Lincoln

6 – God IS Unchangeable

By / Base Theology Discipleship / 12 minutes of reading

The depth of knowledge concerning God’s character will ultimately determine the maturity of a believer or a Church. Similarly, the stronger the understanding of who God is, the more God centred and God exalting worship becomes. The greater the exploration of God’s nature, the stronger the Church’s vision of God’s majesty becomes with believer’s strength and courage growing in proportion to their understanding of Yahweh. The passion and purity of a Church’s teaching of doctrine and evangelism will determine the intimacy of their walk with the Lord.

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
A significant part of a believers’ correct understanding of God is that He does not change. This is God’s “Immutability.”  “For I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6). Because God is eternally perfect (holy) in every thought, in all His values, and in every action, He has no need to change in any way. If God were to change, that would mean there must have been an imperfection or an incompleteness that needed correcting. And imperfection or incompleteness is NOT true of Yahweh. He cannot be improved upon, nor can He be lessened or worsened in any way because He is holy. Just as God is eternal in His holiness, so He is eternal in His unchangeableness, in His immutability.

In 1 Samuel 15:29, the prophet Samuel declared the Lord’s discipline to sinful king Saul. Samuel explained to Saul that He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind (NIV). Humans are always changing. We change our values, we change our speech and behaviour, we change our preferences, and we change our opinions. This remains a constant struggle for mankind, including Christians. Learning how to be constant in our beliefs and behaviour is an important part of our sanctification. However, as Samuel explained, because God is not human He is eternally unchanging in nature and thoughts. He does not possess the fleshly weaknesses and sinful inclinations which often promote change in us.

Now, before we continue, we need to understand that in humans, not all change is bad. As believers, God calls us to change for good, for improvement, and for greater holiness. Therefore, we are exhorted to change many things so that we can be more like Christ and more God honouring. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind… (Romans 12:2). But this is not true of God as He is already perfectly perfect in every way (He is Holy).

The Lord revealed to Isaiah, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). The difference between the way God thinks and the way we think is enormous. There exists a huge distance between the way we think and behave, and the way God thinks and behaves.

For God, holiness is natural and requires no effort on His part. But for humans, we are not holy by nature. As God observed before He flooded the earth in Genesis 6:5, the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And following the great flood, God still observed that the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Genesis 8:21). Humanity’s sinfulness makes them changeable. God’s holiness makes Him unchangeable.

The Psalmist says the same about the created universe. Following sin being introduced by Adam and Eve, the heavens will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end (Psalm 102:26-27). Every created thing is changing, aging, and dying. Nothing and no-one can escape this constantly changing reality. But this is not true of God, as the writer of Hebrews 1:10-12 declares. “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” God does not age, He gets no older or younger. Just as He had no beginning, so He shall have no end, He is eternal and forever the same (Rev 1:8).

Further to this, James writes, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17). Highlighting the microscopic perfections of God, James’ explains that the closer you inspect God the more you will observe that within His perfections there exists NO variations. There are NO exceptions to God’s holy and generous character towards His children. There are NO inconsistencies in God’s nature. James’ stresses the fact that there is NOT even a shadow due to change in God’s character. In other words, even in the secondary effects of God’s actions, in the consequences of what He does, there is total and unchanging consistency within His character. Every part of God’s nature endures as knowable constants of who God is.

Likewise, the writer of Hebrews testifies of Christ, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). This reinforces our understanding of Jesus’ deity. Jesus is God, He is eternal, and He is unchangeable.

Similarly, God is unchanging in His love for His people.
Psalm 103:17, the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children. God’s affections do NOT change like the world’s affections change. God’s expressions of loving devotion to His children are fixed and faithfully unchanging. As Paul told Timothy, even during those times when we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13). God cannot change His character simply because His children are inconsistent in the way they live. God’s faithfulness means that He is dependable, and it is NOT based upon our performance. Yahweh’s incredible  faithfulness is also expressive of the inter-trinity relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who lives within every believer, including struggling believers. It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

Believer’s security stands firm, guaranteed by the unchanging and faithful nature of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s immutability is central to a correct understanding of the gospel, of salvation, and of believer’s eternal security.

Some people use the story of Abraham interceding for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22-33), to argue that God changes His mind. When considering this account, we need to remember that the Lord new the outcome long before Abraham started talking with Him. Isaiah 46:9b-10, I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. God new Abraham’s thinking, his motives, and his vulnerable condition as a mortal man who could not control the events that God controls. God knew all along that He was going to agree with Abraham’s request to spare Sodom if only 10 righteous people were found, to which the Lord responded, for the sake of ten I will not destroy it (Genesis 18:32).

