The Holiness of God

I say to you, if you know, first of all, we don't use the word that much.

We don't run around saying, wow, John's really holy, which is great.

But if we do use the word, how do we, can you give some examples of what pops to mind if I said, wow, that person's really holy?

Like, what pops to mind?

He's religious.

Sorry, oh, religious. Yep.

Holier than thou.

Metallica, yes.

Yes, right. So typically not a positive connotation.

And with regard to God, if someone, if we're in normal conversation and the topic of God's holiness comes up, what do people typically, what pops into mind when we think about, oh, you go to church?

You know, you believe in that there is a God and and then I were to say to my friend, yes.

And not only I believe there's a God, God is holy.

What does a normal person do with that?

What would you say?

Not a trick question.

Just whatever whatever pops to mind.

Both their eyes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Why is that?

I think what you were touching on before that that holy tends not to be used in a positive term.

It's more of a derogatory term.

And I think the culture more and more is responding that way.

So I'm not sure that that necessarily answers your question.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so I think at the outset, as we dive into some definitions, we just have to be mindful that we're not coming at these even our terminology with a clean slate.

Right.

It's tainted.

But so I want to just take a minute and put down two of the lenses that theologians typically use when they try to put handles on God's holiness so that we can discuss it.

And then I'm going to I'm going to actually add a little bonus of my own.

So I'm glad this is being recorded so that I can be dragged before the elders and they can be like, hey, no, you're you wandered off the farm.

So the first one is kind of springs from the definition of holy, which is that God is set apart.

He is.

I'd like to think of this in terms of ontology, in terms of being the essence of of being.

So we we all have an ontology, right?

We all have a being.

So we're already into words and trying to use words and we're going to have to grapple a little.

That God in the essence of his being.

Is set apart.

He is.

Unique.

He is sacred.

He is other.

He stands alone.

He has no equivalent or rival.

These are ways that I'm trying to put a little.

Meat on the bone.

So when we speak of God's holiness, we're talking about.

And his essence and not an aspect.

So sometimes when we talk about God's attributes, we talk about communicable attributes and non communicable attributes.

There's a fancy way of saying some of God's attributes, human beings, for example, can share in.

And then others of God's attributes belong to him alone.

And then when we're talking about holiness, my way of thinking is like where we're.

Our default is to think of it as the non communicable attributes.

Attributes.

So.

We.

We might think about, like I said earlier, that God.

Just by the fact that God created everything.

And then everything else besides God is derivative and gets its being from God.

If you're a toaster oven, you've got your being from God.

If you're Sam Stevens, you've got your being from God.

But God didn't get his being.

His.

He just is.

Right.

So this is a good time to actually pause and just say.

We are going to bump up against a ton of mystery.

I think really whenever we deal with the whenever we get real with.

What the scriptures teach about just about any topic.

We're going to bump up against our limitations as created human beings.

And this is just one of those places.

So I'd like to just fire off.

A few passages for you.

That will be familiar.

Just to.

Give us a little flavor of scripture.

How scripture refers to this.

God.

Another way we might say it.

Just in common talk is God is God.

And I'll.

I'll try to explain why I'm going to simplify it down to that.

As we move along.

So God is God.

So here's some of the way scripture talks.

And this will be familiar to you.

I am the Lord and there is no other besides me.

There is no God.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the heavens of the earth.

The creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none beside you.

There is no rock like our God.

Okay.

So the first category, if you will, when we talk about God's holiness is his set apartedness.

The second category is what we think of when we think of a holy roller.

Or when we did our little exercise, we're like, what pops into mind?

When we think about someone that's just always follows the rules and is a good, you know, it's a goody-goody.

If we look at it negatively.

But God is holy.

He set apart morally with regard to what he does and his actions.

So we might use terms like goodness and virtuous, perfect, always does what is right, always does what is just, faithful, morally upright.

And here are some passages for us to think about.

The Lord is upright.

He is my rock.

And in him there is no unrighteousness.

God is light.

And in him is no darkness at all.

God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation each day.

I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

The Lord is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made.

So, God is good.

God is God.

And God is good.

He is morally.

He's not just good.

He is goodness.

He's not just good.

He's perfectly good.

