The Holy God
Taylor
Middlebrook
Mr.
Colin Brazier
Doctrine
I
October
26, 2015
The
Holy God
Introduction/
Definitions
Typically,
in order to read as many Bible verses possible on a given topic, I
put the key word into my e-Sword Bible program. When I searched for
the word“holy,” it brought it up 595 verses! I wasn't able to
read all of them, but I did read a lot of them. It is obvious that
holiness is a big deal to God. So, what does it mean when we say that
God is Holy?
“Properly, whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure
in heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful
affections.” (Webster's 1828) Holy could be defined further as set
apart, perfectly just, good. In our class on Leviticus, I learned
that the three aspects of God's Holiness are His Power, Perfection,
and Sovereignty; He is completely above and wholly distinct (O.T.S).
A.
God is other, set apart, above all.
“The
word (holiness) signifies everything about God that sets him apart
from us and makes him an object of awe, adoration, and dread to us. "
(Packer, 43)
This
fact made this paper particularly challenging, because, “(Holiness
is) not an attribute in the same sense as the other attributes, like
love, or mercy, or grace, or omniscience, it is what you say about
God, when you have collected up the attributes of God” (Nurenberg).
God
is above all things. “For
the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (Psalm
95:3). In the Bible, we see instances where He is shown as above
things. His spirit was “over the face of the waters” in (Genesis
1:2). He spoke “from above the mercy seat” (Exodus 25:22). When
Jacob saw the ladder coming down from heaven, in all of its
splendor,“the
LORD stood above it”
(Genesis 28:12-13). “The
LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king
forever.” (Psalm 29:10)
When
He made man, made him in His image (Gen 1:26). As a part of the
expression of who God is in man, He gave man authority “over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth" (Gen 1:26). But He is
still above Man. “God is greater than man” ( Job 33:12) God
alone deserves worship. He is even above the heavenly beings. (Exodus
20:4, Isaiah 37:16). His Glory is “above
the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). "[Holiness] covers all
aspects of his transcendent greatness and moral perfection and thus
is an attribute of all his attributes, pointing to the "Godness"
of God at every point. " (Packer, 43)
B.
God's Wrath and Justice are out-workings of His Holiness
If
God did not care about what we did on earth, he would not be holy,
but he is both holy and wrathful. “For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men,.." ( Rom 1:18). We must not think that
God is Wrathful sometimes and Holy at other times. “God
is angry with the wicked every day." (Psa_7:11) This fact of
God being always angry
is not in any way similar to fictional character Bruce Banner, who
reveals that “I
am always angry,”
right before he turns into the rage monster the Incredible Hulk
(Avengers). God is not sitting around, trying his best to control
Himself, worrying about if he is going to go crazy on Mankind. He is
in control of all things, including Himself. He continually upholds
the Universe by the word of his power (Heb 1:3), he even gives breath
and life to the ones who hate Him. Many people are seeking
satisfaction in this world. God lets sinners have pleasure on this
earth, but it does not give Him pleasure when He lets them die
(Ezekiel 33:11). He is patient with them, not wishing that any should
perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2Pe_3:9)
He
has given the wicked the Bible; if they do not believe that, they
will not be convinced if someone should rise from the dead (Luke
16:31) My boss is an example of this. He, at one time, claimed to
believe in the Bible. As he studied, he learned the teaching of
God's Absolute Sovereignty. Because of a death of a child in his
extended family, could not bring himself to believe “that a Loving
God would do such a evil thing.” He began to reject the Bible
because of that. Soon after he read articles and books, written by
supposed experts on historical texts, who wrote that the Bible was
made up by men, hundreds of years after the books were supposedly
written. Therefore, John Cressman has rejected the Bible, and
doesn't believe that Jesus was who He said he was, that is, God
Incarnate. He does not believe that anyone has ever risen from the
dead.
God
is wholly Just. In His judgments, He is “conformed
to truth; exact; proper; accurate” (Webster's). “A just balance
and scales are the LORD's” (Pro_16:11).
I pray for my boss' salvation, because I know that if he goes on
sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, that
he will have no redemption for his sins, but a fearful expectation of
judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume him (Heb 10:26-27).
“How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the
one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the
blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged
the Spirit of grace? (Heb 10:29)” One
day, every knee will bow, including his, before God, the Holy and
Just one, and declare that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).
He will be judged according to his sins, and will spend eternity in
Hell for not turning from his sin and putting God in first place.
God will punish sinners because He is Holy. He can not be indifferent
to sin, because He is perfect. “Indifference
to sin is a moral blemish, and he who hates it not is a moral leper.”
(Pink)
C.
Jesus is Holy. Therefore, His Sacrifice means the unholy can come to
God.
The
demon possessed man saw that Christ was Holy. The demons inside of
him said, “What
have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy
us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God." When
we see Jesus in the temple, whipping the money-changers and merchants
and overturning their tables, we see His holiness. (John
2: 14-17
also in Mark 11, Matthew 21)
Jesus,
the Son of God, who came “from above is above all.” (John 3:31)
We see God's acceptance of Jesus sacrifice in that, when Christ had
offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the
right hand of God (Heb 10:12). The sacrifice was accepted as payment
for all of our sins. By
a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being
sanctified (Heb 10:14). Matthew Henry said of this verse that,
"(Christ)
has delivered and will perfectly deliver those that are brought over
to him, from all the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, and will
put them into the sure possession of perfect holiness and felicity."
(Henry)
“We
(now) have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of
Jesus,”
(Heb 10:19)
Application
Realize
that, if you are in Christ, you ARE holy, and also, that you should
BE holy."You
shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you
from the peoples, that you should be mine"(Leviticus
20:26).
Rest
in Him. "from the
end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the
rock that is higher than I" (Psalm
61:2 ).
Glorify
God for His Holiness "Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his
holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!” (Psalm 99:9). "Who
will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have
been revealed." (Rev 15:4).
Thank
Him
for His Holiness “Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and
give thanks to his holy name.” (Psalm 30:4 )
Charles Spurgeon writes on this verse,“You are his saints - chosen,
blood-bought, called, and set apart for God sanctified on purpose
that You should offer the daily sacrifice of praise.”
Do not fear rejection
from God. He sees you as Holy by the Blood of Jesus.
"From
whence this fear and unbelief?
Hast
Thou, O Father, put to grief
Thy
spotless Son for me?
And
will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn
me for that debt of sin
Which,
Lord, was laid on Thee?"
(Augustus
Toplady)
Works
Cited
Avengers.
Dir. Joss Whedon. Perf. Robert
Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett
Johansson, Tom Hiddleson. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2012.
Film.
Henry,
Matthew. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible,
e-Sword Bible Program.
Nuernberg,
Art "OTS, Session 18, Leviticus: Holiness" Accessed:
October 24, 2015.
O.T.S
Session 19-Holiness notes
from October 21, 2015
Packer,
J.I. Concise Theology, Carol Stream, Tyndale House Publishers,
1993. Print
The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version, New
York: Good News Publishers, 2001. Print.
Spurgeon,
C. H. The Treasury
of David, e-Sword
Bible program
Webster's
1828 Dictionary, e-Sword
Bible Program.
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