The Holiness of God

Nathan Stam
Children's Pastor

I’ve been thinking a lot about the holiness of God lately. This past Sunday we sang a song in which one of the lines said: “No mortal man would dare to stand before your throne.” What does that mean? For much of my life I thought we wanted to stand before God’s throne and be in his presence. But it sounds like that might not be possible. In this life, at least. How do I reconcile that desire to be in the Presence of the Lord with verses that say things like:

But He answered, "You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live. (ex. 33:20)

The only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom none of mankind has seen or can see, to whom be honor and eternal might. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:16)

No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son—the One who is at the Father's side—He has revealed Him. (jn 1:18)

You cannot see My face and live. Unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him.

There’s something mind-boggling and awe-inspiring about the holiness of God. It should inject a good dose of humility into our bones.

A.W. Tozer once described the holiness of God this way: “God is holy and He has made holiness the moral condition necessary to the health of His universe. Sin’s temporary presence in the world only accents this. Whatever is holy is healthy; evil is a moral sickness that must end ultimately in death. The formation of the language itself suggests this, the English word holy deriving from the Anglo-Saxon halig, hal, meaning, ‘well, whole.’”

So, how can we possibly know God? How can we, broken and sinful men and women, draw near to Him? Listen to what Tozer went on to add:

“Caught in this dilemma, what are we Christians to do? We must like Moses cover ourselves with faith and humility while we steal a quick look at the God whom no man can see and live. The broken and the contrite heart He will not despise. We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ as Moses hid himself in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passed by. We must take refuge from God in God. Above all we must believe that God sees us perfect in His Son while He disciplines and chastens and purges us that we may be partakers of His holiness.”

Here’s to hiding ourselves in the wounds of Christ. Have a HOLY New Year!