Holiness of God

                                                   Holiness of God

Introduction

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent and fall asleep. Some hours later Sherlock wakes his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what do you see?"

Watson replies, "I see millions of stars."

"What does that tell you?" Sherlock asks.

Watson ponders for a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Sherlock?"

Sherlock is silent for a moment, then speaks, "Watson, look up, someone has stolen our tent!"

Why I used this story, because it illustrates a point that mankind with all the knowledge, learning and understanding but has often managed to miss the most important fact of all about God. 

We know from Psalms 14 that says “The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

I would like to do a review that we all know about but may not have thought about it for a while.

I am going to say a statement, I believe that is one of the most important thing in this world:          God is Holy or God’s  Holiness.

God has said to His people Israel and to Christians today,  Be Holy, for I am Holy.

To the Nation of Israel God tells them

(Lev 19:2 NIV)  "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

(Lev 20:7-8 NIV)  "'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. {8} Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

 (Lev 20:26)  "You are to be Holy toward me, because I the LORD am Holy. I've separated you from among the people to be mine.

To us, Believers and Christians today

(1 Pet 1:15-16 KJV)  But as he which hath called you is Holy, so be ye Holy in all manner of conversation (behavior)  ; {16} Because it is written, Be ye Holy; for I am Holy.

What do we mean by Holiness or Holy. 

We find that the word Holy is listed 611 times in 544 verses.

And Holiness is listed 43 times in 43 verses.

The Hebrew word Holy or Holiness is qodesh, ko'-desh; means a sacred place or thing; -consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (X most) Holy (X day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.  Set apart is used in a number of translations.

The Greek word for Holy is  hagios, hag'-ee-os; which means sacred, or. blameless or religious, consecrated, saint.

The Greek word for Holiness is hagiasmos, hag-ee-as-mos which means purification, purity;  purifier, sanctification.

What do we mean by Holiness. 

 To be Holy is to be distinct, separate, in a class by oneself, set apart.

(Exo 15:11 KJV)  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

What does God consider Holy?  The following are some things that are “set apart”, these statements are taken directly from the scriptures: 

Holy ground, Holy habitation,  Holy Sabbath, Holy nation,  Holy men, Holy garments, Holy place, Holy anointing oil, Holy sanctuary, Holy water, Holy instruments, Holy people, the Holy city, Holy name, Holy One, Holy Spirit,  Holy angels, Holy Child Jesus, Holy kiss, Holy apostles and prophets, Holy priesthood.   

There are many, many more, this is just a few.  If it has the word, Holy in front of it, that means God has set it apart.

We find Isaiah was in vision before the Lord’s throne in Heaven, what did he hear.

(Isa 6:3 NIV)  And they were calling to one another: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

(Rev 4:8 NIV)  Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

As we look at the subject of the holiness of God, how important is this.  The Religious Teacher R. C. Sproul makes a statement that I thought was interesting and very meaningful.

“The Bible says that God is Holy, Holy, Holy. Not that He is merely Holy, or even Holy, Holy. He is Holy, Holy, Holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is Holy, Holy, Holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

To be Holy is to be morally pure.

(Hab 1:13 NIV)  Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;

For God to be Holy is for Him to be Holy in relation to every aspect of His nature and character

God is called Holy in a general sense. The word is interchangeable for his deity. That is, the word Holy calls attention to all that God is. It reminds us that His love is Holy love, his justice is Holy justice, his mercy is Holy mercy, his knowledge is Holy knowledge, his spirit is Holy spirit.

When the angel told Mary of the child to be born of her, a virgin

(Luke 1:35 NIV)  The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

Lets take a side bar, move off to the right or left, which ever you prefer, but we will come right back.

I would like to give you a reason why I try to avoid unclean foods.  When I am asked, why do you eat clean foods and not eat unclean foods.  We would probably all say because of Deut 14 and Lev 11.

(Deu 14:2-3 KJV)  For thou art an Holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. {3} Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

 (Lev 11:2 KJV)  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Notice, that Deut 14 says do not eat these things, whereas, Lev 11 says you can eat these things.

I would say, this is how we would answer.  The problem is, for a person who does not study or believe that the OT is for the church today, they would not accept what we say.

Let’s look at a reason, that might, make someone who profess to be a Christian to stop and think.

(Lev 10:10 NIV)  You must distinguish between the Holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,

(Exo 22:31 NIV)  "You are to be my Holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.

(Deu 7:6 KJV)  For thou art an Holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Everything of Israel was set apart and made Holy or common.  Common things were either clean (people could use them) or unclean (it was forbidden to use them).  The laws that God gave to Israel were just reminders that they could not live any way they pleased.

We read earlier that which is set apart by God is Holy.  1 Cor 6 says that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and we are Holy.

