Glorious in Holiness

Q: What does the Bible say about God's holiness?

The Bible describes God's holiness as being 'glorious in holiness', meaning He is separate and unlike anything else. God's holiness is a central attribute that signifies His apartness and purity. In Exodus 15:11, the Israelites proclaim, 'Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?' This question highlights that God is unparalleled in His majesty and holiness. Holiness reflects His infinite perfection and righteousness, indicating that He is completely separate from sin and corruption. This concept is reinforced throughout Scripture, as seen in Isaiah 46:9 where God asserts, 'I am God, and there is none else.' Holiness not only defines who God is but also serves as a foundation for His other attributes, such as love and justice.

Q: How do we know God is immutable?

God's immutability is affirmed in Malachi 3:6 where He states, 'I am the Lord, I change not.' The immutability of God is a core belief in sovereign grace theology, emphasizing that God does not change in His nature, promises, or purposes. Malachi 3:6 declares, 'For I am the Lord, I change not,' highlighting that God remains constant throughout time. This attribute assures believers that God's promises are secure and His character is reliable. Contrasting our own fickleness, God's absolute consistency allows us to trust fully in Him, knowing He will not waver in His faithfulness. Moreover, James 1:17 echoes this truth, stating that with God 'there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' This immutability is foundational for understanding our relationship with an unchanging God.

Q: Why is knowing God's love important for Christians?

Understanding God's love is crucial as it reveals the nature of our relationship with Him and provides assurance of our salvation. Grasping the depth of God's love is essential for Christians as it shapes our identity and influences our interactions with God and others. In Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul emphasizes the need to comprehend the 'breadth and length and depth and height' of Christ's love, which surpasses knowledge. This love is not like human love—limited and conditional—but is described as holy and perfect. By understanding the infinite love God has for us, demonstrated through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, we grow in assurance of our salvation and feel empowered to love others selflessly. Additionally, God's love motivates us to worship Him in spirit and truth, leading us into deeper fellowship with Him.

Q: What does it mean that God is omnipotent?

God's omnipotence means He is all-powerful and able to accomplish His sovereign will without limitation. The attribute of omnipotence expresses God's limitless power and supreme authority over all creation. In Scripture, particularly in Isaiah 40:12, we see that God measures the waters in the hollow of His hand and has the ability to govern the universe effortlessly. This omnipotence reassures believers that nothing is too difficult for God and that He can and does accomplish His purposes. In Jeremiah 32:17, we read, 'Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.' This ultimate power highlights not only His ability to create and sustain but also to redeem and act in the lives of His people. Thus, Christians can trust that God is sovereignly in control, bringing His plans to fruition.