It was good for Abraham to engage with the Lord in this discussion, pleading for the potentially righteous people of Sodom. It was good for Abraham to realise that God is approachable, that God listens, and that God was willing to save the wicked along with the righteous residences of Sodom. Did God change His mind with Abraham, no! God simply allowed His predetermined will to play out by involving Abraham in the process. It was always God’s intention that Abraham’s discussion would be part of the process of fulfilling His will to save only Lot and his two daughters from Sodom (Gen 19:16-17, 26).

From Abraham’s human perspective however, he may have thought that he was negotiating a moving goal with the Lord. But that was just Abraham’s perspective. As we know, God sees things very different to the way we see those same things.

The same principle is true in our prayers today. From our perspective, God calls us to continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2). We pray, we watch for how God responds to our prayers, then we adjust how we pray and continue to pray more and watch more. All the time we do this with thanksgiving because we understand that God knows what He is doing. This process of prayer is God’s predetermined method of including us in His work. This is how God engages believers, getting us involved in the process of working out His will in our lives while He remains unchanging.

Again, we see God’s infinite intelligence and power synchronising His predetermined will for our salvation with our responsibility to believe. Ephesians 1:11-13 explains this, God works all things according to the counsel of his will (:11). Then in verse 13, we read that we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and believed in him. From our perspective we think we made the decision to believe which then changed God’s mind about us. We assume this happened because we believed. We assume that God responded to our belief for the first time by adopting us (Eph 1:5). But this is only our human perspective. From God’s perspective, He has not changed His thinking about us. He had always determined for us to believe and to include us in that process of hearing the gospel and responding to the gospel. We changed our mind towards God, which is what God had planned for us to do. But God did not change His mind towards us, He simply brought His plan to completion within us.

Psalm 33:10-11 declares, the LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Here we see that the Lord is determined in His immutability. While earthly nations may think that they can do as they please, and they may think that they determine their destiny, they are wrong. The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will (Proverbs 21:1). Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand (Proverbs 19:21). Yahweh’s will does not change, it was determined in eternity past and fulfilled within human history. What Yahweh wills, He does. God is also unchanging in His desire to save sinners from His judgement.

We see that the Lord had Noah preaching for up to 100 years while he built the ark. Peter says that God brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others (2 Peter 2:5). God could have killed every human including Noah and his family, but He didn’t. Even though Noah sinful, he was righteous when compared to the evil world population (Gen 7:1). God showed grace in saving Noah and his family.

Peter reminds us that the Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise (of coming judgement) as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9). The Lord’s moral loving kindness is constantly reaching out to sinners with the invitation of salvation. He gives everyone many, many opportunities to repent and receive forgiveness and eternal life. At the same time, the Lord’s sovereign love exercises His will by calling and electing sinners according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ (Ephesians 1:9).

These two truths work together in perfect harmony. God’s moral love toward all sinners (John 3:16), and God’s sovereign will (Eph 1:3-14) synchronise perfectly with each other while engaging human responsibility to repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). Yahweh is consistent and persistent in reaching out to save those who are dead in sin (Eph 2:1). He is unchanging in His efforts to show mercy to those who do not want His mercy. Romans 9:15-16, God says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

John 1:12-13 reads to all who did receive him (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. God is unchanging in saving sinners, in giving spiritual rebirth, in overriding the sinful will of humans by gifting them the necessary faith and repentance (Eph 2:8-9; 2Ti 2:25) so that they can believe and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Application:
a) Added to all the other qualities of God which deserve our worship, we include His unchanging character in our worship.
b) Because the Lord is unchangeable, we can trust Him, depending on Him to keep His Word and never failing us.
c) The Lord’s unchanging mercy expressed through the gospel inspires us to share the good news of the gospel with the unsaved.
d) In our discipleship we teach God’s immutability so that those who are younger in faith can grow in the depth of their faith because God will change on them.
e) Believer’s hope for the future is strengthened because we understand that Yahweh has already determined the beginning to the end. The future events of Revelation are prewritten history for God. God will make it happen because He is not going to change. What God will, God does. And that will never change.

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5 – God IS Knowable

By / Base Theology Discipleship / 8 minutes of reading

It is a repeated theme from Genesis to Revelation, God is knowable, and He wants to be known. The God of all creation is not an isolationist who is content to be separate from His creation and unknown. Yahweh does not live in secret behind closed doors with access denied to everyone. The very opposite is true. The God of creation has painted “Identification” notices across the entire universe for all to see and respond to.

Romans 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. The universe is God’s ID Card. Creation not only tells of the Creator; it speaks with remarkable detail of the Creator’s character. The universe cries out to the entire world ‘look at me and read about your creator!’

