The Nature of God

Introduction

We continue to think about some of the fundamental aspects of our faith. These fundamental elements are the basis for the way we live our lives and express our faith. For the past two weeks we have emphasized the nature of the Bible. It is reliable having been carefully preserved through the action of God through men over the centuries. It is also inspired. It is God’s word. It is without error; it has a singular theme; and it is one of the means by which God has chosen to reveal himself. Today we are going to look at the nature of God. If we understand anything about God then what we understand about him should have an effect on how we live in this world.

Obviously in one lesson it isn’t possible to talk about the nature of God in his totality. God’s nature includes so many aspects: Creator, Omniscient or all knowing, omnipresent or present everywhere at the same time, omnipotent or all powerful. We must begin, however, with the incomprehensibility of God. No human being has the ability to understand God exhaustively. We are finite creatures and his is infinite. The finite cannot absorb the infinite.

The Swiss theologian Karl Barth was asked by a student, “What is the most profound thing you have learned in your study of theology?” Barth’s reply was profound: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Barth recognized two truths—the simple truth of God’s love through Jesus is so profound that great theologians spend a lifetime trying to absorb such a thought and all of our investigation and learning never rises above the level of a child in trying to understand the depth of God’s nature and character.

John Calvin said that God speaks to us in lisps. God speaks to us as a parent speaks to an infant with “baby talk.” We can know some things about God but our knowledge is partial and limited. We will not in this life know God fully and completely. He has revealed himself through nature, prophets, Jesus and the Bible. Moses spoke in Deuteronomy 29:29 one of the great truths: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may follow all this words of this law.” While our knowledge about God is limited, he has revealed enough for us to be in relationship with him and to follow him. The secret things are his. We trust him and wait with great anticipation for the day when we will be with him to know more and to see more and to experience more. Until then, we follow.

God’s Holiness

Of all the aspects of God’s nature, I want us to focus on God’s holiness. It is his holiness which we see in our reading. Isaiah is called to speak for God. It is a time of great transition. Uzziah had been king for 52 years. The last 11 years because of his sin, he was ostracized. But during his reign Judah enjoyed great prosperity and political calm. With his death came a period of great uncertainty. The people and perhaps Isaiah felt lost and lacked assurance about what the future held. It is in this setting that God appears.

God doesn’t merely appear, he appears in great glory. The seraphs cry out in praise. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. This triune usage of the word “holy” is designed to express that there is nothing like God. He is the holiest of all holy things. His holiness is larger than life for his glory fills the earth. At the very sound of the seraphim there was a small earthquake and the temple filled with smoke like the cloud of glory when God appeared to the Israelites 1000 years before.

And Isaiah is undone. Of all the prophets who speak words of caution and warning this is the only time that a prophet speaks of himself. “Woe to me.” In the presence of the holy God, Isaiah understands just how unholy he is. This response demonstrates to us that this word “holy” has two meanings. The one that is most often thought of is the idea of moral purity. Certainly God is morally pure and Isaiah speaks of his own lack of purity. But the other meaning is often overlooked. The word holy means “otherness” or “apartness.” As Denis Baly writes, God is “wholly other.” Isaiah’s response reveals that he understands this reality as well. What he has seen is completely other. The only thing that makes sense is to die. Isaiah has come unraveled. He is convinced about the depravity of his sin and he has come face to face with the God who is indescribable except to say that he is beyond holy. The word holy doesn’t do justice to who he truly is.

But God doesn’t leave Isaiah defeated. One of the seraphs flies to Isaiah with a burning coal and touches that live coal to Isaiah’s lips. Cauterizing his lips is followed with an announcement—you are no longer guilty; your sins have been forgiven; they have been covered over. And with that pronouncement God calls Isaiah to enter into ministry to speak for the Holy God. No hesitation. Isaiah goes.

Application

Every generation must come to see and know the holiness of God. Few things are considered holy in our day. Most has become mundane and profane but holy—hardly. Believers who ignore or forget the holiness of God presume upon his grace. In fact, some believers get angry at God for his commands demanding that God must explain himself as if they are god. The believer has come to expect God to follow rather than follow God. Be amazed at the holiness of God. In his presence, Isaiah wilted and melted.

In 1 Peter 1:14-16 we are called to be holy as God is holy. God has called his people in Leviticus to the same high calling. Is God interested in us following rules? Hardly. He is interested in us following him. We follow because of who he is. To ignore the holiness of God means we become our own god and worship our will. When we lose sight of the holiness of God there is an ugliness that creeps into our lives.

Our relationships become about personal pleasure and selfishness; we seek revenge when hurt; sexual pleasure rather than treating our partner with a holy respect. Our work becomes more about what we can get rather than what we can give. Our entertainment becomes more appealing to the sinful rather than that which will exalt and uplift.

The idea of holiness is found throughout scripture. We understand the idea of holiness by looking at God and seeing his holiness. Someone says “well I could never be holy like God is holy.” You miss the point. God’s call to holiness is to moral purity but not perfection and his call to holiness is a call to “otherness” and “separateness” from our world. We are hardly holy when we spend money like everyone else; participate in sexual immorality like everyone else; seek what is best for ourselves like everyone else.

In the OT all kinds of things are declared holy by the holy God: the ground around the burning bush; the temple; the utensils in the temple; clothes; food; oil. In the NT we are called to a holy life in 2 Tim. 1:9; our bodies are to be holy in Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:9 calls us a holy nation; and in 1 Cor. 1:2 we are called the holy ones. The writer of Hebrews in 12:14 says we are to pursue holiness because without holiness we will not see the Lord. We are to be holy because God is holy.

Zechariah 14:20-21 speaks to the holiness of God’s people in a profound way. This last chapter speaks of God’s triumph over the enemies of his people and his restoring Jerusalem to glory. And as the glory of God returns to his people, Zechariah prophesies that a day is coming when even the bells on a horse will be inscribed “Holy to the Lord.” In fact, every pot in the land will be “holy to the Lord.” Zechariah prophesies that a day is coming when even the smallest thing will be dedicated or separated out for God. May Zechariah’s vision become our own. May we pursue holiness so that we have holy jobs, holy marriages, holy families, holy houses, holy friends, and even the smallest thing to be dedicated to the Lord as holy. May everything we possess, want to possess and every relationship be “holy to the Lord.” It starts with each one seeing the holy God and following him.

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