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Holiness Revealed
Isaiah 6:1-8
Can we step out from the shadow of our human sinfulness, and into the luminous light of God’s Holiness and remain unaffected, and unchanged?What happens when we get a glimpse of that Holiness, what do we do with such greatness, how do we react to it?
In todays culture the word “Holy”, is just part of our everyday mundane English language. We have stripped it of its true value, and have pushed it through the garbage chute. The word “Holy” is used too often with negative connotations, and is rarely used in its proper place. Holy is often used in a place of sarcasm, with connotations of narrow mindedness, uptightness, judgmental, detached, and even profanely.
So before we take a step towards Holiness, we have to get our bearings and define Holy.
“Holy”, comes from the Hebrew word "quadash", it is derived from the root word "qud", which means cut or separation, a withdrawal.
In R.C. Sproul’s book Essential Truths, he gives us a simple way to remember the definition of holiness. He says, “The first prayer I learned as a child was the simple table grace: "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for this food." The two virtues assigned to God in this prayer, greatness and goodness, may be captured by the one biblical word, holy.” [Essential Truths p. 47]
God is apart from us . . . He is in a class by Himself. "There is a profound difference between Him and those He has created. When the Bible speaks of holy objects or holy people or holy time, it refers to things that have been set apart, consecrated, or made different by the touch of God upon them. It was the nearness of the divine that made the ordinary suddenly extraordinary and the common, uncommon." [Sproul ibid.] Holiness means that God is transcendent (or unique and superior) in His greatness. God is good. He does what is right and never does what is wrong. God is unstained by, and uncompromising with sin. God does not "bend a little" when it comes to wrong-doing. God always acts in a righteous manner because His nature is holiness. He is both great and good.
Who among the gods is like you, O LORD ? Who is like you; majestic in holiness, awesome in glory" (Exodus 15:11)
1. Holiness is the standard set by God.
Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is the standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy.
God is holy and he has made holiness the moral condition that is necessary to the health of His universe. It is sin’s temporary presence in this world that highlights this. Whatever is holy is healthy; evil is a moral sickness that must end ultimately in death.
As we read through the Old Testament we read page after page filled with the Holiness of God. But it is here in Isaiah where we come to an emphasis. In the Hebrew culture, it is part of the language when writing something that is of great importance, or of great magnitude to write the word twice. Jesus demonstrates this in John 3, when He speaks with Nicodemus regarding being born again. He says, “Truly, truly,” three times to Nicodemus, each time signifying what He is saying is urgent, and of extreme importance.
But here we read in Isaiah 6, the angels were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Holy, Holy, Holy, three times, signifying of the greatest worth, or of greatest magnitude, that God is infinitely Holy.
The holiness of God is somewhat different than all His other attributes, as God is holy in all His attributes. He is holy in His Goodness, holy in his Justice, holy in His Wrath, and so on and so forth. He is majestic in His Holiness, because His name is Holy.
In the past the name of a person reflects the character of that individual. Gods name is holy, that means all what he thinks and does is holy. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matt. 6:9) "For this is what the high and lofty One says, who lives forever, whose name is holy; I live in high and holy place" (Isaiah 57:15)
This Holiness implies absolute moral purity and separateness above the creation. When Isaiah had his vision, and saw God high and lifted up in infinite holiness, it defined his knowledge of God as the Holy One who is righteous, incomparable, redemptive, and lofty.Isaiah was a prophet, a messenger of God, who prophesied during the reign of four kings over a period of sixty years. One of the kings that lived during Isaiah’s time was king Uzziah. Most of Uzziah’s record can be found in 2 Chronicles 26. Uzziah became a king when he was only 16 years old and he reigned for 52 years. Around 740 B.C. Uzziah contacted leprosy for flouting God’s holiness, and died. Which ended a lengthy era of national prosperity, which then placed the entire nation into a sense of panic and fear. However, Isaiah the prophet went to the temple of God, and sees another king, an eternal King, sitting on His throne.
"In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple." (Isaiah 6:1)
The word Lord, here refers to Adhonay in Hebrew which means the sovereignty of God.