Creation is a powerful and confronting invitation by God, but pales by comparison with the revelation of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:2-3, in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. These powerful words often get overlooked or downplayed by God’s people. But I suggest that these verses are the rock on which we build our right understanding of God. God wants to be known, not as the God of our imaginations, but as the God who has revealed Himself with clarity and with focus on His glorious greatness, His holiness, and His mercy.

Solomon prayed that God would bring Gentile foreigners to Israel for prayer, and that God would answer them in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you (1 Kings 8:43). God has never wanted to be known by Israel only. Even though, as Solomon confesses, there is no one who does not sin (1 Kings 8:46), when people repent of their sin, God will forgive and grant them compassion (1 Kings 8:46-53).

Through all Yahweh’s interactions with Israel, including His punishment of their idolatry, it was so that they shall know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 5:13). In fact, the Lord repeats this approximately 70 times throughout Ezekiel’s prophecy. God wants to be known, even by rebellious Israel. God restores and cleanses sinners so that by His grace those washed sinners can intimately know their God.

At the beginning of human history, the Lord God fellowshipped with Adam and Eve and was known by them. Following Adam and Eve’s sin they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9). It was man who broke the relationship with God. Even though God knew what they had done, He graciously walked the garden calling for them so that they knew He wanted their fellowship. God had been known by Adam and Eve before they sinned, and God still wanted to be known by them following their sin. 

Moses was caring for his fathers-in-law’s sheep on the west side of Mount Horeb. Minding his own business, glad that he had escaped the terror of Egypt to enjoy peace in the wilderness. Then God stepped into Moses’ life and demanded Moses’ attention. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush (Exodus 3:2). God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am” (Exodus 3:4). God initiated what would be a spectacular friendship with disinterested Moses which changed the future for Israel. God’s law was introduced though Moses (Ex 19-20), and we are still dependent upon that same law to show us what sin is (Rom 3:20). Yahweh had to be known by Moses, so Yahweh made it happen.

The Lord has often gone to remarkable lengths to get people’s attention. Jonah is possibly the world’s best known Bible character who preferred running from God instead of knowing and serving Him. He was an unwilling prophet running from a determined and gracious God.

Having survived three days and nights in the dark acetic belly of a smelly fish, Jonah is projectile vomited across the beach onto dry land (Jonah 2:10). Having poured out his heart to God in prayer from within the fish’s digestive juices, Jonah is now beached with no prophetic response from the Lord (Jonah 2:1-9). Then, Jonah is confronted by the Lord with the same instruction for the second time; “arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you” (Jonah 3:2). Jonah just could not escape an evangelistic God who first wanted to be known by the evangelist.

God won, and complaining Jonah discovered the God of all mercy. Jonah’s final conclusion was that this God who wants to be known by sinners, is a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (Jonah 4:2). The Lord, although terribly offended by our sin, actions His loving grace so that there will always be a way for sinners to know Him.

Jesus prayed, this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). God the Father wants to be known, and Jesus wants to make the Father known just as the Father wants His Son to be known. In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus explains that in the coming day of judgment, not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Sadly, in that day, Jesus will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (Matthew 7:21, 23). To be known by the Lord and to know the Lord is a matter of eternal importance.

God can be known through His Son Jesus, who is the incarnation of God (Col 2: 9). For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself (John 5:2). In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). Although the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:10-12). Belief in Jesus Christ does NOT begin a casual friendship with God. No, faith in Christ is the beginning of an eternal and intimate relationship with God that sees us adopted as children of God.

As is always true of God, He mercifully does everything needed to be personally and intimately known be mankind. To know God is to experience God. Think of New Testament Saul. Here was a man who used all his energies, his brilliant intellect, and his religious influence to fight God’s Son and destroy His Church. Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison (Acts 8:3). But Saul never counted on God’s mercy. God wanted to be known by Saul, and God would have His way with him. No amount of resistance by Saul would stop God fulfilling His sovereign will in Saul’s life. The trouble was, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1).

So, Jesus Christ steps into Saul’s life without an invitation. Saul had no say in the matter, Jesus imposed His sovereign will upon Saul in such a way that Saul had to yield. Now, it happened like this; as Saul approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:3-5). What an incredible introduction. Saul now knew exactly who it was that was dealing with him. Consequently, for three days Saul was without sight, and neither ate nor drank (Acts 9:9). The strong love of Jesus for Saul was willing to do whatever it took for Saul to respond correctly.

A few days later the Lord used Ananias to tell Saul what the Lord had planned for him. The Lord said that Saul is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name (Acts 9:15-16). Upon receiving this message from Ananias, Saul regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened (Acts 9:18-19).

The change in Saul’s life was immediate, and it was dramatic. The change could not be argued against because it was so obvious. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:19-20). Saul now knew Jesus Christ! From now on, Saul would be known by his other name, Paul. You see, when you truly know Jesus, you cannot keep the friendship to yourself, others must know.

