His Holiness. My response.

I love how the Lord uses repetition in many ways both in Scripture and in life. I love how the repetition He has been reminding me of is His holiness...which just so happens to be repetition in and of itself: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty!" I also love how I've been reading through Exalt You, O God by Jerry Bridges (I highly recommend!), and currently learning about God's holiness, then find that the sermon on Leviticus at church is all about reminding us that Leviticus isn't just about a list of crazy laws, but to remind the Israelites and us today that God is abundantly holy, we are not & we need some sort of substitute. The entire Bible, the entire purpose of life and history is about God being faithful to a sinful people.

So with all that said, here's a link to the sermon from yesterday on Leviticus (aka: God's holiness, our sinfulness) http://www.redeemerkansascity.org/resources/?sermon_id=144

And here are some thoughts in one of my favorite readings on God's holiness in Jerry Bridge's book (mentioned above):

"What makes Isaiah 6 so important to worship is that it sets forth both the holiness of God and our only appropriate response to it. We see not only God's holiness magnified by the threefold call of the seraphs, "Holy, holy, holy," but also Isaiah's deep humiliation in his cry, "Woe to me! I am ruined!"

Insert: Cross chart. While I have a tendency to be more aware of my sinfulness, Isaiah not only saw his sinfulenss, "Woe is me!...I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Yet, he also was fully aware of God's Holiness.

..."It was not just God's transcendent majesty, however, that caused Isaiah's cry of dismay. It was also the awareness of His blazing moral purity, revealing as it did Isaiah's own sinfulness. H. H. Rowley gives this reason for the prophet's response: 'It is not the consciousness of humanity in the presence of divine power, but the consciousness of sin in the presence of moral purity.' So it is with us: Our reaction to God's majestic holiness is a realization of our own insignificance; our response to His ethical holiness is an awareness of our sinfulness and impurity."

"The word unclean is significant. It's the word that was to be uttered by lepers who, as they walked along, must cry out "Unclean! Unclean!" (Leviticus 13:45 *see? love the repetition!*). Isaiah uses it again in Isaiah 64:6 when he says, 'All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.' Now in this encounter with the holiness of God, Isaiah uses it of himself. It leprosy typified sin, then Isaiah saw his sinfulness as moral leprosy."

*At the end of each daily reading, Jerry leads the reader through prayer that is completely filled with Scripture. This week, I had a dear friend/mentor from college call. At the end of our conversation, she prayed for me, praying everything through Scripture. His Word truly is living and active! In light of this, here are some excerpts from today's prayer on God's holiness:

"You are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel." You formed Your people for Yourself that they may proclaim your praise. Therefore I worship and praise You. 'Great is the Holy One of Isreal.'" Psalm 22:3; Isaiah 43:21; 12:6


"My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever." Psalm 145:21

"Almighty God, as I praise Your holiness, Your blazing moral purity, I cannot help being aware of my own sinfulness and impurity. Holy Father, I ask for Your help and power in pursuit of holiness, for only by Your help can I make progress in obeying Your command to be holy as You are holy. 'Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.' 'I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God.'" 1 Peter 1:16; Isaiah 63:15; Psalm 70:5


Finally, here is an excerpt from one of the corporate prayers of confession we read together at church last night:
Forgive us for assuming you owe us anything good, and enable us to treasure as supreme the gift you have given us in Christ Jesus, who through His death and resurrection, makes it possible for us to receive favor from you. Amen.

Everything begins + ends with Yahweh!

I'm currently reading through The One Year Bible (NLT version). It's super neat, as goes chronologically through the Bible, with a daily OT + Psalm + Proverb + NT reading. I LOVE when Scripture cross-references, especially when I can directly cross something from the OT + NT that I read that day.

Here are some things I read today...

And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.

“Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’”

Exodus 6:2-8

I love how this passage begins + ends with Yahweh! Because Yahweh is everything. He is the beginning + the end. Yet He has no beginning, nor no end.

Next, here is Psalm 23 in NLT. I love this translation. I memorized this passage as a young girl, but to read it with different wording, it brings a new light + is so refreshing!

"The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

he leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me

in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

forever."

See how yet again, this passage begins + ends with the LORD (Yahweh)! I also love how both these passages proclaim of the things God will do...does do...and continues to do!

Incomprehensible

"In all I've read on God's holiness, I continually notice how authors search for words to adequately express the concept...adjectives and adverbs [like the following are often used]: wholly, absolutely, infinitely, incomprehensible, supreme, consuming, exalted, solitary, unique, peerless. When we've exhausted the resources of our language, we still have not described God. He is indeed incomprehensible.
...
But perhaps when we've done all our explaining, we can't improve upon that threefold ascription of the seraphs who cried out, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.' This is the heart response of all who fear God."