Even though King Uzziah is dead, our sovereign king, the King of the Universe is alive, His Kingship is forever and ever. This is a picture of His majesty, His glory and His power. This is the exalted one who humbled Himself, and became a servant. The one who became flesh, as John said, In John 12:41, "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him."
2. Holiness displays the glory of God.
Isaiah 6:2, "Above him were seraphim, each with six wings, with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying."
The word seraphim comes from the Hebrew word serapim, which means “flames.” These fiery angelic beings were created and designed to proclaim the holiness of God. They flew with two wings above the throne, as exaltation to the throne of God for His glory.
With two of their wings they covered their feet. The necessity of this foot covering goes back to Moses. We see In Exodus chapter three how God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. God said to Moses, "Do not come any closer; take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5) But this place, this holy ground, seems like just a normal place, a place that Moses is familiar with, and has visited often. Why then is it that only now this spot suddenly becomes holy? Because God is Holy, set apart, wherever He appears must become sanctified in order to display His glory. It was Gods presence that made the ground holy, that sanctified this place. Another example of this is when God descended as a pillar of fire to Mt. Sinai, prior to that he told the people to consecrate themselves setting themselves apart as dedication to service. (Exodus 19) Here in Isaiah the seraphim cover their feet because of the presence of God’s holiness. The seraphim are covering their feet as Gods holiness brings Him absolute majesty and glory.
With two of their wings they covered their face. Again we look back to Moses in Exodus 33:18, Moses asked the Lord to show His glory. God said, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Exodus 33:20) It is absolutely impossible to see the infinite glory of His majesty. Then God told Moses, "You may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand, until I passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." (Exodus 33:22-23) Even the seraphim, who are perfect, superhuman creatures are humbled before our all holy God. As they cry out in Isaiah 6:3, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
3. Holiness is divine revolution.
Isaiah 6:4 "At the sound of their voices the door posts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke." Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
As the thresholds shook, and the temple filled with smoke, Isaiah felt the fiery presence of the Lord. His sudden realization of his personal depravity came upon him like a heart attack, at the brink of his revolutionary vision of the Holiness of God. His pain-filled cry, “Woe is me! For I am undone,” expresses the feelings of every one here who discovered themselves, their true selves under their disguises, when confronted with inward sight of the Holy whiteness and purity that is God.
Holiness in our lives should bring on change, a personal revolution. Just as Isaiah saw himself as miniscule in comparison to a Holy God, revolted against sin, and his very nature.
Until we see ourselves as Isaiah saw himself, as God sees us, we are not likely to be troubled over the conditions and situations around us, especially as long as they don’t get in the way of our comfortable way of life.
We have learned to live with complacency of unholiness, and see it as our everyday part of life. We suffer from moral shock, through sin that has broken our relationship and fellowship with God, and has left us with permanent trauma.
4. Holiness provides justification.
In the midst of God’s Holiness, we find God provides. Isaiah 6:6,7, Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."
Once Isaiah realizes his sin, and his need to be atoned for his sin, God steps in and provides the means in which he is atoned. The burning coal was taken from the altar, representing a sacrifice/payment to be made on the altar. Through faith Isaiah was forgiven of his sins, the burning coal was the sin substitution, the cleansing of sin, where Christ would ultimately make that sacrifice. (John 12:41) "Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him." Isaiah saw the glory that is Christ, there in the temple. We see that there in the vision, in the temple God’s plan of salvation was set in place and motion, a hundred years before Christ stepped out of eternity and into time. God forgave Isaiah on the same basis in which you and I have forgiveness today, by grace through faith from the precious blood of Christ.
When we realize or become aware of our sin, on account of God’s Holiness, we humbly come before the throne where God has paid our penalty once and for all.
5. Holiness is our sanctification.
(Sanctification is the process in which we are becoming holy, as we are being made more and more into the image of Christ.)
Isaiah 6:8, Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Isaiah has been transformed by grace, and has been made alive by the mercies of God. He has been made acceptable for service unto the Lord.