Application:
a) May our lives be like Abraham’s life, who believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness – and he was called a friend of God (James 2:23). May we strive to know the Lord just as we are known by the Lord. By God’s grace and His Holy Spirit, may we effectively introduce others to Jesus Christ the Lord.
b) Worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are knowable.
c) May we be enthusiastic and passionate about telling the world that God wants them to know Him. Let’s tell the world that God has made a simple way for this to happen – through faith in His son Jesus Christ.

God IS Knowable!

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4 – God IS Glorious

By / Base Theology Discipleship / 13 minutes of reading

People need to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) says the Lord of heaven. Knowing who God is and what He is like is of first importance. For the believer, an accurate and broad knowledge of God is critical to our spiritual growth and maturity. Therefore, Paul reminded the Ephesian elders, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

A clear and thorough understanding of God, as He has revealed Himself, changes our perspective on everything. Beginning with how we think about God, we then think differently about ourselves, about our relationships with others, including our plans for life. Everything changes as we grow to know the glorious nature of God.

Following Israel’s exodus from Egypt, Moses sang, “who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). To know anything of God is to be exposed to His glory. By nature, and by deeds, God is glorious!

God’s glory is the combined magnificence of all His attributes and actions. Everything that makes God, God, which radiates out the brilliance of His beautiful and holy nature goes to express His glory.

We get a sense of God’s glory as we consider His divine attributes; His triune personhood, His creative and governing sovereignty, His holiness, His infinite power (Omnipotence), His infinite knowledge (Omniscience), His presence everywhere (Omnipresence), His truth, His mercy and grace, His loving kindness, and His wrath against injustice and sin. All these combined display God’s greatness – His glory. Therefore, we say “God IS Glorious!”

In the discussion between God and Moses, recorded in Exodus chapter 33, Moses presents God with the most amazing request any human could ever ask; “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). Moses had already been exposed to God in more ways than any other person, he had heard God’s voice, he had seen God’s great and miraculous works, but Moses desperately wanted to know the very BEST of God, His glory.

In response to Moses’ bold request, the Lord explains that He would need to protect Moses, as this experience could kill him. God explained to Moses in Exodus 33:22-23; “while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20).

The point was, God wanted to be known more fully by Moses, just as Moses wanted to know God more fully. The Lord explains to Moses that He would reveal His glory by making “all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19).

And so it happened, “the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7). Exodus 34 permits us to be spectators of this most unusual and unique event. The Lord, Yahweh, manifested a condensed revelation of Himself, parading before Moses the summation of all His character while protecting fragile Moses from being consumed by His divine glory. Moses’ response was appropriate, and perfectly matched such a revelation, “Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Exodus 34:8).

Exposure to God’s glory should produce worship!

David proclaimed, “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Any examination of the created universe shows the impossibility of this infinitely complex universe coming into existence by any means other than by the Almighty power and intelligence of God. Therefore, the created universe is God’s testimony of Himself. What we call nature, is God’s living book of His genius and power to create and maintain everything.

Romans 1:19-20 explains further; “for what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.”
Observations:
1) Evidence of God is obvious for all mankind to see and experience. Creation speaks a universal language throughout all ages and all cultures, that there is a creator – God.
2) Therefore, we conclude that God wants to be known by mankind. He is not hiding in secret. He is not difficult to find. He IS the God of creation who places Himself on display through His created world for all to see.
3) God openly reveals His eternal power and divine nature through His creation. And His nature has actually been perceived by mankind, even though they mostly reject God.
4) God’s self-revelation through creation is sufficient to remove all excuses used by mankind to justify their disbelief in God. God is the greatest reality of the universe, and humanity is responsible to acknowledge Him, then get to know Him through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3).

It’s no coincidence that Scripture begins with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God, through His Son Jesus Christ, “created the world” (Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3). He created everything in 6 literal, 24 hour days (Genesis 1:1-31) by His spoken Word (Genesis 1:3). The world was created “round” as Isaiah says, “he who sits above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22), it is God. He did this by calling “into existence the things that do not exist” (Romans 4:17).

God began with nothing, and into that vacant nothingness He supernaturally created everything instantaneously using NO building materials. The universe and everything in it were created in a pre-aged and mature state. God left nothing that required evolving into something better. Everything was fully formed in their various kinds and species. God created, He breathed His life into it all, and He maintains it all (Colossians 1:16-17).

When God had completed His creating work, He surveyed His entire work. He inspected EVER part of His work “and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…” (Genesis 1:31). Nothing in all that He had made in the new universe was less than perfect. Nothing was less than a perfect expression of His entire glorious nature. God had placed Himself on display.

Isaiah 45:18 explains that “the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other.” God is unmatched in His creative work as He designed earth to be populated by humans created in His image.