Where Brother Bob read there
in Philippians 1, I couldn't help but think about us when
he read that, how Paul thanked the Lord for the people of God,
and he said, I thank God for your fellowship in the gospel.
That's such a beautiful thing, isn't it? And he said from the
first day, from day one, we had fellowship,
didn't we? nine years ago, whatever it is.
And when you go somewhere else where the gospel is preached,
you've never been before. First day you have fellowship in the
gospel. And until now, all these years, we've had fellowship in
the gospel of our Lord together. In Exodus 15, 11, no preacher ever preaches without,
not a true preacher of the Lord, without continual sense of inadequacy
But there's certain times when you just almost want to skip
over Certain things because you just
don't feel qualified to even speak on them and this verse
Exodus 15 11 Is one of those I planned on preaching through
to verse 21 this evening and couldn't get past verse 11 and
want to speak on this subject. Our Lord is glorious in holiness. Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Moses and all the people of Israel
are still singing on the far banks of the Red Sea after the
Lord has delivered him in so great and manifestly powerful
way, spectacular. salvation from their 430 year
enemies. I can't get over that. You know
how bad they wanted to see them die. You have any idea how bad
they wanted to see them drown and how joyful this song is.
You talk about enemies. Who is like unto thee, O Lord
among the gods. They watched those bodies wash
up on the shore, and having just experienced, and I'm sure they
were wore out too, among all the other feelings that were
going through their heart and mind, they were just wiped out.
And laying there watching their enemies wash up dead on the shore,
thinking about all that God had done over the last several, I
don't know how long, when he was inflicting these plagues
upon the land of Egypt in order to Cause his people to be let
go. Passover night and then. Just
all of the favor that he showed them in the Egyptians, giving
them everything valuable that they had for their journey. And then coming to that place
where they thought they were sure enough gone, or is there
cornered there trapped? And overwhelmed by the enemy,
and yet God miraculously delivers them. And they sing this song
and it comes to this point where they just say, who in the world,
who would you compare our God to? Who is like him? Look what he's done. Look who
he is. Among all the gods of Egypt, he put all of their gods
to shame openly. Who is like thee? Glorious in
holiness. fearful in praises, doing wonders. God describes himself with similar
language. This is where we come to. When
you start contemplating God, sooner or later you're going
to say, there's not anybody like him. Who are you going to compare
him to? And this is how God describes
himself. Look at Isaiah 40. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 9. Oh Zion, that bring us good tidings,
get thee up into the high mountain. Oh Jerusalem, that bring us good
tidings. Who can bring gospel besides
God's people? Lift up thy voice with strength. If not us, then who? Lift it
up. Be not afraid. Say unto the cities
of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ, the power of God, his arm. Behold, his
reward is with him and his work before him. And he shall feed
his flock like a shepherd. You think about all these things
that he's going to do and these descriptions of him, and then
we'll see how he ends this passage. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. He'll take care of his people.
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and
meted out heaven with the span? I can't even measure a twelve
by nine piece of wood without messing it up. He measured out
the heavens, and comprehended the dust of
the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and
the hills in a balance. Who hath directed the spirit
of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him? You really know
better than God? We think we know better, don't
we? We wouldn't murmur like we did. God needs a little help,
you know. If we complain enough, maybe
he'll straighten out. Who in the world do we think
we are? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed and taught
him? in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
showed to him the way of understanding. Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.
Behold, he taketh up the owls as a very little thing. And Lebanon
is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient
for a burn offering. He's worthy of more than we can
ever possibly produce. All nations before him are as
nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing. To
whom then will you liken God? You see, he winds up just saying,
how are we gonna even talk about him? How are you gonna compare
him to anybody or anything? And you can't understand anything
unless you have some frame of reference. Or what likeness will
you compare unto him? Look at Isaiah 46, nine. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying
my counsel shall stand, and I'll do all my pleasure. Calling a
ravenous bird from the east, and the man that executeth my
counsel from a far country. Yeah, I've spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass. I've purposed it, I'll also do
it. Who else is like that? Who else can do everything they
purpose? Without hindrance, without even being able to question it. Look at Isaiah 45, turn back
just one chapter, Isaiah 45, 21. Tell ye, and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? There
is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. That's my Lord Jesus Christ,
Jehovah Savior. He's the mighty God, and yet
he can come down here where I am and be my representative. It
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. He's a just
God and a Savior. He can die for my sins and did
so freely. Look unto me and be ye saved. Look at God the Savior. And be
saved all the ends of the earth for I am God. And there is none
