2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Lord has been bringing me to look at a subject which He knows humans have only limited ability to understand. Even with that, He has challenged me to see how important it is for us to reach beyond ordinary inspection in an effort to stretch our understanding of holiness to come closer to His. I am convinced He propels us in this effort, because He knows it is important for us to not only understand holiness but to make it one of the spiritual goals of our lives in Jesus Christ. The dictionary defines holiness as being sacred, consecrated, pious, devout, appropriated or dedicated to God, and entitled to veneration or respect by association with the Divine. As with anything else that the Lord wants us to understand, He helps us by giving us the Scriptures in which His holiness is shown and the Holy Spirit indwelt in us to interpret them for us.
The rituals of ancient Israel’s Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) as they were carried out in the Tabernacle in the wilderness not only demonstrate God’s willingness to forgive, but also demonstrate His holiness. LV 16: 17-18, “From the time Aaron enters the Holy of Holies to perform the ritual of purification until he come out, there must be no one in the tent. When he has performed the ritual for himself, his family, and the whole community, he must go out to the altar for burnt offerings and purify it…” Remember this is an Old Covenant economy at that time. The dazzling light of God’s actual presence, His shekinah glory, is in the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest, Aaron at that time, was allowed to go inside there and only on that one day a year. Before he can go in, he has to perform the ritual of purification for himself. All of this points out the very special nature of God’s holiness and the contrast between that and man’s imperfections. It also demonstrates the Lord’s utter compassion in offering this undeserved forgiveness. We can take that one step further in reminding ourselves of the many opportunities God offers us, especially since Christ’s death on the cross which ushered in the New Covenant economy, to reach toward holiness in our lives as we go through the process of sanctification.
When I began to read PS 96, God The Supreme King, the Lord reminded me of the music from one of the praise hymns we sing in church which is based on it. This example of His power to transform the mind by its renewal shows His holiness as it impacted my personal life. I came into our congregation very uninterested in singing anything other than the classical liturgical music that was familiar to me. Anyone who has been to our church would know that we sing a wide variety of music in addition to what I knew best. God wanted my narrow tastes to change for His purposes. As I began to learn the fabulous contemporary praise hymns, including the one based on PS 96, He made me realize how precious they were to Him and therefore, how I should value them. He transformed my mind and brought me to a way of worship that helped me to have a closer understanding of His holiness. PS 96: 1-6, “Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! Sing to the Lord, and praise Him! Proclaim every day the good news that He has saved us. Proclaim His glory to the nations, His mighty acts to all peoples. The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; He is to be honored more than all the gods. The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill His temple. “ Have you sung this song?
IS 35: 1-10 is another song that has two titles, The Road To Holiness or Song of the Blooming Desert. God, through Isaiah, shows us a path we need to follow. IS 35: 8-9, “There will be a highway there, called “The Road To Holiness.” No sinner will ever travel that road; no fools will mislead those who follow it. No lions will be there; no fierce animals will pass that way. Those whom the Lord has rescued will travel home by that road. They will reach Jerusalem with gladness, singing and shouting for joy. They will be happy forever, forever free from sorrow and grief.” This path is made available to us by a Father Who loved us enough to sacrifice His only Son on the cross as a sin offering, once and for all, for us! He deserves for us to make the adjustments in our life that are necessary to get us on this road. He blesses our lives with hope and fellowship when we take it. He gives us the endurance necessary to stay on it when the enemy tries to tempt us to get off of it. As I read this wonderful song, I was reminded of the peaceful Kingdom at the end of this road described in IS 11: 1-9, which I hope you will read today. It gave me hope that all the troubles of this world will eventually fade away as we who believe in Christ inherit the Kingdom together as joint-heirs to it with Him.
RO 1: 2-4 reveals the continuity and promise-keeping attributes of a holy Father. “The Gospel was promised long ago by God through His prophets, as written in the Holy Scriptures. It is about His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: as to His humanity, He was born a descendant of David; as to His divine holiness, He was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death.” With the revelations of the NT, we are allowed to understand that our one Deity is a God in three persons, a Trinity. This never changed from the beginning of time, but mankind never understood that as he does today. My traditional Jewish friends and family still don’t. What makes this very interesting is that the word “God” in GN 2 used in the original Hebrew text, is “Elohim,” a plural word for the Deity. I would like to hear how traditional Jews explain that. In RO 6: 19, God through Paul asserts, “…in the same way you surrendered yourselves as slaves to impurity and wickedness, you should now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.” God doesn’t just want to keep this holiness to Himself, He wants us to share in it. We can do that by believing in the Son and by obeying God’s commands to us. He has made the road to holiness clear, even if it isn’t easy. Along that road, He reveals His holiness to us.
In case we don’t clearly see God’s will, here are three more citations that drive it home. HE 12: 10,14: “Our human fathers punished us for a short time, as it seemed right to them; but God does it for our own good, so we may share in His holiness.” “Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it.” 1 PET 1: 14-16, “Do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 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.’ “
PRAYER: O Lord, through the Scriptures, You reveal both Your holiness and Your desire to share it with us. You equip us to travel the road to holiness by asking us to repent, come to faith in Christ, and to live our lives in Him. You show us through the people of the Scriptures how important obedience to You is in the process of acquiring holiness through sanctification. You show us that by obeying You, we not only bring blessings to our lives, but we also enable You to do Your work and Your will through us. For all of this love and compassion, You deserve nothing less that our worship, praise, and thanks for eternity. In Christ’s name, amen.
Feel blessed and loved by Your Abba today and always, Dear Ones. Be encouraged that all the efforts we make to fend off the enemy and expunge sin from our lives will be rewarded by the our Lord in heaven. Peter and I send our love too.
Eternally Yours in Christ,
Lynn