In Proverbs 8:22-30, Solomon details for us how the Lord’s WISDOM was active throughout His entire creative work.
22 “The LORD possessed me (Wisdom) at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always…”

Creation displays God’s intelligence, His wisdom, His power, His ingenious creativity for enormous variableness, His kindness, His forethought, and His grace.
Psalm 29 summarises God’s glory in creation.
​1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

Think for a moment of God’s mercy in creation. He created Adam and Eve into the perfect garden of Eden, where there were no faults, no errors, no mistakes, no death, and no sickness of any kind. Adam and Eve were perfectly healthy and would never experience sickness provided they did not sin. Yet God, knowing all things, created within Adam and Eve an immune system. He graciously did this so that when the day of sin arrived, with sickness and death entering this world, they would have an internal system to fight sickness. Similarly, God graciously permits our bodies to repair themselves to some degree. Broken bones grow back together etc. These all give expression to God’s glory in creation. And even though sin has terribly damaged creation, sin cannot disguise or hide God’s glory.

The psalmist says of God, ​“You are clothed with splendour and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent” (Psalm 104:1-2 ). Brilliant light surrounds God and radiates out from Him as the purest manifestation of His glorious character.

Jesus, wanting to show Peter, James, and John His divine glory, ​“led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17:1-2). These three disciples got to see the 2nd person of the Trinity in His divinely natural form. As Jesus pealed back His humanity, His unrestrained glory could not be contained.

Immediately following, as Peter was speaking to Jesus “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him’” (Matthew 17:5). God the Father always affirms the glory of His Son. Plus, any exposure to the glory of Jesus calls for listening and learning ears that desire to obey Jesus. “When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear’” (Matthew 17:6-7). While God’s glory is an overwhelming thing for we sinful creatures to behold, Jesus assures His children that we should not fear Him. Glory should attract us to Him, not scare us away. Glory should inspire faithfulness and not faithlessness. Jesus’ glory should compel us to WORSHIP.

The apostle John looking forward to the New Jerusalem, observed it “coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:9-11). John continued; “and I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22-23). Eternity future shall be illuminated by the all-consuming glory of God the Father through the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

But the greatest display of God’s glory is at the Cross of Calvary.
Paul shows us the ultimate offense of sin, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It’s not just our sinful actions that are the problem, being dead in sin is not the real problem either (Ephesians 2:1). No, it’s that we sinners violate, in every way, the holy glory of God.

Sin does not offend just one aspect of God’s nature. No, God’s entire glorious being is offended by sin. Every facet of God’s nature which combines to manifest glory is unitedly violated and repulsed by our sin. Our sin is particularly offensive to God when you consider that mankind is the ONLY creature created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Mankind had the greatest capacity to manifest God’s glory, but we chose to sin. This is why “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Death is the only appropriate, just, and accurate reward for sin’s violation of God’s glory.

Nahum 1:6 asks, “who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger?” “Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?” (Psalm 76:7). Holy God is glorious in His condemnation of sinners; “as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). God is glorious in His wrath and judgement of sin. Hell is the only appropriate destination for all who continue to contravene the glory of God.

At the Cross, God does something a sinful man could never have thought of. God, the righteous judge, gave His only begotten Son to be the recipient of His divine wrath for mankind’s violation of His glory. “God put forward (Jesus) as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith… 26 It was to show his (God’s) righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-26). Jesus was sent to Calvary by His Father who is the just judge of sin. Jesus voluntarily obeyed the Fathers will by becoming the Justifier who would be the recipient of His Father’s wrath. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). The Cross was God’s will, because the Cross put the glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on display.

Jesus’ propitiation works like this; He appeased His Father’s glorious wrath over our sin by calming the Father from a state of anger to a state of peace. The substitutional work of Christ in our place on the Cross was the only way God could accomplish His 2 requirements: 1) To be the righteous judge whose need for justice would be satisfied, and (2), to be the actual one bearing the wrath of His own justice for sins not His own, through His Son, Jesus.

Here we see that God will not violate his own holiness even in order to save the ones he loves. At the Cross, we see wrath and mercy working together. We see both of them in their glorious fullness – the ultimate display of God’s wrath and the ultimate display of God’s mercy. As Paul says, the reality of this propitiation, the application of propitiation is ONLY for “the one who has faith in Jesus.” Only those sinners who place repentant faith in Jesus’ substitutional death for them will receive the mercy of propitiation. God’s peace towards sin is ONLY applied to those who put faith in the Jesus of the Cross.
The Cross is glorious because God IS glorious.

Application:
The effect upon every Christian who has been exposed to the one and only glorious God should be that “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). God’s glory fuels our spiritual motivation and inspires personal sanctification and worship. Every part of our living is to be awakened to His glory.