-Jerry Bridges from his book I Exalt You, O God.

Holy, holy, holy!

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." Isaiah 6:1-8

"By employing this threefold repetition for His holiness, God is exalting His holiness to the highest possible measure."

"God is infinitely glorious in all His attributes, but only His holiness is magnified with this threefold ascription." (never do we read "wise, wise, wise" or "powerful, powerful, powerful" or "love, love, love") 

"Edward J. Young says that holy, as used in Isaiah 6:3, 'signifies the entirety of the divine perfection which separates God from His creation. God is the Creator who exists in absolute independence of the creature. He is the lord, and not a man. Although the creation depends on Him, He Himself is entirely independent thereof.'"

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,

Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;

Only Thou art holy - there is none beside Thee

Perfect in pow'r, in love and purity.

"Reading back through the hymn above, we notice the writer encompasses the attributes of mercy, might, power, love and purity all within the meaning of God's holiness. The holiness of God, in this respect, is not so much one of a number of other attributes, but the sum of them all."


*Excerpts from I Exalt You, O God by Jerry Bridges. Scripture from ESV. Lyrics from hymn Holy, holy, holy written by Reginald Heber.

Know Him. Treasure Him. Trust Him.

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." Romans 15:4

"...And his name will be the hope of all the world." Matthew 12:21 (from Isaiah 42:1-4)

Throughout all history + current times, God has been working miraculously with all power to save sinful people, so that the world may know that He is God. The purpose for which God does EVERYTHING is so that the world may know about his glory (weight, substance, gravity) and to treasure it...and not just to know about God + His glory, but to treasure it!

Look to God for your ___________ (joy, refuge, provision, purpose, identity)...EVERYTHING. "You need not to be afraid...for the Lord is your security." Proverbs 3:25-26

I AM : no one in the universe is like me. The One who defines existence is Himself.

Help me understand sin in relation to You & not what's going to happen to me.

God is a Paradox...just + merciful, tabernacle (a reminder of God's presence + our sin), etc.

The big picture of the Bible + all of history (& future) is one unified story of Redemption.

"[God] deliberately maneuvered [the Israelites] into a situation[s] where they could be saved only by His mighty power, and through that experience, come to trust Him."

+

"As we become convinced of [God's] greatness, we will fear Him - stand in awe of God - and trust Him." I exalt You, O God - Jerry Bridges

I'm overwhelmed by God's greatness.

The Worst of Sinners

"Here is a trustworthy statement that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of which I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." - Timothy 1:15-17

...the worst of sinners...
To the world, I probably appear less of a sinner. I go to church, I read my Bible, I don't use fowl or crude language, I don't get drunk, I don't sleep around, I talk about my faith...but even then I am a sinner, the worst of sinners, in which Christ came into the world to save. Although my flaws may not be seen my many in the world, my sin, my missing the marks of perfection are very real and they run deep. In my heart I harbor bitterness, anger, jealousy, idolatry, lust, inability to be self-controlled, gossip, unforgiveness, ungenuineness (if that is even a word)...and the list could go on and on. Although it may not always be seen, which is often not the case, even I, one who claims to know and daily experience the grace of God and follow Jesus, am a sinner in need of saving.

...that....Christ Jesus might be able to display his unlimited patience as an example for those who believe on him and have eternal life...
Although my sin may not be as clear to the naked eye, I know the depths of my hearts wretchedness. And my own sinful, fallen, and human eyes are able to see the depths of my sin, how much more is the holy, perfect and spotless One able to see. I began to think about how others (ie: my classmates, unbelieving friends from college, etc.) would think if I posted these verses on my Facebook, or if I shared it with them. Now of course, they all know I am not perfect, many of which have seen me in my broken states of sin, but I wondered what they would think. Then I began to think about, how even many times they did see me as a strong Christian or goody tooshoes, but when in reality, I was just covering up and masking my true identity of a sinner and unconfessed sin in my life that was really reigning me. What came to my mind were the many stories you hear about on the news when someone dresses up in uniform and begins to pretend the roll of a police officer, army soldier, etc. They believe that by putting on this attire and deceiveing unsuspecting people, that they may get away with this false identity and false power...all while performing an illegal act. How often do I put on the suit of "good Christian," all while my heart is holding unconfessed or unsurrendered sin. I masquerade around, hoping others will believe my outward appearance, so to distract from the reality of what is truly inside of me. It is then, where I not only see the wretcheness of mysinful nature in the sin I do, but also in the sin I create while trying to not be sinful. Even when I'm attempting to be good and right and pleasing to God, I don't even come close to good and holy. But what I have and continue to learn and see each day is that He truly is patient...unlimitly patient!!