else. There's none else. Moses said,
who is like unto thee? And the next phrase there that
Moses sang and all the people sang, glorious and holiness. Now this alludes to this same
apartness of God, apart. He's there. Nobody like him.
He's a separate and apart and above everybody else. And that's what holiness means.
So he's talking about the same thing. Glorious in his apartness,
glorious. in his nobody like him-ness. We don't have a word for it except
holiness. Holiness. This is one of the
only ways that you can describe God. He's not like anybody else. The only way we have of describing
anything or anyone is by comparing it or them to something or someone
else. Isn't that right? You think about
it. You've got to have some frame of reference if we're going to
understand anything. If I tell you something is really
big, Yeah, or really anything. Your first thought is going to
be compared to what? It's relative, isn't it? If I
say, for example, I bought some strawberries today. They were
huge. Compared to what? Well, if I said, well, they were
the size of golf balls. Okay, I get it now. I see what you're saying. That's
pretty big. Pretty big. I got something to compare it
to. The problem when describing God is that he can't really accurately
be compared to anybody or anything. He said, to whom will you liken
me? And this is why, as we've talked about before, when we
speak of his attributes, in some cases we're forced to use the
negative form of the word, such as immutable, which means not
mutable. It's the only way you can describe.
him in some of his glorious attributes. He's apart from everyone in everything,
in that he doesn't change. Like the hymn writer wrote, change
and decay in all around, I see, in everything and in everyone. O thou who changest not, abide
with me. So what's God like? Well, he's
not changeable. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. And we know what change is, because
we see it all around us. So how are you going to describe
God? He's not like that. He's not like that. James said,
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness.
He's immutable. Neither shadow of turning. If
your theology and many people's theology does, If your theology
has God Almighty changing in any way, you need to throw out
your theology and get back to the Word of God. And you think
about it now. You talk to people about that
sometimes. Their whole religion is based
on an immutable God, a God who changes his mind. And here's
our problem. God said, God identified it and
called us on it. He said, thou thoughtest that
I was altogether such in one as thyself. You thought I was
like you. Moses said there's not anybody
like him. Do you know that? There's not anybody like him.
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself. You see,
that's what holy means. Not like you. Apart, separate,
above. He's solitary in his holiness. And his immutability is him not
being like you, in that one aspect. We're using that as an example
so we can understand how it is that we understand something
of God, that we're able to describe Him at all. He's not like you
in that you change. The only thing that doesn't change
about me and you is our sin. Our love is up one day and down
the next. Our attributes are all over the
map, aren't they? We're fickle and feeble and we're
like the raging sea. Never calm, never settled, no
firm place to put your feet. Also, we describe him this way,
he's infinite, not finite. We have to use the negative in
that too, don't we? Because we understand what finite
means. That's limited. We're finite in every way, limited. The only thing, again, that's
infinite about us is our sin. Because it's against the infinitely
holy God. And so the wretchedness of our
sinfulness is infinite. And that's the only thing infinite
about us. When we do use some of the same words to describe
God as we do when we're describing ourselves, and we have to do
that, don't we? We have no other language to
use. And so we use some of the same
words in describing ourselves as we do God. But when we do
that, we have to use qualifying language, don't we? And this
word, infinite, comes in handy. I may say, I love you. And I'd
be telling the truth in the context of what our love is. And I may
say, God loves his people. But I'd have to qualify and say,
his love is not like my love. It's not the same thing. It's
the same word, but it's not the same. He's a part. He's singular. He's solitary. He's holy. in his love. And like I said, this word infinite
comes in handy in cases like this. His love is infinite. My
love is so limited, so weak, and so fickle and feeble, that
his love is boundless. And the love of God, the songwriter
wrote, is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. And that's
just the truth. It doesn't mean that he loves
everybody and everything. And the psalmist said in Psalm
55, thou hatest all workers of iniquity. It's not infinite in
that sense, but where God's love is bestowed, his love is perfect. His love is boundless. His love
is everlasting. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. His love is not weak like mine. It doesn't change. It's like
him. It's immutable. An infinite divine love. We use these descriptive adjectives,
perfect, infinite, divine, holy, and we still can't understand. And so there's something else
that helps. In the Word of God, we're given
examples of His love. When we begin to see what He's
done, it helps us to understand who He is. How is God's love
different than mine? How is He a part in that? God
so loved that he gave his only begotten
son. That helps a little bit, doesn't
it? That helps. He's not like me in his love.
Moses said, who is like unto thee, O Lord? And in all of his
glorious attributes, he's unlike any other. There's no God beside
him. When we see examples of His love, it helps some, doesn't
it? Behold what manner of love. You want to know something about
His love? What manner of love does God have compared to mine? Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. God has called us His sons. In some cases, in order to understand
