Earthly Eyes or
Heavenly Vision?

Today’s topic, the holiness of God, is a challenging one to define. It is difficult because holiness is not simply one attribute of God; it speaks to the very essence of who He is. It is also difficult because the holiness of God is so vast that we cannot fully comprehend it. Yet it is important that we take time to meditate on His holiness and allow the Holy Spirit to deepen our understanding of
who God is and what that means for us.

The word holy means “to be set apart.” When applied to God, it means He is completely distinct from all creation. This takes us back to what we discussed last week when God told Moses to tell the Israelites, “I AM WHO I AM.” God is unlike anyone or anything else.

But God's holiness goes beyond His uniqueness. It also speaks to His absolute purity and perfection. There is no trace of evil in Him, and He is incapable of doing evil. God cannot lie or make a wrong decision. He is blameless, sinless, and perfectly just.

God's holiness extends to every aspect of His character. His love is holy. His grace is holy. His justice, wisdom, and power are all perfectly holy. Everything God does is consistent with the perfection of who He is.

Consider Isaiah’s vision of God:

 

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’”— Isaiah 6:1-5

What an awe-inspiring picture of God's holiness! The Lord is seated on a throne, high and lifted up. The Lord’s face and feet are covered because of His holiness. The heavenly beings declare His holiness three times: “Holy, holy, holy!” And when Isaiah encounters this vision of God, his response is not to celebrate his own goodness or compare himself with others. Instead, he recognizes his own sinfulness and cries out, “Woe is me!”

We want God’s holiness to mean He is good enough to admire, yet familiar enough to keep us comfortable. But His holiness means He is utterly unlike us—perfectly pure, untouched by sin, and never measured by our standards. In His presence, we discover how much we need His grace. When Isaiah saw the Lord in his vision, his only response was ‘Woe is Me’.

We tend to imagine God’s holiness by taking the best person we know and making that goodness infinitely greater. But God’s holiness is beyond every human comparison. He does not meet a standard of purity outside Himself; His own nature defines it. Understanding His holiness requires more than imagination—it requires God to reveal Himself through His Word and His Spirit. – Inspired by A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.

Through earthly eyes, we may feel good about ourselves by comparing ourselves with others. But as the Holy Spirit deepens our understanding of God’s holiness, we see our sinfulness and the splendor of His grace. This leads us not to despair, but to awe that our perfectly holy God extends His grace to sinners like us.

Personal Reflection

• Does contemplating God’s holiness stir thoughts of fear, worship, or comfort?