...to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever....
Because of His holiness, His unlimited patience, His mercy, I, the worst of sinners, can be free from the guilt and shame of sin. I am free from the eternal punishment of my imperfections. And through all this, through Him displaying his unlimited patience and his great mercy in me, a wretched sinner, undeserving of even a kind action from a great and powerful God, He displays his holiness, love, mercy, unlimited patience, power, character...and saves me...the worst of sinners. All for this last sentence: to the King...the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Exerpts from J.I. Packer's "Knowing God."

"What were we made for? To know God.
What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God.
What is the 'eternal life' that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God. "This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (Jn 17:3)
What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight and contentment than anything else? Knowedge of God. "This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strenght or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands me and knows me'" (Jer 9:23-24)
What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of himself. "I desired...the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings," says God (Hos 6:6 KJV). (Packer, 33)

"Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord."..."What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, somethign which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has in a way that no other person ahs. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?" (Packer, 34)

"The more complex the object, the more complex is the knowing of it." (Packer, 35)

"...the quality and extent of our knowledge of other people depends more on them than on us. Our knowing them is more directly the result of their allowing us to know them than of our attempting to get to know them. When we meet, our part is to give them our attention and interest, to show them good will and to open up in a friendly way from our side. From thapoint, however, it is they, not we, who decide whether we are going to know them or not." (Packer, 35)

"The more conscious we are of our own inferiority, the more we shall feel that our part is simply to attend to this person respectfully and let him take the initiative in the conversation. (Think of meeting the queen of England or the president of the United States.) We would like to get to know this exalted person, but we fully realize that this is a matter for him to decie, not us. If he confines himself to courteous formalities with us, we may be disappointed, but we do not feel able to complain; after all, we had no claim on his friendship.
But if instead he starts at once to take us into his confidence, and tells us frankly what is in his mind on matters of common concern, and if he goes on to invite us to join him in particular undertakings he has planned, gand asks us to make ourselves permanently available for this kind of colaboration whenever he needs, then we shall feel enormously privileged, and it will make a world of difference to our general outlook. If life seemed unimportant and dreary hitherto, it will not seem so anymore, now that the great man has enrolled us among his personal assistants. Here is someting to write home about - and something to live up to!
Now this, so far as it goes, is an illustration of what it means to know God. Well might God say through Jeremiah, 'Let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me' - for knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a person's heart." (Packer, 35-36)

"God is actually opening up his heart to you, making friends with you and enlisting you as a colleague - Barth's phrase, a covenant partner." (Packer, 36)

"Whether being a servant is a matter for share or for our pride depends on whose servant one is. Many have said what pride they felt in rendering personal service to Sir Winston Churchill during World War II. How much more should it be a matter of pride and glorying to know and serve the Lord of heaven and earth!" (Packer, 37)

"What, then does the activity of knowing God involve?...we must say that knowing God involves, first listening to God's Word and receiving is as the Holy Spirit interprets it, in application to oneself; second, noting God's nature and character, as his Word and works reveal it; third accepting his invitations and doing what he commands; fourth, recognizing and rejoicing in the love that he has shown in thus approaching you and drawing you into this divine fellowship." (Packer, 37)

"The disciples were ordinary Galileans with no special claims on the interest of Jesus...God found found them, called them to himself, took them into his confidence and enrolled them as his agents to declare to the world teh kingdom of God." (Packer, 37)

"Knowing God is more than knowing about him; it is a matter of dealing with him as he opens up to you, and being dealt with by him as he takes knowledge of you. Knowing about him is a necessary precondition of trust him...but the width of of oru knowledge about him is not gauge of the depth of our knowledge of him." (Packer, 39)

"Since knowing God is a matter of personal involvement - mind, will and feeling. It would not, indeed, be a fully personal relationship otherwise. To get to know another person, you have to commit yourslef to his comany and interests, and be ready to identify yourself with his concerns." (Packer, 39)

"God does not exist for our comfrot or happiness or satisfaction, or to provide us with, 'religious experiences,' as if these were the most interesting and important things in life....knowing god is an emotional relationship, as well as an itellectual and volitioanl one...Believers rejoice when their God is honored and vindicated and feel the acutest distress when they see God flouted." (Packer, 40)

"We do not make friends wigh God; God makes friends with us, bringing us to know him by making his love known to us....The word know, when used of God in this way, is a soverign-grace word, pointing to God's initiative in loving, choosing, redeeming, calling, and preserving. (Packer, 41)

"All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, on who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters." (Packer, 42)

"There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that he sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and am I glad!), and that he sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough.) There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as his friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given his Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. We can not work these thoughts out here, but merely to mention them is enough to show how much it means to know not merely that we know God, but that he knows us." (Packer 42)