And this includes, the Bible teaches, that when God demonstrates wrath,

or when God demonstrates judgment against sin,

or when God exercises his freedom to choose a course of action over another course of action,

or to choose a person for a particular calling,

or even for their eternal destiny,

the Bible teaches that God is good.

God is good.

He is right.

He is never capricious,

never doing evil,

never harming someone else's autonomy.

So now we're kind of getting into,

we touched on this,

Tyler touched on this a little bit last week,

but we're getting into some territory where questions may arise.

And I want to talk about those in a bit.

But I want to go on to my third bonus that is sort of hovering around this discussion.

And I just want to say that I think we can talk about God's holiness in terms of him being set apart

aesthetically with regard to his glory.

So you can hardly pick up a paragraph of scripture and not encounter the overflowing,

grasping for words to even describe the glory of God.

And I think when we're talking about holiness,

we should have glory in mind.

Because what we're not doing here is a cold exercise of science.

We're dealing with ultimately,

mysteriously,

a God who is also a person.

We have feelings because God has feelings.

We have emotions because God has emotions.

And we think something's amazing,

and we just are overwhelmed

because there is a thing called glory.

And it's,

part of God's set apartness.

We could use words like

weightiness,

or worthiness,

or magnificence,

or great beauty,

or

value is a terrible word,

actually,

because it sounds like Walmart.

But,

you know,

you know,

value.

A theologian,

who I like,

said,

the glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness.

It is the going public of his holiness.

I really kind of like that.

It was John Piper.

I really kind of like that formulation.

So,

these are sort of the three

ways,

I think,

just to have the discussion.

And now,

I want to talk

about

how God's holiness,

when we talk about God's holiness,

holiness,

we're not doing so in a vacuum,

right?

We're not innocent creatures

that are analyzing God's holiness,

and it's point one,

two,

three,

four.

We're doing it in a context.

And our context

is where we find ourselves

on the timeline

of God's

redemptive

history.

And that means,

as we all know,

and we talk about all the time,

that

God's holiness

and our sin

and our rebellion

and our lack of

acknowledging God as God

and

our lack of

bending the knee to God

and saying,

you are good.

And

when we encounter

God's glory,

we want

our own glory,

right?

Going all the way back

to the beginning of the story.

So,

what I want to do now

is just

acknowledge

there's a huge,

huge

chasm

between

God

and

human beings.

This is

obvious,

right?

But

because if we're thinking

about God's holiness,

obviously we could talk

a lot more about

digging into what it is,

but I think it'd be

fruitful

in this class

as we're just encountering

the attributes of God

to say,

okay,

why does this matter

to us?

So,

I want to say

all human beings

experience

this chasm,

not just Christians.

In fact,

many of us here,

some of us here

never knew a day

when we wouldn't have

called ourselves

a Christian,

but many of us here

had seasons of our life

where we were

far away

and had been

brought near.

So,

I want to take a second

and just open up

to the room

how

do human beings

experience

this chasm?

In what ways

do we

good,

if we're going to think

in these terms,

good ways?

Like,

have you ever eaten

an apple?

like,

the apple

just magically

grew on a tree

and

somewhere,

somehow,

that thing

came into being

maybe by pure chance

but maybe not

because it's delicious,

comes with its own wrapper,

grows from a seed

magically,

but,

and then there are

a lot of

bad

or hard

ways we encounter

this holiness.

So,

I wanted to just

ask,

how do we

as human beings,

not necessarily

Christians,

encounter

this

holiness

and encounter

the chasm?

How do we

feel the chasm?

Or do we

feel it?

Laura?

What comes to mind

is

when we see

things in nature

that we can't

really take in

on a dark night,

if there were

such a thing

in this part of the country,

but

to see

those stars

and to see

like there's no way

I could even begin

to count them

or to stand,

it comes from

standing on the edge

of the ocean

and realizing

it goes for

thousands of miles

and it's deeper

than I can imagine

or standing

at something

like the Grand Canyon,

just things that are,

we can't,

we can't take it in,

it's too big.

Yeah,

and I think

it touches on

if we,

if part of God's holiness

is that he created

and we,

there's the creator,

whatever,

I don't even want

to make a ball,

like whatever that is,

and then there's

all of us

and everything

and the Grand Canyon

and the ocean

and the whales

and the poppins,

I mean,

they're amazing.

what else?

