Holiness.
That is a word that can frighten us.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “Holy”?
“Hallowed be thy name”
Is this a petition asking God to cause His name to be set apart as Holy?
No, It is actually a declaration. A statement of praise and wonder. God IS Holy! He is to be revered, respected, and exalted.
Jesus teaches us to begin our prayer by thinking about WHO the father is. And, of all the Father’s wonderful characteristics, Jesus chose “holy” to explain Him. The Father’s Holiness explains all He is in one word.
Yet, when we hear “God is Holy” we may be a bit taken aback. It can make God seem sober, shrewd, and even condescending because Holiness is so far beyond any human’s reach.
We have been raised and live in a fallen world, full of sin and decay. We struggle, we suffer, and we feel weighted down by the demands of life and by a weak physical body. It is difficult to understand “Holiness.”
RC Sproul author of “The Holiness of God” said it this way: “The Holiness of God is traumatic to an unholy people.”
That is why the term often invokes a picture of severity. It is all that makes sense in this fallen world. Then, like Adam and Eve who saw their sin next to Gods perfection, we may want to run and hide. The very thing we need most, is MORE of Gods holiness, but we flee it because of its power to reveal the truth about ourselves.
Consider this: If Holiness means “perfection” (and it does), perfect is not Lording it over others in a demeaning way. The Holiness of God is light and joyful, courageous and kind. And when we implore the Father to make His name Holy it means we want this ole troubled world to view Him as He really is!
Fearfully Holy, yes. But also DELIGHTFULLY HOLY! Dance-worthy Holy. Love-worthy Holy. “Wow, you are better than Jif Peanut butter and A day at the beach Holy!”
We could word it this way “May your name be perfected among us. May we see you as you really are. May we understand you, and stand in awe of you.”
For that to happen, we must KNOW God. Who He is, and what His name stands for.
One definition for “Hallowed” in the Strongs concordance is to “purify internally by renewing of the soul.”
This means we are separating ourselves from unintentional prejudices about who or what God is, and let the TRUTH of who He is, based on God’s word, permeate our very soul until we see Him as He is and therefore can worship and pray to Him in truth.
In the news recently people are angry and upset with the church because of a Supreme Court ruling. They scream and destroy because to them, God and His people are hardened, unrelenting, and unfeeling. Therefore they rage against heaven and God’s people. I think (and please email me if you think this is off-base) they rage because they do not see themselves as capable of what seems an impossible standard God has raised. Not have sex before marriage? Never lie? Never drink, never gossip? Who DOES that? It is the very fact that we are aware of our own unholiness that God’s Holiness seems like a high wall too tall to scale.
You see. The Holiness of God seems unattainable, so rather than Hallow His name they rage against it. And my heart longs to somehow show them that God is not the brutal dictator they imagine.
Before I became a follower of Jesus I was a “run-awayer” from Jesus. I grew up with a Christian Mom in an old-fashioned denominational church. I even went to a religious school! I tried my best to live up to what I read and was taught from the Bible, but was a miserable failure at it. I didn’t want to be mean, but I was. I didn’t want to disobey my parents, but I did. I didn’t want to break my promises, but.. ok you get the picture. I finally gave up. It was impossible to follow the Bible. I felt helpless. And, this pre-teen mind concluded, if the Bible presented an impossibly Holy idea, it must be wrong.
Then, much like the protesters of today, I became hateful and even cruel to those who espoused Christianity.
It took many years and much more failure for me to finally bend the knee and receive salvation. When I did, I realized this “Holy” standard was indeed impossible. That was the whole point! I had it right all along. I could not achieve perfection as long as I dwelled in a fleshly body in a sinful world. That’s why Jesus came! Duh! He came to call the sinners, not the righteous to repentance Oh. And BTW, we have ALL sinned. (Verse)
Then our HOLY Father places HIS HOLY Spirit in us! Woah! And now we see all the world through a new lens! For instance, I greatly disdained weak and impoverished people. My friends had to look and act a certain way. All others need not apply.
Then God’s HOLY Spirit comes in and I suddenly love the poor and destitute! I enjoy being with them.
That is what holiness is. It Loves, it cares, it has mercy, it seeks the lost, it finds a way to rescue, and it befriends the outcast. Holiness even delights in restoring the outcast! Which I can also testify about!
This reminds me of a situation going on in our family right now. My son and his girlfriend from El Salvador were adopted by one of the many street dogs roaming El Salvadorian streets. They fell in love with this sweet little girl dog, gave her a home, a name, (Marcia) took her to a vet to heal her wounds and poured love on the creature.
When it came time for my son Luke to come back to the states they worked hard to find someone who would care for Marcia as they did. Unfortunately, it turned out, the ones who were caring for her let her run off with other street dogs and now she is probably impregnated.
My poor son and his girlfriend are heartbroken. They called and found someone to pick her up and now are planning to deal with an unexpected litter of pups.
Marcia, as they call her, was an outcast alone and wandering the streets with other strays. Yet they brought her in, made sure she was cared for, and even when she returned to street dog ways, they readjust in a way that will be best for her and her puppies.
This is like God’s Holy love for us. He took us in. He adopts us into His family. He is sad when we crawl under the fence, but welcomes us back once again and sees that our mistakes are set aright.
Yes, Holiness does have a stern side. It is unrelenting with sin but equally unrelenting with compassion.
And who wants a God who is NOT Holy? Aren’t you glad we can rest in the fact God never fails, NEVER makes a mistake? Never says “oops?”
That is why we can trust Him with all that we are.
