A Holy God

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

God is holy. What does that mean? For something to be holy, according to Oxford dictionary, means to be dedicated, consecrated, divine, or sacred. The biblical definition means to be “separated or devoted”.

When we think about God being holy, we are referring to the absence of sin. His purity. Everything that the Lord does is perfect. There is no evil in his character. In the Bible, we see over and over again, that anyone that came before God had be to cleansed. They had to be free from any impurities.

In Exodus 3, we see God appear in the burning bush. As Moses came closer to see how the bush was not in flames, God tells Moses to stay back and take off his sandals. In the Old Testament, taking off your shoes symbolized respect and humility. It kind of reminds me of when you walk into someone’s home, you take off your shoes. Shoes carry a lot of dirt, so to keep things like our floor and carpet clean, we take the shoes off at the door.

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5

In today’s culture we have been overly comfortable in how we address our Heavenly Father. Terms and phrases such as “Jesus is my homeboy” or “God knows my heart” or “On God”, etc have led to us nullifying the holiness of God. Although Jesus is referred to as a friend (“homie” for slang) in the Bible, that comes with a price.

You are my friends if you do what I command you. John 15:14

Although he calls us his friend, we must still revere him. He is not to be confused with how we deal with our earthly friends. Actually, our friendship with Christ, should be a model to our friendships here on earth. To be a friend of God’s means to be an enemy of the world. Everything He does is above anything that we could do as humans. His very presence requires holiness.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4

When we think about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we see God’s holiness. Jesus was free of sin and was sent to the cross for our sins so that we could fellowship with our Heavenly Father. In the book of Leviticus, God gives specific instructions for the people to live a holy life. At that specific time in history, God had just rescued the people out of slavery in Egypt, and now He needed to rescue Egypt out of them. (The same that he does with us; he brings us out of slavery to sin, and then has a part of the sanctification process, he uproots sin from our lives!) God instructed the Israelites on how to build a tabernacle dedicated for worship. God wanted to have a place to be with his people on land, so there had to be somewhere he could come be with his people. He wanted to be close. There were different parts to the tabernacle, the outer court, the holy place, and the most Holy place.  (read more in Leviticus :))

“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” Exodus 25: 8-9

I reference this just to show that God is Holy and should not be treated like anything else. Thank God for Jesus dying on the cross, we don’t have to prepare a specific place for us to fellowship with the Lord, because His spirit lives in us! But that doesn’t take away from God’s character or who He is! It is all the more reason we should live in holiness as God commands.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17

The laid-back approach we have begun to take when we refer to God, has made me feel some type of way over the last few months. We have lowered Him down to meet us in the same way we see other people. We treat Him very casually, when he both desires and deserves reverence. It is expected of non-believers to disregard God’s word, but now we have Christians who no longer consider God’s holiness. It’s almost as if we have gotten to a place where we want to live and only be recipients of his grace without fear of his judgment. God showers us in love and mercy, but also promises wrath and righteous judgement to all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Both are talked about in His word, but not typically discussed in culture. It’s not as fun to discuss.

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34: 6-7

God’s word tells us we should have a healthy fear of the Lord. This is where reverence comes in, which simply means to show awe, respect, and worship. It is an emotion that we express, followed by an act of worship. It is hard for us to grasp what it means to fear the Lord because we are looking at it from an earthly-view. When we think of fear, we are anticipating pain and danger. We usually experience our emotions one at a time. But when we fear the Lord, we forget the God’s nature is not like ours. Yes, he brings judgement, but at the same time he is loving, compassionate, and unchanging. He doesn’t turn off part of his nature to show a different emotion. He is the same God at all times!

We must continue to give glory and honor to God. While living in relationship with the Father, we must remember to respect His presence that is with us always. If we call Jesus Lord, we should live in a way that honors him and brings him glory. We can’t live a sinful life and serve a Holy God.  We can’t follow God to receive his blessings without recognizing him as a holy King.

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:8

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