something of this one who is apart, we add this prefix to
words that we use concerning ourselves, but we add this prefix
to set him apart in our minds. Omni. Omni. It means all. Limitless. And we do that with
these words that we use to describe both us and God in order to show
that God is apart from us in these things. God is powerful. Well, you say there's powerful
people. Oh, but he's omnipowerful. Omnipotent is the word. He's
omnipowerful. He's the king of kings and lord
of lords. The government of the entire
universe is on his shoulders. He's powerful in every sense
of the word. Not only might, but in authority. God is powerful,
but we have no frame of reference really, because if you think
about powerful men, they're grasshoppers to him. You can't make an accurate
comparison. So the only way you can understand
is just add that word omni. He's all powerful. He's infinitely
powerful. God is wise, but what's our frame
of reference? You, me, That's not going to
get us very far, is it, in contemplating and understanding God's wisdom.
But He's omni-wise. We can at least think about that.
We know what limitlessness, we understand the concept, at least,
of infinity. And in His wisdom, God is omniscient. He's all-wise. He knows everything
there is to know all at once, without limit, without confusion. never forgets anything. And then
I'll tell you this, the way that we see better than any other
way, something of who God is. We see, for example, these two
things that we've just talked about, the wisdom and the power
of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke and calmed the waves.
He said, Thy sins be forgiven thee, and they were. He said, Lazarus come forth and
he did. In fact, all of God's attributes
are revealed and made manifest in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And what he accomplished for
sinners in his life and death reveals who he is, who God is. And really only as we view the
Lord Jesus Christ, can we have any real perspective on these
words we've been talking about. The omnipotence of God, the omniscience
of God, the holiness of God, the love of God. Where are you
going to look to see these things? The Lord Jesus said, look unto
me. Not only will you see God, you'll be saved. All the ends
of the earth. We can write or say all kinds
of descriptive things. Words, and men have written volumes
and volumes of books. in order to describe God, but
God's word is a revelation of a person. The person who said,
if you've seen me, you've seen God. No man hath seen God in
any time. The only begotten of the father,
he hath revealed him. He's made him manifest. He showed
who God is. And the primary way in which
Christ is not like us is in his sinless, righteous perfection. And that's why the word holiness,
which means literally apart, separate, apart, has come to
mean his purity and his sinlessness, because that's the primary way
that he's not like you and not like me. He's pure and spotless
and righteous without blemish. He's holy. Our problem is before
God that our sins have separated between us and our God. Our representative
Adam fell and made us all sinners by nature and thus sinners by
practice because somebody that's born a sinner can do nothing
but sin. That's what a sinner is. It's
someone who sins. And Adam all died in trespasses
and sins. That's my problem, my hope. And
my salvation is that Christ, my representative, my last Adam,
the first Adam represented me in the garden. The last Adam
represented me in all of his life, from birth to his death
on Calvary. And he's the last Adam. There's
not going to be another. And if the last Adam is my representative,
he lived a holy, perfect, spotless, righteous life for me. as my representative before God.
Adam represented me by nature. Christ represented me by grace.
I was put in Christ by the Father. Of God are ye in Christ Jesus,
who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. God made Christ my representative
when he put me in him. I was in Adam, but also in Christ. And as I said, when we think
of this word holy, we think of spotless purity and righteousness
because this is his primary apartness. His holiness describes all of
his other attributes and has become synonymous with that purity
and righteousness and perfection, infinite perfection. His love
is holy love. His wrath is holy wrath. His
word is his holy word. His blood, Ah, it is His holiness that makes
His blood so precious. He is a part in His precious
blood. You were redeemed, if you were,
with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
or without spot. That description is put there
because every other lamb has blemishes and spots. Only He
is a part. He's the only Lamb without blemish
and without spot. He's the only sacrifice that
God the Father is satisfied with for my sin. To make satisfaction
unto God for my sin, to atone, to make reconciliation, to redeem
my soul from the curse of the law upon me because of my sinfulness,
Christ's blood cannot be and is not like any other blood.
Like Himself, it's a part. What's our frame of reference
in that? How are you going to understand?
I say his blood is precious compared to what? How can we possibly
understand what that even is? That he has shed his precious
blood. God shed his blood for me. That Christ Jesus died for
my sins according to the scriptures. Men have died for other men throughout
history. But he's a part in this. He said,
behold, and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow. Is there
anybody like me in my sorrow? No, no. No, in so many ways,
he's a part in that. His death is substitutionary.
It's satisfactory. It's vicarious in the place of
someone else, others, his people, his elect. Nobody's ever died
like that. Nobody's ever died the just for
the unjust that they might bring his people to God. Nobody can
do that but him. There's nothing valuable enough
to adequately compare his precious blood to. That's why Paul used the language
