The Beauty of Holiness

Waiting on him said:

It's the very reason on my opinion, we are created.

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For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

Naomi25 said:

We all intellectually acknowledge that God is worthy to be praised. But I think it’s probably impossible for us to truly grasp what sort of being God is, to be worthy of praise from time immemorial to eternity future. To be so worthy that there are great, mighty beings whose very existence is to proclaim this worthiness in constant praise.
I think if we could grasp this a little better, we would better understand the depth of depravity of sin. Gods holiness is what burns the sinful should they look upon him.
I read some of the things great theologians ponder about God and I can barely keep up with their reasonings...so I have little chance of understanding in any great measure the holiness of God. All I can do is understand the weight of what it took to bridge the gap between a holy God and a sinful person, and be oh so thankful he loved me!

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There are no doubt aspects of God which we cannot grasp but when it comes to holiness, what is necessary and able to grasp is revealed in Jesus.
Trying to get a handle on holiness independent of Jesus as I see it, leaves the imagination to go skewed as is evident in 'religious' unveiling.

quietthinker said:

There are no doubt aspects of God which we cannot grasp but when it comes to holiness, what is necessary and able to grasp is revealed in Jesus.
Trying to get a handle on holiness independent of Jesus as I see it, leaves the imagination to go skewed as is evident in 'religious' unveiling.

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It’s certainly true we have an accurate picture of God in Christ...he tells us that very thing! But, I think we need to remember that when Christ came the first time, it was in humility and humanity. Which means that even though he was still divine, his divinity was not on full display. When we speak of Gods holiness, we think of Moses begging to look upon God, and God agreeing that Moses may look upon Gods train, and only when God covers Moses’ face with his own hand. And that left Moses’ face shining with such intensity that the Israelities begged Moses to cover his face with a bag!
If Christ had been displaying such glory and holiness as he walked among us we wouldn’t have survived. And also no one would have doubted who he was!
We get a glimpse of this nature on the Mt of transfiguration, but even then we must say his true divine nature was...muted. After all, Peter, James and John all survived the incident and did not come down with glowing faces.
My point is: while we can absolutely look at Christ to see the nature of Gods love, mercy and grace...many other attributes as well...there are other things that we must look elsewhere in scripture for a complete picture of. And I believe the holiness of God is something that only comes together when we consider both Old and New Testament revelation of who God is.

Naomi25 said:

And I believe the holiness of God is something that only comes together when we consider both Old and New Testament revelation of who God is.

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Interesting you should make this comment. The Sanctuary system, the complete enchilada, was for the purpose of giving the people a view into the plan of redemption i.e., what and why God is up to what he is up to. Too often it is dismissed as antiquated symbolism that has no relevance today when in fact it reaches right into our day and demands a wake up.

quietthinker said:

Interesting you should make this comment. The Sanctuary system, the complete enchilada, was for the purpose of giving the people a view into the plan of redemption i.e., what and why God is up to what he is up to. Too often it is dismissed as antiquated symbolism that has no relevance today when in fact it reaches right into our day and demands a wake up.

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Well, it’s surely true that the OT isn’t to be dismissed, and the Temple was set up as a reflection of the heavenly, which cannot pass away. But we would do well to remember what happened to the inner sanctuary when Christ died on the cross. The veil was torn giving all men access to the “Holy of Holies”. As it were; a time had come for us to worship in spirit and truth, rather than within walls.
Our God does not change, but how we come before him has, and thank goodness for it!

marks said:

I've been meditating on this for a bit . . . I'm interested in anything anyone has to say about . . .

. . . Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness.

Psalm 29:2
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.


@Episkopos I'm hoping to hear from you. @Not me @Naomi25 . . . start naming names and I want to start putting everyone! @amadeus @Waiting on him @Giuliano @justbyfaith @Heart2Soul @Brakelite2 who else? @Nancy @theophilus @Eternally Grateful @charity

Much love!

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Hello @marks,

Thank you for including me in the list.

'Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name:
bring an offering, and come before Him:
worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.'
(1 Chronicles 16:29)

'And when he had consulted with the people,
he appointed singers unto the LORD,
and that should praise the beauty of holiness,
as they went out before the army,
and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.'
(2 Chronicles 20:21)

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name;
worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
(Psalm 29:2)

'O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness:
fear before Him, all the earth.'
(Psalm 96:9)

* Beautiful! Thank you marks.
* The meaning seems to be, 'in His glorious sanctuary'. (Bible marginal notes)

In Christ Jesus
Chris

marks said:

I've been meditating on this for a bit . . . I'm interested in anything anyone has to say about . . .

. . . Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness.

Psalm 29:2
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.


@Episkopos I'm hoping to hear from you. @Not me @Naomi25 . . . start naming names and I want to start putting everyone! @amadeus @Waiting on him @Giuliano @justbyfaith @Heart2Soul @Brakelite2 who else? @Nancy @theophilus @Eternally Grateful @charity

Much love!

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What comes to my mind is:

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Revelation 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The feet of the saints intrigue me since I believe an intersection can be made between Heaven and earth. The very Power of Heaven itself can be pulled down, almost like an electrical current; and where that Power reaches, any spiritual impurities within matter are burned away. Indeed, where Moses stood was holy ground -- because he was standing there and receiving Wisdom and Power from God. Sinai smoked too -- with a spiritual smoke, the impurities of matter being consumed and converted to spiritual smoke.

The feet of the saints generally perform their task more gently however. Thus Abraham was consecrating the land wherever he walked; but it would take hundreds of years for that to bear fruit so it could be called the "Holy Land." People may smile at my belief that angels can see the footprints of where the saints have walked. Notice too that Abraham might have "defiled" his feet by accepting anything from the citizens of Sodom -- even a shoelatchet maybe even especially a shoelatchet.

I also believe Jesus consecrated and purified the feet of the Apostles when he washed their feet. I doubt they could have acted like "lightning rods" to attract the Holy Spirit down on Pentecost had Jesus not done that.

I am on the earth -- can I hear from Heaven? Can that connection be made?

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Hello again @marks,

I think of John 4:23-24:-

'But the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth:
for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.'
(John 4:23)

'God is a Spirit:
and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth.'
(John 4:24)

* The true worshippers who worship God, do so in spirit, and through that sacrifice which God has accepted, even Christ our substitute, on Whom the Divine judgement fell instead of His People. 'BY HIM it is that we offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name' (Hebrews 13:15). There is no other worship now which He accepts, and no other worshippers whom the Father seeks to worship Him.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

Hello @marks,

marks said:

What does it mean to say that God is Holy?
He is always true to His Own goodness, is something I've been thinking.

Much love!

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Hello @marks,

God said to the children of Israel, 'be ye holy, for I am holy'.
God is Holy, 'set apart', because of His eminence. The believer has been 'set apart' (ie., sanctified) unto Him too, in Christ Jesus, for His service. In Ephesians 1:4, we are told that the members of the church of the One Body, were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. 'Holy and without blame', not because of anything we have done, but because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, in love. It is a finished work, and in His sight we are indeed, HOLY and WITHOUT BLAME, in Christ Jesus our risen Lord. It is a work borne of love.

Praise God!

In Christ Jesus
Chris