God's Holiness

Pause:

Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus.

Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.

Read:

Isaiah 6v1-4: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.
4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.”

Revelation 4v1-11: “After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it. 3 The one seated there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone. A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes, with golden crowns on their heads.

5 Flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne. Seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne.

Four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back were around the throne on each side. 7 The first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like an ox; the third living creature had a face like a man; and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying,

Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come.
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,

11 Our Lord and God,
you are worthy to receive
glory and honor and power,
because you have created all things,
and by your will
they exist and were created.”

Going Deeper:

For many of us, from time to time we think about the new heaven and the new earth, and what the future will look like after Jesus returns.

But these two passages let us know what Heaven is like NOW. What is happening around God’s throne now, where the action is.

And we see that in both of these scenes from Isaiah and Revelation, that these angelic beings flying around God’s throne are singing again, and again, and again that God is Holy, Holy, Holy.

Clearly this is the word that they use to describe God, and clearly just saying it once isn’t enough.

Now, we rarely, if ever, use the word Holy to describe someone. And when we do, on that odd occasion, we probably mean that they are really moral and really spiritual.

And Holy definitely means those things, but it means even more than that.

To be Holy is to be valuable and set apart. In Isaiah 6v1 God is sitting on His throne “High and lifted up”. He is in a category of His own, exalted above all things.

1 Samuel 2v2: “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you.”

Isaiah 40v25: “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.”

Hosea 11v9: “I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst.”

We are made in the image of God, but we are not in the same category as God, and neither is anything else. God is high and exalted in purity, righteousness, beauty, and glory. And He is infinitely worthy and valuable.

John Piper writes that the glory of God is “the shining forth of His holiness.”

So when we experience God’s glory, we are really seeing His Holiness. We are seeing how unique, beautiful, valuable, extraordinary, pure and worthy of our adoration God is, and in a way that nothing else can compare to.

We see in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 that the beings that have seen God and are worshipping Him need to cover their eyes, because His Holiness and Glory is too much for them. But despite this, they still can’t stop praising Him.

Now, no one has ever seen me, and fallen down at my feet exclaiming with covered eyes, how worthy I am of praise. And they probably never will. That reaction wouldn’t make any sense.

But that is a natural reaction for both humans and angels when we see God. He is so beautiful, so unique, so other, so glorious, so worthy, that we can’t help but respond in that way.

But despite this, it is still easy for me to get distracted from God’s worth, and to forget how beautiful He is, and How much I enjoy being with Him. And to focus on other things that are great and important, but that don’t compare to being with Him and seeing Him.

In Isaiah 6, we are reminded that God is Holy, and is in a category of His own, high and exalted above all things, and infinitely – but still accessible to us! And as Isaiah see’s the Glory of God, this shining forth of His Holiness, at first He is paralysed by comparison. But then God cleanses him of his sin and sends him out as His servant with important work to do, telling others of this Holy God.

This morning, before we go into our days, let’s be reminded of God’s holiness, and respond in worship. And then let’s be reminded of His commission to us, and go into our day as people called to share about Him with our world.

Pray:

Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.

Listen:

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?

Apply:

What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?