In my four decades as a Christian, I bet I could count on one hand the number of sermons I’ve heard on the topic of holiness—though the words holy or holiness appear in 587 verses. With that much exposure in the Bible, I became curious. So I cruised through and studied holiness, and it was like a tour through the eternal cosmos. Not only is holiness a major part of God’s personal character, which I expected to see, He attaches His holiness to people and places for a visual snapshot and as a framework from which to demonstrate His holiness on a grander scale. Holiness has its place in eternity past, now and in eternity future.
But on a personal level, holiness is also something we must achieve, and the why is as important as the what and the how. Because God will not allow any unholiness in His presence. Our life is as much about ridding ourselves of unholiness as it is about accomplishing grand plans for God. The sermons I hear are only about the things we are supposed to do, and not so much about the things we are supposed to be—and those things are paramount to God, who said “be ye holy, for I am holy” twice.
I used to have a bumper sticker that said “God is Awesome.” Encased in that awesomeness is holiness. If God was going to describe Himself, holiness would be at the top of His attributes.
Oh wait. God did describe Himself. The first time the word holiness appears in the Bible, it describes God. “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)
Bible students know that the first time a word is used in the Bible sets the tone and definition of the word. That being the case, we should brand in our minds that God is glorious in holiness—sacredness and set-apartness.
I concluded from my study that God didn’t want us to think of His holiness as an abstract, ethereal thing that we could only comprehend when we reach heaven. He wants us to see it now, and so in future posts, we will look at the visuals God gave.
In the meantime, here’s a popular song about holiness that is worth a look/listen to set our hearts right.
Jody
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