If we do not see God as holy it is because we do not perceive our own wretchedness, do not perceive the depth of our own sinfulness. If we do not see God as holy it is because the clothes we wear, the people we know and our own ability to achieve have clouded our judgment. We have been brought to the brink of spiritual bankruptcy and filled with self-pride.
Or perhaps we have suffered greatly. Perhaps our lives have been filled with such misery that we now count ourselves as deserving the New Life. Neither wealth nor poverty can purchase an audience with the holy. We could no more intrude on His holy presence than we could dance barefoot on the surface of the sun.
Holy means that God is in every way, shape, and form—other. He is not like us, not of us but completely and distinctly other. While we may enjoy the privilege of calling Him Abba Father, while it IS a name of familiarity, we dare not grow too familiar. We may stand on the precipice to observe the majesty of the mountain but dare not forget we stand on a precipice. He loves us and cares for us intimately but He is a consuming fire. He is God!
This understanding is critical to the Christian life. For that matter—it is essential to the non-Christian’s hope. Should we draw near God without this mindset, wearing only those things you have earned by wealth or suffering, we might hear what Moses heard:
“Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground’” (Exod. 3:5).
If the ground itself had become sacred, if the ground could not be casually trampled, how much more the God who passed there. He is the source of, and the goal of, all things. He is the, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…” (Phil 4:8).
These ideas, these noble qualities and pursuits, radiate from Him, return to Him and are judged by Him. Purity, perfection, holiness, these are our hopeful desires. Yet they are His inherent possessions. For us, these qualities, once out of reach are now (through Christ) in view. It is God’s holiness that convinces me I am unworthy and, through Grace, restores my failing spirit.
It is His holiness that brings home my need and His love—His perfect love that renders me worthy to walk on holy ground. Through Christ I can walk still further. With confidence I can enter the very throne room of God for an audience with The Holy (Heb 4:16).
Daily I see Him as more holy.
Daily I see myself as even more sinful and grace as all the more—AMAZING!
Exod. 3:5, Deut. 7:6, 1Sam. 2:2, Isa. 5:16, John 6:69, Rom. 12:1, Eph. 1:4, 1Ths. 4:7, Hebr. 10:19, Hebr. 12:14, 1Pet. 1:15-16, 1Pet. 2:5
Copyright(C)2009 Hudson Russell Davis