By Braeden Tairi
Which of these is more like God? The burning, six-winged Seraph that guards the throne of Heaven or the lowly worm in the dirt? The correct answer, if we’re being honest, is that neither of these things are like God.
Of course this is a bit of a cheeky question, but it does do a good job of quickly highlighting something that is often missed when talking about God’s holiness, and that is His separateness. Most people, when asked what it means that God is Holy, will usually have a response regarding His moral perfection and sinless nature. That is certainly true of God and His holiness, however it is only one aspect of what it truly means that God is Holy.
God’s holiness ultimately and simply means that He is set apart. What is God set apart from? Everything. Another way to put it is that God is completely separate from His creation. God is uncreated, which places Him in a completely different category from all things. Mountains, mole hills, crickets, roses, the sun, the moon, me, you, seraphim and lowly worms all fall into the same category when it’s all said and done: creation. God, being the creator, is by definition uncreated and therefore in a category of His own; in fact, to be safe, we might want to state that God is outside of category all together. God is immutable, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign and just; attributes that no other being can lay claim to.
R.C. Sproul sums up God’s holiness beautifully when he states – “Holiness refers to that sense in which God is above and beyond us. It tries to get at His supreme absolute greatness…. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. It points to the infinite distance that separates Him from every creature. He is an infinite cut above everything else.”
Nowhere else in the Bible is God’s holiness more on display than in Isaiah’s dazzling vision of Christ seated on His throne – “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)
The reactions of the people in this scene tell us a lot about the Holiness of the one on the throne. The Seraphim cover their faces, abashed as they consider their created form in the presence of the eternal one, the one who never began to exist. Isaiah, a man of comparative righteousness in his day, completely unravels in the presence of God Almighty.
This is the posture of all who come into contact with the Holy God of scripture. R.C. Sproul mentions in the quote above that God is an infinite cut about everyone and everything, and this is a traumatic reality for us as sinful creatures. While our attitude towards God should certainly be one of fear and awe, it shouldn’t be one of hopelessness.
It should quickly make us realise that as creatures we cannot appease the holy wrath God has against our sin, and therefore require an equally infinite person to extinguish that sin and reconcile us to God. Any idea of working our way into Gods good favour should be cast aside when we are confronted with His holiness.
God’s holiness should inspire awe in us and make our heads turn towards Jesus, the only one who could possibly bridge the infinite chasm our sin has placed between us and God. Hopelessness is not the response, but rather peace in the knowledge that we need a Saviour outside of ourselves. A Saviour whose arms are wide open.
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