“And they were calling to one
another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his
glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the
temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “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.”
Isaiah
6:3-5
Exposure to
God’s holiness will ignite in us the fear of the Lord! When exposed to God’s
holiness, Isaiah cried out “Woe to me! I am a man of unclean lips”! He was
immediately humbled and overtaken by Godly fear and reverence for the Almighty.
Many today
lack this important facet of our faith, known as the fear of the Lord. This conspicuous
absence is derived from a neglect of time engaging and contemplating God’s
holiness and His separation from all that is vile and wicked.
However,
God’s holiness is not simply a matter of being separated from evil. The true
essence of holiness is not merely being separated from something, but more
accurately being set apart to something.
Items that
were made for use in the Temple, were made out of materials that were present
among the Israelites at the time of their exodus from Egypt. Temple articles
were made of bronze, silver and gold. Many of the items that were used to form
these holy relics were fashioned out of precious metals that were once
earrings, bracelets, plates, and goblets. Those items were melted down and
formed into the items needed for temple worship.
However,
these items were not created holy! They became holy when they were consecrated
(separated and made pure) for use in God’s House. These items were separated from
common use, where they may be contaminated and tainted, and set apart unto
purity.
God’s
holiness, therefore, reflects both the ideas of separation and purity, which is
God’s desire for us. The Apostle Paul wrote:
“For he chose us in him before the
creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
Ephesians
1:4
God desires
for us to pursue holiness. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:15-16:
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be
holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Holiness,
however, can only be emulated by those who are striving to grasp God’s
holiness. The more exposed we are to His holiness, the more painfully aware we
become of our unholiness. This revelation, then gives us the proper footing we
need to move towards purity, which in turn draws us deeper into God’s holiness.
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