God is Holy

__ This title "God is Holy" is one that most people would say, "Yes absolutely God is Holy."
In Leviticus 19:2 It states, "Ye shall be Holy: for I the Lord your God am Holy."
But how Holy is He, and how does He show it? One of the first places we discover His Holiness is when He confronts Adam in the Garden of Eden.

---- Adam and Eve ----

It is important to realize that God is sinless. Adam had just sinned, and God says to him, "Where art thou?" Genesis 3:9 Adam had hidden himself, because he knew he had done wrong, but he didn't know the extent of the consequences he had just entered into. God cannot have sin in His presence, and since Adam had sinned he had created a separation between himself and God. Now God dearly loved man, and deeply felt this separation, so He did something about it. He killed some animals and made coats of their skins for Adam and Eve to wear.

__ Prior to this Adam and Eve had tried to do something themselves to deal with the sin question. They had made a covering of fig leaves they had sewn together. It is important to realize that there is nothing that man can do to solve the sin question. Only God can take care of it, yet people on every hand are trying to do something to try and satisfy God, but God cannot accept anything we do. God is Holy, and we are unholy, and an unholy person cannot solve the sin problem.

__ This is why God did not ask Adam and Eve to do anything, instead He provided them with the coats of skin from the animals. These skins that they wore meant that an innocent victim died and its blood was shed in order for them to have this covering. This is how God protected His Holiness, by the shed blood, which is God's answer to sin. We see this when God in love sent His only beloved Son into this world, to die on the cross, and shed His blood for us. See John 3:16. The shed blood of the Son of God settled the sin problem between God and man, so that God could come once again into relationship with man. In 1 John 1:7 it tells us, "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

---- Cain and Abel ----

__ The next time God shows His Holiness is when we have the record of Cain and Abel. This is found in Genesis 4:1-15. These two boys grew up together. They must have been taught the same things. But when Abel brought a sacrifice to God he brought a lamb, which meant an innocent victim gave its life and shed its blood. This is exactly what a Holy God required. However Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. His sacrifice did not include an innocent victim, or any shed blood, therefore God could not accept it. This innocent victim dying and blood being shed is an established principle with God to maintain His Holiness. In Hebrews 9:22 it says, "Without shedding of blood is no remission."

---- Moses ----

__ Another instance of God's Holiness is found in the story of Moses. Moses saw a burning bush that did not burn up, so he went over to investigate it. As he approached it God spoke out of the bush and told Moses to put his shoes off, because the ground he stood on was Holy ground. Exodus 3:5. The thing that made it Holy was the presence of a Holy God. Shoes are man made, and there is nothing that man can make that can cover our sins from this Holy God. Neither is there anything that man can make that makes him suitable for his approach to God. So Moses had to stand there in his bare feet. In Hebrews 4:13 it tells us, "We are naked before Him with whom we have to do."

---- Isaiah ----

__ Then there is the experience that Isaiah had in chapter 6 verse 3. Here he sees a throne high and lifted up and there were Seraphims that cried one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory." He is a thrice Holy God. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all are Holy. What an effect it had on Isaiah. He said, " Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips. The holiness of God made him sense his unholiness. How does it affect you?

---- The Lord's Birth ----

__ Now we come to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ where in Luke 1:35 an angel says to Mary the mother of Jesus, "the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." "That Holy thing" is referring to Jesus, who she was going to give birth to. He is none other than the Holy, spotless, sinless, Son of God. This is where God sent His only Holy Son into this world to deal with the sin problem.

