God is holy. He is perfect, pure, and lifted high. He is everything I’m not. This causes there to be a certain distance between me and God. How can I ever exist in the eyes of such a great and holy God? And what is ‘holy’? What do I need to do to be holy before God?
Text by Alina van Rijn.
The holiness of God
No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2, NLT)
The Bible speaks about God’s holiness multiple times, for example in 1 Samuel 2:2. Here, Hannah sings about the holiness of God. God ís the Holy One. It is a part of His character. It is His name: ‘Holy One’. Towards us as humans, that creates a certain distance. In a sense that distance is needed, because we are not equal to God. God is lifted higher than we are and that is important to realize. In that way, the respect and wonder for God’s holiness can grow. But… is there a gap that cannot be bridged with respect to the holiness of God? I will show you. You can cross that distance: the distance is crossed with the cross of Christ.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus … let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19,22, NLT)
When you know that you are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you are washed and made clean of sin and impurity. Only through Jesus’ sacrifice we can boldly draw near to God.
A holy walk of life
But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16, NLT)
In the Bible verse above, Peter writes about the command that we, Christians, have to be holy, just like God is holy. God doesn’t ask us to be like He is – because He is God and we are not – but God asks for a holy walk of life. That is an attitude, a way of life. This way of life includes dedication to a holy God. We have been set apart to serve God in a holy walk of life.
To be honest, I find that pretty hard. Me and my walk of life are far from perfect or holy. But we serve a perfect and holy God, who wanted to become equal to us by descending in our unholy state. Jesus wanted to carry our sins, the reason of our unholiness, by dying on a cross. So that we are made holy in Gods eyes. As if we have never done anything wrong. We have been set apart by the Holy One who wanted to make us holy in His Son Jesus Christ. Are you following me?
The holiness of God is not an obstacle, not an uncrossable chasm. It is one of the many reasons to stand in awe. In awe that this holy God knows and sees you. Wouldn’t you want anything else but to live holy for Him?
Make it practical!
Listen to this beautiful song and sing about the holiness of God today.
Read the original article here.
