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When you think of or ponder God, what is the dominant attribute that comes to mind? Is it God’s omniscience – God knowing everything? Maybe it’s the mystery of God’s sovereignty – God being in complete control of what he has created. And of course we struggle with God’s sovereignty and the existence of evil, and the truth that while God is sovereign, my decisions matter – how can that be? Many people stand on God’s love as being God’s dominant attribute – and that’s worth consideration. A God of perfection actually caring for a frail and finite and stupid people that often, in rebellion, would insert themselves in the place of him – it is amazing that he would love us.

Today I’d like to submit that one reality that permeates God and flows through any accurate thought of God is God’s holiness. No place in the Bible do we read that the heavenly choir sings, “Love, love, love is the Lord Almighty.” or “Sovereign, sovereign, sovereign is the Lord Almighty.”. But we do read about Isaiah and his vision:

Isaiah 6:1-5 (NIV)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne (God as absolute ruler), high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

I want to talk about God being holy today because, as we look at some of the major themes of the Old Testament, we cannot understand them correctly without coming to grips with God’s holiness and what that means for us.

Understanding God’s holiness is fundamental to understanding most biblical realities. God’s holiness explains the goodness of God’s creation. God’s holiness explains the elaborate, expensive, pains-taking construction of the temple. God’s holiness explains the need for blood sacrifices. God’s holiness explains the God-directed slaughter of thousands in the Old Testament. God’s holiness shows me the magnitude of God’s love. God’s holiness helps me understand my desperate situation as one who deserves nothing but judgment. God’s holiness explains why Jesus is the answer.

So what do we actually mean when we say God is holy? From a biblical standpoint, holiness is not really an attribute of God, like God is all knowing or God is all powerful or God is love – God being holy is more of a definition. God’s holiness permeates all of his attributes – he is the Holy One.

At the root of biblical holiness is the concept of being separate or different. God is NOT like us, God is Sui Generis – unique, one of a kind, in a class by himself, separate from anything that IS NOT God. Separated from sin.

When we talk about God being holy, the concept of perfection enters the definition – God is perfect in who he is. God is unique and perfect. So, in his perfection, God is the standard for all that is good – not man. God determines right and wrong – not man.

So, instead of thinking about God’s holiness as one aspect of God’s character, we might think about God’s holiness the way we think about our being human. Just as our humanity permeates everything about us – we are human in our thinking, we are human in our emotions, we are human in our love – God’s holiness permeates every aspect of his personhood. God is holy in his omniscience, God is holy in his omnipotence, God is holy in his judgment, God is holy in his love, and God is holy in his wrath.

1 Samuel 2:2 (NIV)
“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you…”

Isaiah 40:25 (NIV)
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

There is one more very important part of defining holiness. Holiness is not only separation from something, it is also a separation to something. All things are moving toward some end or purpose. For us, being holy is a separation from sin and separation to God.  For God, he is completely separated from sin and is completely dedicated to his Glory.

So, how does God being holy permiate Scripture – I’ll mention a few ways:

Being that God is holy in his creativity; what God creates is good – it cannot be otherwise. All that exists was willed into existance by God and, before sin, was good. In fact Adam, being without sin and separated existing for God’s was holy.

At some point we will be talking about the Old Testament temple and its significance. God has always had a meeting place – a place where God intersected with the consciousness of man. The Bible says that God’s initial venue was very simple, personal, and friendly holy place – a garden. While sin put an end to that, God did not leave humanity. We will see how God gave the blueprints for a temple that cost a fortune in time, labor, and wealth – a place God could label as “holy”. God cannot meet us anyplace – the meeting place must be holy. Jesus is the perfect, holy temple where we can meet God.

God’s holiness means our sin results in death. God cannot and will not ignore our drive to live for self and not God. In fact, the author of the book of Hebrews says, “…without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14) The Old Testament blood sacrifices symbolize the severity of sin. Jesus as a holy sacrifice substituted his blood for the blood of anyone who would have him as there hope.

Now – a difficult one for some to absorb. We actually do not deserve salvation – we deserve death. The Old Testament is filled with pictures of God’s judgment. The story of a flood that killed who knows how many hundreds of thousands. This was a flood of judgment – we deserve death. In the Old Testament God commands the slaughter of thousands who had or would have rejected him – we deserve death, not life. We would convince ourselves that we are basically good.  Even though we cheat, and steal, and fornicate, and worship God’s gifts rather than God, and gossip, and lie, we often want to believe we are basically good.  God sends Jesus, the perfect example of how we should live, and what do we do – AND WE KILL HIM! And then we have the audacity to accuse God of injustice. The wonder here is NOT God’s judgment but God’s salvation.

So, what should our natural responce be to a Holy God? When Isaiah saw God and understood the magnitude of a Holy God, his responce was, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” - Humility

While we are not God, God’s vision for us is holiness as well – seperation from sin and dedication to Jesus.

Colossians 3:12 (NIV)
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

1 Peter 1:15 (NIV)
…just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do…

THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING IN ISOLATION – Jesus’ call to us is to be holy while connecting with those who need him – just like he did when he came here.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God made Jesus, the one who was holy and had no sin, to be sin for us who have no holiness, so that in Jesus or through Jesus in our place, we can be seen as holy and acceptable to God.

Hebrews 7:24-27 (NIV)
…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. (a priest is one who brings people to God or represents people before God) ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. ²⁶ Such a high priest meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, [not a sinner like we are], exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Psalm 99:1-5 (NIV)
The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. ² Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. ³ Let them praise your great and awesome name – he is holy. ⁴ The King is mighty, he loves justice – you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. ⁵ Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.