(1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV)  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

(Lev 11:44)  because I, the LORD, am your God. "Set yourselves apart and be Holy, because I am Holy. You are not to defile yourselves with any of the swarming creatures that swarm the earth.

(Lev 11:45 NIV)  I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be Holy, because I am Holy.

(Lev 11:47 KJV)  To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

These verses gives the reason by God, why he gave the Nation of Israel food laws for what they can eat and what they are not to eat.

If an Israelite eats an unclean living creature, then since the Israelite individual is Holy before God, which will make the individual unclean and become defile. If the individual does not purify himself; he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD (their body) and become unholy until they are purified.

What did a person have to do to purify themselves.  Look at

(Num 19:20-22 NIV)  But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean. {21} This is a lasting ordinance for them. "The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. {22} Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening."

There were ceremonial provisions for cleansing when someone become unclean before the Holy God.  A person could not stay in the present of God if they were unclean.

We, as Christians today, have read from James that we are also Holy, then if we eat something, unclean, does that also make us unclean and defile before God.  We have a redeemer that has made us righteous in the sight of the Father.

(Rom 3:22-24 NIV)  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, {23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, {24} and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

(Eph 4:22-24 NIV)  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; {23} to be made new in the attitude of your minds; {24} and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

(Acts 3:19-20 NIV)  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, {20} and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.

It makes sense that anything that is around God has to be Holy or clean.  Nothing can be unclean that can be in the Temple.

If we repent, Jesus is our High Priest before the Father and will again cleans us of the sins we commit.  So, we have to be careful what we put into our minds and bodies and what we have around us.  It is just not “food” what we have to be careful of, it could be anything that could make us unclean (which is sin) before God.  We need to learn the Way of Life that Jesus taught and lived so we can be more perfect and righteous because of what Jesus did for us.  This is, in all manner of our lives, on how we are to live a righteous life.  Way of Life is another Bible Study.

We are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

(Rom 12:1-2 NIV)  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, Holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. {2} Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The holiness of God is the reason we too are commanded to live Holy lives:

Let’s look briefly at a Holy Priesthood.

God gave a Holy Priesthood to the Nation of Israel.  This priesthood belonged only to one tribe, Levi and to his descendants.  Aaron was the first high priest and his male descendants became priests, with the firstborn son in each generation inheriting the high priesthood. 

Remember, only the descendants from Aaron could be priests.  The rest of the descendants of Levi were assigned specific duties in the wilderness tabernacle and then the Temple.  The priests were subject to many specific requirements, for example, bathing, garments, marriage, physical defects, and other details that did not apply to others who were not priest.  This way, they were set apart and Holy to the Lord.  If the priest did not follow all the requirements on them, they were in danger of death.  This is why the priests were following the requirements so closely even until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

 (Lev 21:7-8 NIV)  "'They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are Holy to their God. {8} Regard them as Holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them Holy, because I the LORD am Holy--I who make you Holy. 

What was the purpose of Israel.

(Exo 19:5-6 NIV)  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, {6} you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

The priests were Holy because they were set apart for God’s people.

What about Christians today.

We know that Holiness of Jesus, our Lord is our High Priest today.

I truly believe every detail in the Scriptures points toward Jesus, the Holy Savior

(Psa 40:7 KJV)  Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

(Heb 10:7 KJV)  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 

(Heb 9:24-25 NIV)  For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. {25} Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

We who have the Holy Spirit living in us and through us are a Priest of God, with the privilege of offering spiritual sacrifices though our Lord, Jesus.

I believe this is a very encouraging verse for us today.

As a Christian, we have the Holy Spirit living in us and Paul tells us that we are the Temple of the Living God.

(1 Cor 3:16-17 NIV)  Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? {17} If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

We are God's temple – do we really realize what this means 

God's Spirit lives in us – this means we are Holy

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him – this is scary, is this verse not exciting and for protection.

God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple – we, all of us are that Temple.

We who have the Holy Spirit living in us and through us is a priest of God, with the privilege of offering spiritual sacrifices though our Lord, Jesus.

(1 Pet 2:5 NIV)  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a Holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

(1 Pet 2:9 NIV)  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

 (Rev 1:6 NIV)  and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

In the OT, Israelites had a priesthood,

In the NT, Christians are a priesthood.

So, what does this all mean,

God (who was Jesus speaking) gave to Israelities, the Shema

(Deu 6:4-6 NIV)  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. {5} Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. {6} These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 

Jesus gives to us, also the Shema

(Mark 12:28-33 NIV)  One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" {29} "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. {30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' {31} The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." {32} "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. {33} To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

This is what our life is all about.  There is a song in our song book, number 15, Holy, Holy, Holy.  Maybe, the next time we sing this song, think about the words, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty. So,

Please take it to heart, when our Lord, Creator God say to each of us,

“Be Holy, for I am Holy”