God is worthy of our attention, our thoughts, and our affections. He is worthy of our words, our time, and our energies. He is worthy of our money, our possessions, our dreams, our plans, our abilities, and our skills. He is worthy of all our relationships. He is worthy of our affections, our lifelong service, and our continual worship.

God is worthy because God IS glorious!

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3 – God IS Incomparable

By / Base Theology Discipleship / 11 minutes of reading

Any exploration of God soon reveals that He is unique. Samuel proclaimed you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you… (2 Samuel 7:22). God stands apart from all others, with every aspect of His existence and character unequalled in His perfection. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours (Psalm 86:8) explained David.

In this lesson we shall briefly consider some of the more obvious qualities of God which make Him incomparable and unmatched. These truths serve as a foundation for our future studies and our growing understanding of who God IS.

God is a Trinity
While the word ‘trinity’ is not found in the Bible, Scripture reveals God as being 3 in 1. That is, the one God equally manifesting Himself in three separate, yet like-charactered persons. Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that the LORD our God, the LORD is one. There is only one God, and in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). This one God spoke everything into existence and there is no other besides Him (Deuteronomy 4:35).

Yet in Genesis 1:26, speaking about the creation of mankind, God said, “let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” When God speaks of Himself in the plural, He is telling us that He is not only one, but He is also more than one. Scripture explains that this one God exists in three persons who are coequal, coeternal, and self-existent. All three are inseparable and unified in all things. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit exist is perfect unison.

Matthew 28:19 identifies God the Father… the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each being distinct, yet one in holiness, in thought, and in purpose. Following Jesus’ baptism, Matthew 3:16-17 records, …behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he (Jesus) saw the Spirit of God (Father) descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” When Jesus, who is God the Son, was baptised, God the Father spoke from heaven affirming that Jesus was His Son, and God the Spirit affirmed the Father’s testimony by descending on Jesus as a dove.

The apostle Paul closes 2 Corinthians 13:14 with the doxology; the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. All three persons of God work in agreement, and all three are intrinsically gracious, loving, and desiring of fellowship. 

God is Sovereign (Omniscient, all powerful)
Following Peter and John’s release from prison in Acts 4, they returned to their friends, and together they lifted their voices to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…” (Acts 4:24). They worshipped God as the absolute ruler who had created everything and reigns independent and supreme over all. He stretches out the heavens like a tent…  He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. (Psalm 104:2, 5).

God is the owner of everything and everyone. Psalm 24:1 NIV, the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Deuteronomy 10:14, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Therefore, nothing will ever happen to planet earth outside of God’s control and His timing for all events. Psalm 46:1-3 assures us that planet earth and the climate belong to the Lord, and we can trust God with His management of the earth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

God alone governs all that He has created. He is beyond challenge in His absolute authority and power. In 1 Timothy 6:13-16 Paul charged Timothy saying; in the presence of God, who gives life to all things… who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. 

Of all that can be known of God, His sovereignty towers above all human knowledge, all human reasoning, and all human strength and abilities. While technology seems impressive from a human standpoint, even the most advanced technology pales into insignificance when compared to God’s sovereignty. God speaks of Himself in Isaiah 46:9-10; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. God is dominant, self-governing, and without influence from outside forces. He never weakens, He never gets stronger, and He never requires rest for the purpose of regaining lost strength.

In these last days he (God) has spoken to us by his Son (Jesus), whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he (Jesus) upholds the universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:1-3). ​In the beginning, before time or the universe existed, God created the heavens and the earth through Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:1; John 1:3). Christ not only created everything but maintains the existence of every atom in every molecule in the universe simply by His spoken word. God, through Christ, radiate life. Therefore, they are able to effortlessly breathe life into and sustain that life within anything and everything they create (John 1:4; 5:26).

Daniel proclaimed that God Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will (Daniel 4:17). Despite what mankind thinks, no ruler of any nation is there by their own choice. The apostle John declares the same; Jesus Christ… the ruler of kings on earth… (Revelation 1:5). Belief in God confesses this universal truth, which all nations should also proclaim; “The LORD reigns!” (1 Chronicles 16:31).

God’s sovereignty means He is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does (Job 23:13). In the believer’s life, it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). God invisibly works within His children to accomplish His purposes, and often His children cannot perceive His workings. Regarding mankind’s capacity to believe in Christ, God says in Romans 9:15-16; “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” 

David explains in Psalm 139:16 NIV, Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. From the point of inception within the womb, before our human likeness was developed, God had mapped out the precise number of days each person would live on the earth.

