The Holiness of God

Passage:  Leviticus 10:1-11

Main Point:  "Those who come near me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified." - Let us never lose sight of the greatness of God in our lives and worship.

• Lesson? - While God relates to His people in the New Testament in a different manner, the New Testament reveals that in Heaven, John still saw the Holiness of God, the manner of worship of all created beings, and they are still humbled by the Lord. God is NOT to be trifled with. 

Distinguishing between holy and unholy is an important step in spiritual growth.  May our souls revile at the sight of the unholy and delight at the sight of the holy.

• Revelation about God  Our God is a Holy God.  His glory excels over all creation.  No one can look Him in the face and live. 

Devotional:

Modern Christianity, when not fighting the social warfare, delights in the truth of the grace of God.  But sometimes they get flippant before God when they do.  Is that wrong to treat a God who loves us as flippantly as some do?  Yes!!  Why?

Because doing so ignores, denies, or diminishes the truth of "Who God Is."  God is, above all else, HOLY!  Times may change, but God does not.  God's may change how He relates to us, but His character never changes.  He may have sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, as our final sacrifice for sin, but God is still Holy.  We may be holy in God's sight because He sees upon us the blood of His Son, but God is still Holy. 

We must pray to Him with reverence.  We may be invited to enter boldly into God's presence, confident that He will receive us as holy, but God is still Holy.  Let us never enter boldly and irreverently; rather, let us boldly, with great reverence, come daily before the Throne of Heaven in prayer and intimate conversation.  Jesus even taught us to pray with God's holiness at the forefront of our minds, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name."  His greatness and holiness are wrapped up in the word hallowed. 

We also must serve Him as He is - Holy.  How would we serve a Holy God?  With all care, diligence, earnestness, and as our top priority in this life.  We cannot relegate our service to Him as second place in our lives.  It must be first.  In doing so, our work should excel; our parenting and marriages should excel; our entertainments should excel; and our church involvement should excel.  We should reflect His holiness - because we are made Holy by the blood of Jesus.  We should act holy, as well as work holy.  We should think holy and delight in all that is holy.

We are instructed by the Word of God and the Great Commission to teach all we have been taught in an effort to make disciples of all nations (Matt 20:18-20).  Therefore, we must teach others this truth.  It is also part of the gospel - for who trusts a Savior that is not holy?  Our only hope is the holiness of God - and His grace is part of His holiness.  Leviticus 10:10 instructs Aaron to teach the people these things, to discern between holy and unholy.  May we learn likewise.  We must show the world what holiness is, and we must tell them that they may understand.

Praise be to God, whose holiness knows no sin;  in whose presence dwells no sin; and whose justice removes all sin - through Jesus Christ!  Amen!