Holiness is Not an Option

What do you think when you read a passage of Scripture like this, “Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16)? How does it make you feel when you know that this command comes from God who is defined by this truth in Isaiah 6: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory”?

If you are like most believers you may feel inadequate, you may feel unworthy of holiness, you may think you can never be holy and meet this command, or you may never even think of holiness at all. Welcome to the impossibility of being holy and therefore, being what the Lord commands... unless you understand what He has already done for you. 

If we are to manifest His glory (what we were created to do) then we must have His character (what we were created to be). So, how holy do you feel? Well, hold on - let’s start at the beginning with what does holy mean. 

The literal translation is to be set apart and as we see in the Isaiah 6 passage, God is the most set apart being in the world. Not only is He holy, but He is holy - holy (the holier of the holy). Not only is He holy - holy, but He is holy - holy - holy (the holiest of the holier of the holy). There is no one like Him and this holiness is displayed in His nature and His character. So, when He says, “Be holy because I am holy,” what He is saying is that in order to show My glory, you must have My character - My holiness.

Impossible, right? Well, take a look at Hebrews 10:10 and Hebrews 10:14 and see what the Lord has done to solve this impossible situation. Hebrews 10:10 says, By That will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.    (NKJV). A close look here shows a very important truth - that by God’s will, we (believers) have been made (past tense - already done) sanctified (perfect - holy - set apart) by Christ’s offering (His death and resurrection) once for all. Wow! Through Christ’s work God has made us holy. 

Now look at verse 14, For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.  (NKJV). Here the writer of Hebrews says that by that one offering (Christ’s death and resurrection) God has perfected (made holy) FOREVER (how long is forever?) those (believers) who are being (present tense) perfected (made holy)!

Here is the incredible point: God made us holy (our position) through Christ’s work, so that we can be who He created us to be - holy in our daily lives (our condition) as we work in His power to live like who we already are. You already are what God commands you to be so you can now live like He wants you to live - holy. What an amazing God.

Glory Be

Have you ever wondered what the phrase “Give God the Glory” actually means? And even more so, “How do I give Him that glory?” In the afterglow of Easter this phrase, or some derivation of it, has been used countless times but do we really understand what it means?

The literal meaning of glory is found in the phrase “to be heavy” and when it is applied to God it has at its core the idea that He is to be given honor and respect because He is weighty or of immense value. Psalm 19:1 says it this way - The heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament shows His handiwork and Habakkuk 2:14 states - For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. In other words, God’s glory (His weightiness, value, or heaviness) is on display in His creation.

Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines God’s glory as: “the manifestation of His divine attributes and perfections.” By this definition God’s glory is the visible display of His omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence as well as His holiness, love, mercy, kindness, justice, joy, peace, patience, etc... So, one way of glorifying God is to recognize and praise Him for the visible display of Himself in His creation. This is seen throughout the Psalms and is reflected in Paul’s statement in Romans 1 when he says that God has made Himself known through His creation. The significance of God is seen in His unique nature and character, so glory is the visible expression of the character of God. 

But let’s make this personal. Genesis 1 tells us that we were made in His image, with His essence and character. Paul affirms this by expressing that In Christ we have the fruits of the Spirit as seen in Galatians 5. In other words, we were created in the image (with the ability to manifest the visible character) of God. That is those character traits that we can reflect - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc... and when we do that we are reflecting His image. We are doing what we were created to do - be the image bearers or manifest the character of God to His creation. 

So, when Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31,Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God what he is saying is whatever you do, do it in such a way as to reflect the character of God. To glorify God then, is to manifest the character of God to the world. In fact the Westminster Shorter Catechism says: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Our chief goal is to display God’s character, be His image bearer, manifest  His attributes to a world that, whether they know it or not, are dying to know HIm.

His character (glory) is on display in His best creation… you and me! So when I display His character I am doing what I was created to do. God has chosen you and me to be the conduit through which He reveals His character to His creation. Make today the day that you choose to be who you were created to be - the glory "revealer" of God. Glory Be!

Mark

Reverse Engineering Your Life

Easter is a great time of reflection as we look to what Christ sacrificed on our behalf.

At the most recent Gathering breakfast with Jeff Struecker of Black Hawk Down fame, Jeff made mention of a devotion that struck him so deeply it altered how he approached a very difficult and life threatening situation.

He was faced with going back into an ambush situation and was struggling with not wanting to do it when he was reminded of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was there that Jesus said basically, "not My will but Yours, God." Taking Jesus example to heart helped Jeff see his situation in a completely different light.

Let me help make this very personal to each of us. When Jesus made this statement in the Garden, He was making a choice... literally he was choosing FOR you and me. He was choosing to do what God asked Him to do.  He was choosing to suffer and die for you and me.  He was choosing to die so that we would live.

His choice had eternal consequences. He chose then for you and me now and for the future. He was looking forward to what His actions then would accomplish today.

So, let us ask ourselves this question... "Are we living our lives today with a view to what His sacrifice secured for us... eternal life?"  We live for a limited time on this earth and then, as ones who have trusted Christ, we live in eternity with Him. How long is eternity?  Eternal!  So why don’t we begin to view our lives from heaven backwards.  In other words, reverse engineer our lives from an eternal perspective.  Jesus did that for us when He chose us 2000 years ago in the Garden.

As the old saying goes, “Only one life, twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last."  This Easter let’s look at choosing FOR Him because He chose FOR us.

Have a blessed Easter