 99. Four implications arise for God's holy ones:
Psalm 99:7–8 (ESV) In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. 8 O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Speaking of Moses, Aaron and Samuel who spoke for God and were set apart for His purposes, the Psalmist makes clear the stipulations of their relation to Him as His "holy" ones:
1. He spoke to them - being a Christian is about hearing God's voice.
2. They obeyed His laws - being a Christian means you seek to obey His Word.
3. He forgave them - God holds no record of wrongs against His chosen
4. He avenged their wrongs - God holds His chosen in high accountability, disciplining those He loves and chastising all whom He calls "son."
God is holy.
We are made holy.
Exalt the Lord our God.
The most common description of God in the Bible? Holy.
Psalm 99:5 (ESV) Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!
Three times this Psalm calls the King of glory Holy!
In the Scriptures, God is called holy more than He is called loving, just or kind. The Bible uses the word, "holy" or "holiness" over 900 times. He is absolutely Holy. In the Hebrew language, you didn't emphasize words by capitalizing or italicizing them. And words like "very" or "really" were not around to provide emphasis. So the Hebrews repeated the word for emphasis. That gives us greater understanding of Isaiah's experience in the Temple as he watched the angels cry to one another:
Isaiah 6:3 (ESV) And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Here in Psalm 99, we see the scene set again in the throne room of God:
Psalm 99:1 (ESV) The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
His holiness is awesome.
But do not make the mistake that this word, "holy" is about personal righteousness. God is perfectly righteous AND holy. They are different attributes. Holiness has to do with His transcendence. The word "holy" comes from the word meaning "to separate." So God's "otherness" that we cannot fathom. The whole of the Universe is not able to contain Him for He made it with His speech!
The word can also be "sanctify" or to "set apart." Which is what the Lord is doing right now.
Ephesians 5:25 (ESV) Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
There are two things the Lord has done in this verse:
1. He has cleansed - that is removed from us the sin and stains of our past.
2. He has washed - the word refers to ceremonial washing of items to prepare for special use.
Child of God, you are not simply washed of the bad things you've done, you have been set apart for the good things God has for you to do:
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
You're not just clean, you are consecrated. But that means more than you think. Back to Psalm 99. Four implications arise for God's holy ones:
Psalm 99:7–8 (ESV) In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. 8 O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Speaking of Moses, Aaron and Samuel who spoke for God and were set apart for His purposes, the Psalmist makes clear the stipulations of their relation to Him as His "holy" ones:
1. He spoke to them - being a Christian is about hearing God's voice.
2. They obeyed His laws - being a Christian means you seek to obey His Word.
3. He forgave them - God holds no record of wrongs against His chosen
4. He avenged their wrongs - God holds His chosen in high accountability, disciplining those He loves and chastising all whom He calls "son."
God is holy.
We are made holy.
Exalt the Lord our God.
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