Our God is Holy

Our God is awesome in His Holiness. He is utterly unapproachable save by the offering of Blood, His Son’s Blood in the New Covenant. He was the eternal Son in the unknowable eternities but was exalted above His past glories because of His willing perfect sacrifice. In the present, the Father has given Him a name so exalted that every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth. All the created celestial archangels, seriphims, cherubims and angels, fallen or unfallen, will soon bow to honor the “Only Begotten Son.”

We are commanded to make no graven images of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Why is this second commandment so important? First, let’s review it. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6)

This command is to forever remind us that our God is the creator of all things and must always remain high above all His creation. No symbol or type of anything He has created can ever compare to our Sovereign Creator and the Eternal Godhead. All things are subject to Him and can never be seen as equal to Him or liken to Him. He transcends the total universe and all that exists in the universe.

The third commandment is similar except it has to do with “words” instead of “images.” “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)

The awesome Holiness of God demands (not a suggestion) that we never use His name in any manner of speech except in worship, praise, or petition. Our God is not our neighbor, our buddy, or some equal person that we address as a contemporary. To ever speak His name casually or call Him by a casual name is forbidden and reveals an unregenerate state or worse. The present attitude of many professing believers toward our Father or Jesus Christ shows the inroads of New Age demonic deception.

Apostle Paul spoke of the “Son of God” with incredible words, “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” (Hebrews 7:26) Every time in Holy Scripture that God’s prophets were visited by a revelation of Him, they fell prostrate and speechless on their faces. This apostle was caught up to the third heaven and returned with baited voice. John the beloved that leaned on His breast in life saw Him in His Glory after His ascension and fell as a dead man. He recorded, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” (Rev. 1:17)

We see our God’s glory in all the Scripture as awesome and breathtaking. David said, “For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.” (Psalm 97:9) “But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.” (Psalm 92:8) “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18) No wonder this author was a man after God’s own heart. He stood and lived in utter awe of His God.

This awesome sense of the “Most Holy God” is the great distinction of Bible Christianity. Our attitude about God will determine the level of our Christian life. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:” (Proverbs 9:10) The Jewish sages of the past would not spell out His entire name; and if they made a mistake in copying the Scripture, they destroyed the manuscript and started afresh. This fear of God and sense of His awesome Holiness will make His true disciples “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) The present lives of careless Christians are a testimony to our loss of the sense of His Holiness.

May we rediscover how truly awesome He is in His Holiness. He is so Holy that there is no approach except the Blood of His “Only Begotten Son”. But when we approach “surrendered in truth of that precious Blood” His arms are wide and His mercy is forever. No wonder “tears” are the constant joy of every “Saint of God.”