R.C. Sproul points out Isaiah’s heart and attitude, Isaiah doesn’t say ‘here I am.” Signifying his position, God already knows and has secured his position. Instead God is looking at his heart condition, his willingness. Isaiah says “Here am I.” giving himself up selflessly, as a living sacrifice, (Romans 12:1).
Isaiah, in the presence of The Most High, exposed for his true nature, recognized his depravity, and was grieved. God justified Isaiah through his faith, and made him an acceptable vessel for service.
This changed every fiber of Isaiah’s being, Isaiah has an exchanged life, the life he now has, which has just been justified, he no longer lives unto himself, but selflessly as a living sacrifice for God. Isaiah is now living and willing to serve not out of obligation, on account of his atonement, but out of the complete transformation that comes from being in the presence of the Most Holy God, out of gratitude, and the desire to exalt God’s glory.
We should be likeminded, in that we being justified are now made acceptable vessels for service, and in this present day we should step out and say, “Here am I.”This is our sanctification, our process of becoming holy. To live the exchanged life, just as Isaiah stepped up, changed by the Holiness of God, Romans 12:1 I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.
God imparts His holiness to His children, and does so through imputation, and impartation. God attributes righteousness to us through Christ, and proclaims us as His own. Because God made holiness available through the blood of the lamb, through Christ, He requires holiness from us. First to Israel, and then to The Church, God said. “Be holy as I am holy.” Not be as holy as God is, for we cannot reach absolute pure holiness in our state, our current condition. Ephesians 5:1 clarifies and tells us to be imitators of God. Which is why sanctification is a process, we slowly progress as we walk with God becoming more and more formed into the likeness of Christ, becoming more and more holy.
We must have the mindset of Moses, covering ourselves with faith and humility, while we steal a quick look at the God no man can see and live. The broken and contrite heart God does not despise, but we should hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ, just as Moses hid himself in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passed by.
A.W. Tozer writes we must take refuge from God in God.
6. Holiness will be our glorification.
In Exodus 34:29, we see that Moses after interceding for the Jews came down from Mt. Sinai, with two tablets in his hand, and Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
Moses was shinning with the glory of the God. His face was physically changed, just spending time in communion with God.We as believers, in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 who have the Holy Spirit, we have unveiled faces, we behold the glory of the Lord, and we are being transformed from one glory, to another. From who we are now as image bearers, into the likeness of Christ. Just as Moses was shinning with God’s glory we too will bear the full glory of God.
1 John 3:2 says that when Christ returns we will be just like Him, with both physical changes of a resurrected body, and spiritual changes, completely pure, and righteous without sin. We will be display the glory of God, and shine just as He is.
We must truly live out that God views us perfect in His Son while He disciplines and chastens and purges us in order to partake of His holiness.
Cast yourselves helplessly and hopefully on the mercy of Jesus as your only hope, and God will count it as righteousness. And you will be able to sleep in purity and rise boldly and say here am I oh, Lord, send me. "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies" (Romans 8:33).
So can we step out from the shadow of our human sinfulness, and into the luminous light of God’s Holiness and remain unaffected, and unchanged?
The answer is no, God’s Holiness will expose us for who we are, it will humble us, give us a broken and contrite heart. The holiness of God reminds us that we live in these temporal depraved flesh suites, and we can never live up to the standard that God holds of holiness. But we can seek refuge from God, in God. God is light and in Him is no darkness, His absolute light exposes us to our core, showing our blemishes, humbling our pride, unveiling our hypocrisy, and demonstrating His absolute perfection.
But God provides a way through Christ, so we can be justified, and made pure, and acceptable, ready for service, to be effective in a defective world, to be a Moses, and show God’s glory, and be an Isaiah, and say, “Here am I. Lord use me.”
Where do you stand in our fallen world before God? What has His Holiness revealed in your life?
Will you be just part of the everyday, giving in to the lies and deceit of the world? Or will you be the Church, affected by God’s Holiness, and be a representative of His Holiness. Being as lights in this present darkness.
Will you be the holiness revealed?