When we say “Hallowed be Thy name “ we are saying
“God, in the midst of our pain, we remember YOU. That YOU are Holy and perfect. What you do is never wrong. Just and true are YOUR ways.(Rev 15) As we declare Him as Holy we remove any blame we may be tempted to place on God and choose to trust in His Holiness.
That is always the beginning of connecting with Heaven. Trust. Knowing God’s Holiness is what enables us to trust Him.
Now let’s look at some of God’s names we find in the Bible.
As we do, consider that each of these names falls under the banner of “HOLINESS”
In fact, the first name we will look at is
JEHOVAH NISSI : The Lord is my banner
Because the Father is Holy, He is the one who goes ahead of us. He leads the way. He gives us a tribe to be a part of. He gives us Hope and a focus. We follow His banner and find our way in an often dark and confusing world. The Father has a destiny mapped out for you. He made you for a purpose. Because He is perfect, his plans for you are also perfect.
JEHOVAH RAPHA: The Lord who heals you
Oh, that Holy God of ours, has chosen to meet us in our physical and emotional pain and bring a touch of heaven when we are in distress. That is what Holiness does, it stoops to help and bless and restore to perfection that which is broken. Is your body broken? Is your soul broken? The Holy One desires to restore you today.
JEHOVAH JIRAH The Lord will provide
In His Holiness God the Father also looks after the needs of His children. He does not abandon us to the elements when we are lost. He sends help. He will get us through the gas prices and the food shortages. Those are nothing to Him. He is Holy and all-powerful and easily takes care of His kids as He did in the book of Exodus when he sent Manna in the morning and quail in the evening.
JEHOVAH SHALOM. The Lord is peace
The Holy one also brings peace. He is not in heaven wringing His hands and pulling His hair out. He is at perfect peace and has a perfect plan. He may grieve at hardships, as Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb, but He is working to perfect all that concerns Him and you. His Holiness enables Him to be secure in His decisions.
He is at peace because He can make a promise and He knows He will keep it. Nothing is too difficult for Him (verse)
JEHOVAH RAAH. The Lord is our Shepherd
I love this one. He is a HOLY shepherd of His people. When David was a shepherd boy He rescued the sheep from a lion and a bear. That is what a good shepherd does. The Father is more than a GOOD shepherd, He is a HOLY shepherd. If He calls us the “Sheep of His pasture” he is watching out for our well-being, leading us, removing ticks from our wool, watching out for predators, and rescuing us. Because He is HOLY He will never fail us as a shepherd. He is constantly watching, constantly aware, and constantly caring for us. He never slumbers or sleeps. He lets us rest while he stands guard day and night. Without fail. Even for a second.
One last name of God:
JEHOVAH MEKODDISHKEM The Lord Who Sanctifies You
Isn’t this beautiful? The One who is Holy sets us apart and makes us Holy! We are incapable on our own of becoming Holy, so God imparts His holiness to us. First, he calls us His Holy people even while we still grapple with sin and secondly, He purifies us as we grow in Him. He has set us apart as His Holy people. (Vz)
The Fathers Holiness permits all He is!
But I must also add, that there is an element of holiness that should produce a Holy fear in us.
This past winter, a friend’s hidden iniquity was revealed through a prophetic word. Although the sin took place years before, this friend had chosen to cover it up and forget it. Even though people around her suspected she had once succumbed to this sin and were willing to forgive her, yet she denied it.
But God
Brought it all to light. That was painful for her and all involved. But God showed up and the brightness of His Holiness shown into the shadows to reveal something that was hidden in a dark corner, making many sick spiritually even when they didn’t know why.
I found myself walking through the days of this revelation in fear and trembling of a holy God. Surely He does see all, know all, and will not hold us guiltless when we refuse to confess and repent. So much so, that when I was at church the following Sunday I wanted to yell and warn everyone to repent of hidden sin! Or just sins that people live with on a day to day basis, never considering the ramifications.
That was the holiness that makes us run from God.
It is also the holiness that can set us free.
The creatures around the throne yell “Holy Holy Holy” not because someone pulled a string on their back and they simply repeat the phrase. No, they look at God and can hardly stand the piercing perfection; the brightness with no shadow. They fall down in astonishment, but then, like those addicted to the thrill of a roller coaster, they look up again to see what they could hardly believe before: God is utterly Holy and there is not a flaw to be found in all of His majestic glory! And they fall again crying out from the depths of their being “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
Not one Holy. But Holy to the third degree. Not just sinless. Not just a nice guy, but purity beyond anything we can even glimpse in our fallen world!
It is why He stayed in heaven and sent His Son, in the form of a human being to earth. We pitiful dust-carved humans would be incinerated in His Holy presence! Moses’ face glowed for days after merely seeing the Father’s backside!
And yet, so Holy He reached down to the weakness of Man and made a way for humankind to become flawless through forgiveness. Through belief in his Son, Jesus, who took the punishment for our not-holy selves on Himself on the cross.
When Jesus said, “Hallowed be Thy name.” Or “Holy is your name,” He was telling us to remember ALL that the Father is.
There’s a fantastic song called “There is Only One” by Brian Hampton that should be our heart cry:
What do the elders see that makes them want to fall down?
And what do the angels see that makes them cry Holy?
We have to know what makes them cry Holy.
So open our eyes to see the wonders of Your majesty
To join in the song that all of heaven sings.
I love that thought! When I reflect on the Holiness of the Father, I am joining with the song that all of heaven is singing: A song of wonder and awe at the incredibly glowing perfection of God.
Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty!
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