What else do we experience

in our normal life

where we feel the chasm?

We feel it.

You don't have to be

a Christian.

Yes?

I think it also happens

in grief

when we've loved

someone deeply

and taken out

of our lives

and we stand

at the edge

of a train

and say,

how can life

go on without,

where did that person

go?

They were,

they weren't

a commodity.

They were a being

and now they're not here.

Where,

where did they go?

It's like literally

being on the edge

of the chasm.

Matt?

In a very different way,

I'm going to suggest

something,

separateness,

you mentioned,

and goodness

as,

you know,

ways of looking

at holiness.

Both of which,

I think,

tend to be at odds

with our society's

value of tolerance.

and when somebody

in Christian

or non-Christian,

you know,

has a sense

that,

ah,

you know,

God's

different than me

and,

and he says,

I'm not good.

I have failed

to be

what I should be.

I'm not accepted

by God.

Then,

the sinful

rebelliousness

of his,

you know,

mounts up

and wants to

reject that.

And either

acknowledging

the chasm

that God,

if he's there,

has created

or rejection

of such an idea

that would reject us.

I would like to

re-say back to you

what I heard,

which is,

first of all,

there's guilt.

There is guilt

because

in our hearts,

regardless of,

there's,

there's guilt

because we know

we do bad stuff.

There you go.

That's fifth grade version.

Then,

there's the reordering

of what good is

and the chaos

that ensues

when,

when we,

when human,

when people take hold

of,

um,

their consciences

and say,

um,

you know,

they,

they re,

they reorder

right and wrong

and it's just,

it's just chaos

ensues.

You know,

it's another way

I think we all

encounter

this chasm

is that

God doesn't come down

on Wednesday.

God has revealed a lot,

you know,

in his scriptures

but out there

in the workaday world

and the people

who are ignoring

scriptures

or even those of us

that have them

or,

let's face it,

I mean,

we're confused

about a lot of stuff

and there's the chasm.

I mean,

obviously,

God could just come down

and one day

perhaps will

and it's just like,

ooh,

with this light,

that clears up a lot,

you know,

but right now

I'm going to murder

my own baby

because I want freedom.

Sorry,

but I'm just saying,

like,

there's ways

we all get

everything all confused

because there's

a separate,

God is

at a distance

in a way,

you know.

What else?

What about death?

What,

you're kind of

hitting on it

a little.

Have you ever

been to a funeral,

I had this experience

where Mona lost

a grandparent

and it was just

devastating

and they were

one of,

he was a wonderful man

and I remember

talking to his daughter

after the service

and I said,

this just isn't

right.

It is just

not how things

are supposed to be

and I honestly

thought that

that was a human,

she wasn't a believer

at all

and I just thought

that's,

that's human

when we

see death

or we see

someone

get a horrible

disease

when they're

young

and,

you know,

there's that part

of us

that's just like,

no.

You know,

well,

she actually

replied,

this is

completely

natural.

This is

completely

normal

and

if you

were to

embrace that

then you

wouldn't be

sad right now

and you

would just

say this

is the,

whatever the

Disney thing

is,

the circle

of life,

whatever.

But the

point is

that there's

chaos,

you know,

and

so

we have

this chasm

yeah,

one more

part of the

chasm I'd

like to

mention is

the mystery,

the mystery

component

where

God

has

revealed

himself

in nature

and in

creation,

he's revealed

himself in

scripture,

he's revealed

himself to

believers by

the Holy

Spirit,

but

there's

still

mystery

shrouding

a lot

and it's

to be a

human being

and to

not have

answers

to

big

questions,

some of

them we

were touching

on last

week,

it's very

dissettling

and

it's,

what I

want to

point out

is I

think it's

just,

it is

part of

that God

is holy

and perfect

and pure

and we

have

rebelled

and the

result is

a separation.

When I

teach the

third graders,

but then I

had a bunch

of my own

third graders,

so like I

had training

for this,

but I

used to

say to

them,

you know,

the magnitude

of the

crime is

in part

determined by

the stature

of the

offended

party.

so,

let's say

you're on

the playground

and you

kick your

friend in

the shins

and they

go and

tell their

mom and

then their

mom calls

your mom

and it's

like,

oh,

you got

in trouble,

you know,

you can't

kick people.