Paul acknowledged that his apostleship was by the will of God (Colossians 1:1) and was not the result of his own desire. With this understanding, Peter could exhort the suffering believers in 1 Peter 4:19, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. Nothing happens outside of God’s knowledge and will, including suffering. The Bible speaks clearly, God is God alone. He reigns supreme and does as He pleases, where He pleases, when He pleases, and with whom He pleases. Psalm 103:19 declares, the LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

God is all knowing (Omniscient)
Put simply, there is nothing that God does not know. All the subjects which have not yet entered the mind of mankind, God already knows them fully. Everything in the physical realm and in the thoughts of animals and mankind, He knows them all thoroughly. God does not simply know about things; He comprehensively understands the entire microscopic details of all things which He knows. There is not one single thing in the entire cosmos of both the tangible and spiritual realms which He does not have a broad and complete knowledge of. Nothing escapes His attention, and nothing catches Him by surprize.

This is why Job could ask, will any teach God knowledge? (Job 21:22). The answer is obviously – NO! Elihu affirmed God is mighty in strength of understanding and perfect in knowledge (Job 36:5, 16). When thinking of a person’s heart, or their thoughts, the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). God is not limited by flesh and blood, but accurately perceives the inner-most thoughts of a person. The Psalmist confessed; your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16 NIV), God knows it all.

In Isaiah 40:14, Isaiah asks rhetorical questions of God; whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Again, the answer is obviously NO-ONE! No creature is able to add to God’s knowledge. God cannot be corrected because He is never lacking or in error. John sums it up perfectly, God, he knows everything (1 John 3:20). What a marvellous truth, God knows us best and yet He loves us the most.

God is all present (Omnipresent)
Humans can only be in one place at one time. No matter how fast anyone can move, both human or angelic, we are always fixed in one location. But not so with God. Our imaginations cannot grasp the reality of God’s intelligent and powerful presence being everywhere at the same time.

As John 4:24 tells us, God is spirit, therefore He does not suffer the spatial limitations or restraints that we do. It was this understanding which enabled the Psalmist to say; where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10). There is no escaping the presence and attention of the Almighty.

This adds a greater understanding to Paul’s words; there is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:6). God is present, in life, in death, in time and history, in eternity and timelessness, in every place in the universe, He is there. There is no place and no sphere in which He is not equally and fully present in the constant NOW of His existence. This is why it’s recorded that at the completion of creation, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). He alone could see every facet of all creation in a snap-shot of time and presence because He was everywhere to observe all of creation.

God, through His Son Jesus Christ, can say “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). God sovereignly rules all human history simultaneously, without any physical or dimensional limitations of His created timeline. He exists in eternity, outside of time. He not only looks into time but is equally able to reach into history just as easily as He can reach into the present or the future, which are all foregone conclusions in His eternal presence.

Solomon exclaimed, the highest heaven cannot contain you (1 Kings 8:27), to which Isaiah 66:1 adds, thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” Time and space with their measurable dimensions create no limitations for God. God is unable to be escaped from. There is no hiding place, no place of silence where He cannot hear your words or perceive your thoughts. There are no circumstances where He is not present and fully aware of. Therefore, there is no time when God is not actively engaged with His children. Our inability to perceive His presence does not change the reality of Him being present.

God is all present, all knowing, all powerful, and all seeing. He is consciously aware of every piece of information and activity in all realms at the same time. He is present without restriction, in His full and glorious power.

Application:

  • Worship, be thankful that you understand that God is neither like us nor the world. Worship God’s holy character and glorious actions. Do not worship the experience you have during worship, but worship God alone.
  • Disciple others to know the majestic greatness of our glorious, holy, and merciful God.
  • Tell others of our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). Come Lord Jesus!

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2 – God IS Holy

By / Base Theology Discipleship / 7 minutes of reading

While it is essential to believe there is one supreme God, it is only the beginning. This awakening to God should lead us to ask; “What is this God like?” While there is more than one source of information to answer this, we look first and foremost to the most authoritative source for answers, which is God’s own written revelation of Himself – the Bible.

Yes, it’s true, “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). We learn much of God by observing His creative genius throughout the world and the universe. Creation provides us with a great sense of His creative intelligence, and His infinite power, but these tell us little of specific character qualities that’s true of God.

Although weaker, human testimony of God is valid and it adds more information to our understanding of God’s nature. But the greatest human testimony comes from God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. John 5:36 records Jesus, “the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” And again, in John 5:43, “I have come in my Father’s name.” Jesus’ testimony surpasses all other human testimonies because He alone has “come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).

Jesus alone could say, “I speak of what I have seen with my Father” (John 8:38). “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Luke 10:22). Therefore, we turn to God’s witness of Himself, and we look to the testimony of God’s Son as PRIMARY. We look for evidence of God’s nature through these two primary sources to expose us to specific details of God’s character.