like this. Unto me, he said, who am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The gospel of how the Lord Jesus
Christ came and shed his precious blood for a wretch like me, when
I talk about that I'm preaching unsearchable riches. To most,
the things of this world are worth more. To Judas, 30 pieces
of silver was a pretty good price. But to the called, to God's elect,
to God's chosen, to those who are redeemed and washed in that
precious blood, we're talking about unsearchable riches. How
glorious is his cross. How unsearchable are the riches
of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 1 3. Listen to that. He will describe
what we're talking about. The Lord Jesus Christ coming
into this world, dying for his people, shedding his precious
blood to wash their sins away, to pay their sin debt and living
the righteous, holy, spotless life as their representative. Listen to him. He's going to
describe it. And then and then the last part of this will help
us understand The magnitude of it. Listen, grace be to you.
Galatians 1 3. Grace be to you and peace from
God, the father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for our sins. That's what he did. That he might
deliver us from this present evil world, according to the
will of God and our father. And here's what Paul said in
response to that, to whom be glory forever and ever. If we ever get the slightest
glimpse of what it is that God's son loved us and gave himself
for us, died for our sins, according to the scriptures, we'll say
with Paul here, what Paul is saying right here is let's stop
everything else that we're doing and give glory to the Lord Jesus
Christ for what he did. And let's just keep on doing
that forever. That helps a little bit. One
final thought on this. God's apartness is seen in Christ,
but only by revelation. You can know the scriptures from
cover to cover. You may search the scriptures
all your life and be but like the Pharisees who did so, and
yet would not come to Christ that they might have life. you
may ever learn and never be able to come to a knowledge of the
truth. You see, there's none like him, and he's past finding
out by any natural means. Though God uses natural means
in revealing himself, he uses his word, he uses men, preachers,
witnesses. By all means, search the scriptures.
By all means, be a student of the Lord Jesus Christ and his
word. But here's my prayer. for us, for you. Turn to Ephesians
3 verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said I'm gonna,
I have been and I'm going to again. I'm gonna get down on
my knees before God. About what, Paul? The Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named that. Here's his prayer. from the dust,
from his knees, that he would grant you according to the riches
of his glory, not according to what you deserve, because you're
not getting anything that way. And I'm not either. To be strengthened
with might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ
that you can't possibly know. You see, if we're gonna know
anything about this one who there's none like, we're gonna have to
get on our knees sooner or later, aren't we? We're just gonna have
to get down there and say, God, show me that that I can't possibly
see. Reveal to me that that I can't
possibly know. caused me to know something of
the love of Christ that would blow all of our minds together
before we'd ever get an inkling of what it is. But God is able
to reveal. It does not yet appear, but our
Lord has revealed it to us to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness
of God. That's how you get full here
in this world. We're going to be full up there
for sure when we're with Him. You want to be full down here?
You're going to have to have a revelation from God of the
love of Christ. And then you'll say, my cup runneth
over. I'm full. Now unto Him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think
Paul said, I just, he just got through saying, now I'm going
to ask him to show him, to show you his love for you, to show
you something of the love of Christ. And he's able to do that
better than I could ever ask it and everything else. And even
the things I don't even think to ask for, he's able to do abundantly
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think about
according to the power that worketh in us. We've experienced this
power, this soul-saving, sin-cleansing, life-giving power. He works in
a... And then He said the same thing
again. Let's just glorify Him from now on, shall we? Unto Him
be glory in the church. There's not going to be any glory
in this world for Him. Not in this sense. He's going
to get glory out of everybody. But his precious sin atoning
blood and the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. If he's
going to be glorified in that regard, he's going to be in the
church. He's going to be right here in places like this all
over this world. And we're not ever going to stop.
By Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. We're
not ever going to quit doing what we're doing right here now
tonight. We're just going to get better at it. We're gonna
praise him from now on because he's gonna make it so. But I
look forward to that day when we'll praise him like he's actually
worthy to be praised. Our worship is so pitiful now,
isn't it? There's just not much to it. But I do pray for you
and me that he'll make us know that which cannot be known, the
love of Christ. And we will praise him.

Glorious in Holiness

What does the Bible say about God's holiness?

How do we know God is immutable?

Why is knowing God's love important for Christians?

What does it mean that God is omnipotent?

Sermon Transcript

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Glorious in Holiness

What does the Bible say about God's holiness?

How do we know God is immutable?

Why is knowing God's love important for Christians?

What does it mean that God is omnipotent?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

Comments

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