But let's

say you

kick the

principal

in the

shins.

Well,

now you're

in a

different,

well,

of course,

well,

maybe today

that would

be okay.

Maybe they're

like,

oh,

kick me

again.

When I

was growing

up,

that would

be really

bad.

We got

paddled,

y'all.

Like,

seriously,

like,

assume the

position.

I am not

kidding.

At least

they had

to call

my mom.

She's

like,

yes,

paddle

him.

But

imagine

it's,

Ronald

Reagan came

and spoke

in the

Fairfield

Green

when I

was in

high

school

and we

all

went.

And

imagine

that you

somehow broke

through all

the security

people and

you get

in there

and you

just kick

the president

of the United

States in the

shins as hard

as you can.

I think you

just vanish

if you do

that.

They put you

in a black

car and

then you're

gone.

Where did he

go?

I don't know,

but you can't

kick the president

in the shins.

and I

think

imagine

kicking

the God

of the

universe,

literally

giving the

double birds

to the God

of the

universe.

Like,

so,

there's a

chasm.

It's serious.

I mean,

it's so

serious that,

you know,

just the fact

that we get

up every day

and everyone

we know

is going

to be dead

in like 80

years.

I mean,

and then

we,

the things

we quibble

over are

almost absurd

when you

take a step

back and

say,

this is,

the chasm

is real

and the

signs of it

are everywhere.

So,

now,

what I want

to do

is

talk about

as

Christians

about

Jesus

bridging

the gap

of that

chasm

and then

I want

to give

some

encouragement.

I want

to

throw

some

verses

on the

table

and have

a discussion

to encourage

us

because

what I'm

going to

say about

Jesus is

going to

be familiar

and then

there's a

big

and yet

the chasm

remains

because of

our place

on the

timeline.

Right?

So,

let's talk

about

Jesus

bridging

the chasm.

I'm just

going to

read a

couple

passages

and maybe

in light

of what

we talked

about

already

they'll

have

a

particular

saltiness.

So,

in the

Gospel of

Mark

we have

this

simple

but

profound

couple

of

verses.

And

Jesus

uttered

a loud

cry

and

breathed

his

last

and

the

curtain

of

the

temple

was

torn

in two

from

top

to

bottom.

What

was the

curtain

in the

temple

about?

Yeah,

why?

Because

we're

not.

Yeah,

so we'll

pause for

one second

and just

do a

minute

of

the

temple

being

God

is

like

both

and.

It's

God

hasn't

abandoned

humanity

even

though

we kicked

him in

the shins

in the

garden.

But he

can't just

come down

like here

I am

and all

my

holiness.

We would

all just

burn

and we'd

all incinerate.

And so

there was

an elaborate

system

of

barriers

and

that

included

these

purity

laws

that

have

to do

with

our

cleanliness

of our

being.

not

just

going

out

and

openly

sinning

but

doing

things

in

ordinary

life

that

God

said

if you

touch

this

thing

which

you

have

to

touch

because

it's

part

of

life

now

you're

unclean

in

your

being

and

you

have

to

be

made

clean

again

by

doing

these

things

over

here.

The

point

being

that

God

is

teaching

us

that

we

need

a

cleansing

and

we

need

to

be

pure

if

we're

going

to

come

into

his

presence

and

even

our

representatives

have

to

be

super

pure

and

there's

a

literal

curtain

this

far

and

no

further.

So

somehow

when

Jesus

died

that

curtain

was

no

longer

needed

it

came

down.

