On Holiness
When I think of the word holy, what comes to mind is ethereal; something that is so awe-inspiring that I know that it is beyond this world and deserves my full attention and ultimately worship; a bow-down-and-immediately-worship reaction to being in the presence of something or someone so majestic as to demand my knees hitting the ground. If this is the definition of holiness and God is said to be holy, how should this impact my everyday life? How should this impact my heart? How does the knowledge of the Holy One change who I am and how I relate to Him?
Holy: set apart; distinct from everything that is common and unspiritual; consecrated; sacred because it has been consecrated
God is holy; that is, holiness is used as a noun to tell us who and what God is. It is not a description but an identification. It is who he is. That means everything he does and creates comes from his holiness. It is his holiness that gives him the right to rule and reign over everything. And from his otherness, his other-worldliness, he made earth and created and inspired the creation of things to mirror his world. For example, we have thrones on earth because there are thrones in God's realm. And Isaiah tells us what happens when we are in the throne room of our holy God; we are undone!
Izzy’s Insights
Many books have been written about Isaiah's response to being in God's throne room in Isaiah 6. A.W. Towzer and R.C. Sproul are some of my favorite authors on the topic; therefore, I won't recount their teaching but will layout some observations to provide context for my conclusions.
The position of God: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up…" – Positionally, God is high; that is, Isaiah must have had to look up to see him.
The majesty of God: "…and the skirts of His train filled the [most holy part of the] temple." – God was wearing a train indicative of his kingliness as he sits on his throne. His throne must be in the most holy part of the temple for his robe to fill it.
The location of Isaiah: For Isaiah to see a God that is seated in the most holy part of the temple, he himself had to be in the holy of holies. He was taken beyond the gates and courts, into the most sacred part of the dwelling place of God.
His reaction: Though no one spoke to him, or passed any judgement on him, being in the presence of a holy God made him acutely aware of his difference from the holy God; He was immediately aware of how common and unspiritual he was next to God.
Here's what I don't see: I don't see Isaiah running away. I don't see him trying to be holy. What I see is a man that recognized the distance between him and God, and allowed God to bridge the gap by cleansing him so that he also could be holy.
Isaiah 6:6-7 AMPC
"Then flew one of the seraphim [heavenly beings] to me, having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs from off the altar; And with it he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven."
It would then appear that being made righteous by God is a necessary prerequisite to being holy so as to remain in the presence of a holy God. They are two distinct concepts, though related. The one is done for us through accepting Jesus as our Lord and our Savior. The latter we must do. Afterall, that is why God tells us to be holy as opposed to telling us to acquire holiness. Leviticus 19:1-2 – "And the Lord said to Moses, say to all the assembly of the Israelites, you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."
Pete’s Perspective
Another reaction to the holiness of God that we can learn from is seen in Peter. Here is the Message translation of the events in Luke 5:
"Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. 'Master, leave. I'm a sinner and can't handle this holiness. Leave me to myself.' When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him."
The Amplified Classic translation sheds even more light: "…he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!' For he was gripped with bewildering amazement [allied to terror]…"
Here we see similarities to Isaiah's reaction. Peter realized that he was in the presence of someone so distinct from any human that he became acutely aware of how common and unspiritual he was next to Jesus who was clearly "other-wordly." His reaction was borderline terror, including a physical response to lay prostrate.
Johnny Boy’s Encounter
John also tells us his response to seeing Jesus in all his glory in Revelations:
“When I saw him, I fell at His feet as if dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Ever-Living One [I am living in the eternity of eternities]…"
This tells me that it is impossible to see God or be in his presence and not prostrate before him because there is no other logical response when in the presence of a magnificent king that is highly exalted. The question is not whether he is king but if we have him as king in the eyes of our hearts. It is not a question of whether we have exalted him but of if we have looked up. Like Peter, we can be in the presence of holiness and not "see" it. But once we do, we cannot unsee it because we are gripped with a realization of the gap between who we are and who he is. In this way, God himself becomes the incentive in our lives to eliminate a lesser master for THE good one. That is why Peter and all who were with him immediately followed Jesus and submitted to him as master. They needed no convincing. HE was all the proof they needed.
Here and Now
So how do we enter into the throne room that we, like Isaiah, can see God in all his holiness? We are given the answer in Isaiah's location: the holy of holies. The temple had gates, a court and then the holy of holies.
We enter the gates with thanksgiving and gain access to the courts with praise (Psalm 100:4 AMPC – "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!"). But it is sanctification and then holiness that gives us access to where the king abides. Once there, in the presence of the throne, our only response is to bow down in worship of the Lamb of God who sits on the throne and declare his holiness.
See, every creature that has breath can praise God (Psalm 150:6 AMPC – "Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)" That is why everyone can gain access to the gates and the court. It is open to all. But worship takes us where few can go. It gives us access to the throne room. This place is reserved for those that worship in the realm of Spirit and in truth, empowered by the Holy Spirit to engage their renewed spirit-man in honesty and adoration. It is only with our spiritual eyes that we can behold the holiness of God. How else do we behold other-worldliness?
We are told in John 4:24
John 4:24 AMPC – "God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)."
John 4:24 CEV – "God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth."
John 4:23-24 MSG
"That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”
And as we worship him and behold him in his holiness, we find that we are being transformed into his image. Is that not the end goal? That we return to the original intent in the Garden of Eden where we are the image and likeness of God? So since God is holy, he expects that we are too. We all want to be different; unique. It makes sense. After all, we were made by a God that is set apart; other. So he tells the Israelites what he intends for all humanity,
Leviticus 20:26 AMPC – "And you shall be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine."
God is holy; that is set apart but for himself because he possesses everything in himself. And then he creates us in his image and sets us apart for him; therefore, God sees us as holy. Thus, we are holy. The onus is on us to determine to be holy. The prerequires have been taken care of for us. We need only step boldly before the throne of grace. When we do so, we find ourselves enamored by God and delighting in the beauty of his holiness.
Psalms 29:2 TPT
"Be in awe before his majesty. Be in awe before such power and might! Come worship wonderful Yahweh, arrayed in all his splendor, bowing in worship as he appears in the beauty of holiness. Give him the honor due his name. Worship him wearing the glory-garments of your holy, priestly calling!"
God's holiness is the kind of beauty that is awe-filling. It is analogous to glory and splendor and majesty. His holiness is manifested as glory, splendor and majesty; therefore, we perceive him as beautiful as he appears in the beauty of his "otherness." There is an intrinsic beauty and attractiveness in his being set apart. It is what draws us into his presence over and over again; the beauty of his holiness. I believe that is why Isaiah did not run away. Looking at God was like looking at the sun; too beautiful to look away, yet too bright to look directly at. And like the sun, he is trustworthy and consistent, present and shining daily. Because God sits outside of this world, we can believe him when he says his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways different from ours. He is other; non-human. Isaiah 55:8-9 – "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
In Conclusion
The first thing God made that was holy was us because he is holy and we were the only creation made in his image. The second thing God made holy was the Sabbath because it was set apart to Him. He made it sacred, setting the precedent for anything set apart for God being regarded as holy. Then God gave us the ability to make other people holy. We see this in the example of Moses making Aaron and his sons set apart as priests. Like my creator, I am holy and I have the ability to make things, places, and people holy too – gives a whole new meaning to "be fruitful and multiply!"