---- Calvary ----

__ This same Jesus who we have just seen was born to deal with the sin problem, we read about in Luke 23:33 where it says, "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him." Then in Luke 23:44 it tells us, "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour." Now it is important to realize that "the sixth hour" in Jewish time is the same thing as twelve o'clock noon our time. In other words it was the brightest time of the day. But something amazing was happening that will never happen again. God's Holy Son was being made "sin" and God was punishing, or pouring out His righteousness judgment on His Holy Son for the sin of the world. God did not want the world watching His Holy Son go through this terribly agonizing ordeal, so He created a darkness that shrouded His beloved Son. During this time while Jesus was bearing your sin and mine, God cannot look upon sin, so He turned His back upon His Son. Now if you will turn to Psalm 22, you will notice that it begins with a cry of the Lord Jesus while at this point of the cross. He says in verse 1, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The answer to that question is given in verse 3 where He says, "But thou art Holy." A Holy God could not look upon sin. We have to realize that God and His Son had never been separated before, and will never be separated again. We have no conception how painful it was for God to punish His Son for sin that was not His, but was yours and mine. We also have on idea how painful it was for Jesus to be so tortured by man, so that the flesh on His back hung down in chunks covered in blood, from the lashing. The thorns pressed into His brow sending streams of blood running down His face. There were nails in His hands and feet with blood running down from them. The hair was plucked off His face so that it was unrecognizable. They spit on Him. This was the physical suffering that the Lord endured. But there was also the spiritual suffering that He passed through when He bore your sin, and the punishment for it. After He had exhausted all the punishment, He uttered those words, "It is finished." Then He died, and a soldier put a spear in his side, and out came blood and water. After this He was taken down and put in a grave. He had satisfied a Holy God with His sacrifice for sin.
___ There is a hymn that states in one verse -
"The depth of all thy suffering, no heart can ere conceive." And this is so true, we can hardly realize or enter into how much the Lord suffered and went through in order to make Salvation possible. Does this touch your heart or soul at all? How I pray that it does. All this shows forth the love, and grace and mercy He has shown to you and me. It should touch our hearts and cause us to worship Him, for He is so very worthy!

---- The third day ----

__ After 3 days the Lord came out from among the dead. This is proof that God was satisfied with the Holy work His Son had done to settle the sin question. Then Jesus met Mary Magdalene and made that wonderful statement - "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God and your God." This shows that the relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden, was re-established to those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!!

---- QUESTION ----

__Why would a sinless Holy God send His Son into a world that is filled with sin, violence and wickedness, to suffer bleed and die in such a shameful, painful way? The answer is that God and His Son Jesus Christ loved you so much that he was willing to pay that very high price for your salvation. There is another hymn that puts it this way, "Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree."

---- Made Holy ----

__Those who have accepted the Lord as Saviour have been taken from a state of unholiness and been made holy. How did this happen? When Jesus was dead on the cross a soldier plunged a spear into His side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water. The blood is that which washes our sin away. In 1 John 1:7 it says, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." The water is to make us morally fit for God. Then when the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, He rose with a life over which death has no power. So when a person accepts Jesus as Saviour, that person is cleansed by the blood, and made morally fit by the water, and also receives a new life in Christ, which is His resurrection life. Thus we who were unholy are made holy by the work of the Lord Jesus. This is something that is all Divine. There is nothing more marvellous than this. He has made us fit for heaven.

---- Being Holy ----

__ There is a big difference between Christ making us holy, and being holy, or living holy. We read in 1 Peter 1:16 "Be ye holy ; for I am holy." Here God is instructing us through Peter to live a life that is holy, because He has given us His Holy Spirit to live in us. How do we live this holy life? It requires us to live in separation from the world and its unholy things. For the Word of God tells us in 1 John 2:15 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." In Colossians 3:2 we are told to, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

---- The Big Choice ----

__ Now that we have learned these things there is a choice to make. We can choose to either live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, our Saviour, or we can choose to live a life that is for your own pleasure. It is very, very important to realize that each choice has its own consequences. Knowing the consequences of each choice should help us make the right choice. So what are these consequences? The consequences for living for the Lord Jesus right now is that when standing before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ, you will hear Jesus say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." Then rewards will be given to that person. The consequence for living for your own pleasure is that when standing before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will look in the Book of Life under your name to see what has been done for Him and see very little or nothing. Then the words will be uttered, "No reward." How sad you have your salvation, but nothing to show your appreciation for it.
There is more on this subject in my blog, Your Life's Reward. To see it :- Click Here

---- Two More References ----

__There are two more references regarding holiness that are important to consider.

__ The first reference is found in 2 Peter 3:11. In verses 10 and 12 God tells us how He is going to do away with things as we know it by fire. In view of this verse 11 says, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness." Now where it uses the word "conversation" it means "manner of life." So it is saying that since God is going to destroy the world and heavens as we know it by fire, should not our manner of life be one of holiness and godliness. Absolutely!! Our God is an awesome God. How do we accomplish this manner of life? The next reference gives us a clue.

__ The second reference is found in Jude 1:20 where it say, "Building up yourselves on your most holy faith." Notice the faith that we have is holy. This is because of where it came from, even from God Himself. And also because of who that faith is in. Here we are instructed to be building up ourselves on it. How do we do that? It is by the following -
Step 1. Read God's word.
Step 2. Believe God's word.
Step 3. Act on God's word.
Step 4. See God work - He is faithful.
Step 5. Receive God's blessing.
Step 6. Go back to step 1.

---- Last two references ----

__ The first one is found in Revelation 4:8.
>>>Here it says, "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."


**To be continued.