From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture boldly proclaims that  God is HOLY. When Old Testament Scripture uses the word  “holy” it uses the Hebrew word (h6944, קֹדֶשׁ qôḏeš) which means “separation, or apart from.” God’s holiness means that by His intrinsic nature He is separated from all of His creation, He is set apart from everything He has made. No being in creation is the same as God, or even like God. Even mankind, who “God created… in his own image… male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27), are NOT the same as God. Although humans are the only created beings imprinted with the image of God, God is still set apart from, and different from them.

While all created beings have the capacity to disobey God and sin, God does NOT have that capacity. Therefore, God is set apart in sinless alignment with His own purity and beauty. Holiness distinguishes God from everything and everyone, including heavenly beings. Holiness is far more than just a facet of God’s character. Holiness defines and permeates every facet of His character and activity.

All other beings may, or may not, have been gifted with lesser degrees of holiness, but NOT so with God. No-one gave holiness to God, and no-one contributes or enriches God’s holiness. God, in and of Himself, is intrinsically pure and without even the possibility of being anything other than holy. God lacks the capacity for even the slightest degree of unholiness. He is simply NOT capable of anything less than ultimate perfection and purity which sets Him apart from all else.

The sanctuary of God’s throne room in heaven resounds with the all-consuming theme of God’s matchless holiness. “Around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures… (Revelation 4:6), each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (Revelation 4:8). These mighty creatures are not calling out about God’s love, or any other quality, but ONLY His holiness.

Holiness shapes and directs every divine attribute and action of the Almighty. Holiness is, therefore, the foundation and the summation of all that is God. Holiness encapsulates every facet of His nature and indelibly imprints itself into everything that is God. It is impossible to be exposed to any part of God without being exposed to His absolute holiness.

Habakkuk 1:13 exclaims, “you who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…” All forms of sin, and all  degrees of sin are repugnant to God, causing Him to look away. Sin is humanity’s violation of God’s holy image and is therefore infinitely offensive to the Lord.

Steven J. Lawson rightly observes the following in his book “Show Me Your Glory: Understanding the Majestic Splendour of God” (Kindle Locations 1113-1116).
God’s name is “holy” (Ps. 145:21). Jesus addressed God as “Holy Father” (John 17:11). Likewise, Jesus Christ Himself is as equally holy as the Father. He was born the “holy Child” (Luke 1:35) and recognized by the demons as “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). Peter likewise called Him “the Holy One of God” (John 6: 69). In turn, Jesus called the Spirit of God “the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). In the Bible, the Spirit is called the “Holy Spirit” nearly one hundred times.

Moreover, the angels are described as His “holy ones” (Deut. 33:2). The Word of God is contained in the “holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2). The people of God are called “holy people” (Deut. 7:6). The temple in Jerusalem is the “holy temple” (Ps. 11:4). God dwells in heaven on His “holy mountain” (Ps. 2:6). The city of Jerusalem is “the holy city” (Neh. 11:1). The Sabbath is the “holy” day (Ex. 20:8, 11). The promised land is His “holy land” (Ps. 78:54). Holiness is the cornerstone of all of God’s redemptive purposes. End quote.

In Exodus 15:11, the song of Moses reveals that God’s holiness is majestic. “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” While manmade idols are oppressive, demanding, and unforgiving, God towers above them all with His holiness being self-evident in majesty. His holiness is awe inspiring as it radiators through His spectacular works. When we consider the wonders of what God does, we are magnetically drawn to worship Him.

In Exodus 15:11, the word “awesome” (h3372, יָרֵא yârê’) means “to fear, to revere, to be afraid.” As Moses thought about all that he knew and had experienced of God, he realised the enormity of God and the difference of God. Moses, like us, was forced to acknowledge that he was tiny, weak, and impure compared to God. God was nothing like Moses and this realisation caused Moses to tremble, as it were, before the infinite greatness of God.

Any biblical understanding of God’s holiness recognises that “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). God’s holiness forms the truth foundation upon which we understand sin, judgment, wrath, and forgiveness. A clear view of God’s holiness prepares the human heart for understanding the ugly violation that sin is against the character of God.

God’s holiness instructs the unbeliever because through God’s “law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). This is the starting point of the gospel of God (Rom 1:1) which leads to repentance of sin and salvation.

For the believer, God’s separateness from sin (holiness) motivates genuine separation from sin and worldly passions which lead to sin. The believer’s desire for holiness is a practical desire, as Jesus prayed; “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to remain living amongst the world but separated from the sinful beliefs and behaviour of the world. Holiness is NOT a call for isolation but a call to purity in a hostile environment.

As we grow in understanding God, we are to invite God’s holiness to impact us, to change us, to sanctify us as an act of worship (Romans 12:1-2). “Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

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