And

then

listen to

this

from

Ephesians

but

now

in

Christ

Jesus

you

who

once

were

far

off

have

been

brought

near

by

the

blood

of

Christ

for

he

himself

is

our

peace

who

has

made

us

both

one

and

has

broken

down

in

his

flesh

the

dividing

wall

of

hostility

so

the

chasm

has

been

breached

by

Jesus

providing

for

our

cleanliness

and

dealing

with

what

our

sins

deserve

by

the

way

next

week

I

am

we're

going to

take

on

grace

so

so we

kind of did

it on

purpose

like

holiness

and

then

grace

and mercy

which are

different

but

anyway

so

I

don't

I

think

I'm

just

going to

stop

there

because

I

think

we

are

all

I

think

everyone

in

this

room

is

professing

believer

if

not

sorry

see

me

after

class

and

I

want

to

move

on

to

the

and

yet

we

still

experience

much

of the

chasm

that

one

day

we

will

not

experience

if

God's

promises

are

true

for

example

we're

going

to

physically

die

like

it's

just

always

out

there

but

we're

going

to

physically

die

our

bodies

get

sick

our

relationships

are

tortured

messes

under

the

hood

there's

still

mystery

everywhere

God

commands

us

to

believe

in

Jesus

he

holds

us

responsible

for

believing

in

Jesus

and

he

tells

us

we have

to be

born

again

to

even

see

any

of

it

to

even

be

awake

to

choose

Jesus

and

he

tells

us

we're

responsible

in

Romans

9

and

then

when

we

get

to

the

end

it's

like

I'm

God

and

you

don't

get

to

come

up

here

and

come

behind

my

curtain

and

put

me

in

the

dock

on

this

you're

just

going

to

trust

me

but

that's

hard

right

I mean

it's

a mystery

that

mysteries

remain

there's

existential

turmoil

everywhere

even

for

believers

and

sometimes

even

especially

for

believers

do

we

encounter

the

disdain

of

other

human

beings

who

are

also

in

their

muck

and

mire

because

of

this

chasm

and

we're

like

here's

a

like

here's

a buoy

and

like

get

your

buoy

away

from

me

and

you

get

away

from

me

and

get

your

laws

off

my

body

and

just

blah

and

so

I

want

to be

realistic

and

I

want

to

just

acknowledge

and

I

want

all

of

us

to

acknowledge

that

to

do

real

business

with

God

and

the

gospel

is

not

to

slap

a

face

on

of

happiness

an

artificial

like

just

chin

up

of

course

we

have

resources

and

we

have

a

lot

of

I'm

not

trying

to

sound

like

we

should

be

in

despair

at

all

in

fact

I

want

to

give

a

fresh

word

of

encouragement

by way

of

talking

about

holiness

again

the

Bible

does

not

teach

that

God

is

holy

and

pure

and

perfect

and

we

kicked

him

in

the

shins

and

we

are

sinful

and

we

deserve

his

wrath

and

Jesus

made

a

way

for

us

to

just

have

a

shield

over

us

and

then

hide

under

that

shield

and

then

when

it's

all

said

and

done

God

will

let

us

sit

in

the

back

row

of

heaven

but

you

made

it

that's

not

what

the

Bible

teaches

in

fact

the

Bible

teaches

that

in

a

mysterious

sense

and

I want

to be

very

careful

here

but

we

are

to

share

in

the

holiness

of

God

and

I

want

to

revisit

the

three

categories

that

I

put

on

the

table

the

first

category

is

this

in

our

being

so

God

is

God

he

created

everything

we're

not

the

creator

we're

never

going

to

be

the

creator

but

God

has

a

holiness

in

his

being

that

we're

invited

to

to

share

in

let

me

just

read

you

a

few

verses

that

hint

at

this

sorry

got

the

wrong

papers

in

front

of

me

hang

on

okay

so

Peter

says

through

these

he has

given

us

his

precious

and

magnificent

promises

so that

through

them

you may

become

partakers

of the

divine

nature

now

that

you

have

escaped

the

corruption

in

the

world

caused

by

evil

desires

so

in

some

sense

Christians

through

Christ

being

united

to

Christ

being

adopted

into

God's

family

partake

in the

divine

nature

Paul

says

such

were

some

of

you

but

you

were

past

tensed

washed

you

were

sanctified

you

were

justified

in

the

name

of

the

Lord

Jesus

and

by

the

spirit

of

our

God

he

says

elsewhere

he

has

now

reconciled

in

his

body

of

flesh

by

his

death

in

order

to

present

you

holy

and

blameless

and

above

reproach

before

him

Jesus

said

to

the

disciples

already

you

are

clean

because

of

the

word

that

I

have

spoken

to

you

Paul

says

for

God

has

chosen

us

in

Jesus

before

the

foundation

of

the

world

to

be

holy

and

blameless

in

his

presence

so

I'm

going

to

stop

here

and

I

just

want

to

say

this

is

where

it

actually

becomes

important

that

we

do

have

some

categories

for a

word

like

holy

because

if

we

only

think

of