“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty,
who was and who is and who is to come.” – Revelation 4:8
For God is Love. We, in large measure, greatly underestimate the holiness of God, while we simultaneously underestimate the severity of our sins in relation to His holiness. God is morally pure, perfect, without any flaw or defect whatsoever; that is what holy means. Do not make the same mistake I did for many years of judging God based on what you see all around us in this fallen, sinful world (or by the actions of sinful man), for this is not what He created. What we see today is what man created by being disobedient to God.
In the fullness of time, we will see sin for what it really is and how bad it really is (and that it deserves the penalty of death), and we will see God for who He truly is. “God is love” – in fact, a love so pure that we have a very hard time understanding it, for “as the heavens are higher than the earth, are His ways higher than our ways.” Even further, there is not (cannot be) even the merest, tiniest, most infinitesimal amount of anything but love in God (1 John 1:5)! For if any moral impurity whatsoever (i.e., hate, pride, malice, dishonesty, deception, lying, unrighteous anger, etc.) were to be found in God, it would be magnified by His omnipotence and perfected by His eternality to fill His entire being instantly, leading to self-extinction (see 1 Corinthians 5:6). God “dwells” in light. He appears in the brightest, purest white light you’ve ever seen or can ever imagine. It is not an impure light like the sun, but imagine something a million times brighter, whiter and purer. It’s not like any light we see in this material world.
The true nature of His love is so far beyond our level of comprehension that we struggle to find words to adequately describe it. We often hear the words “holy” and “love,” but we seldom pause or stop to think very deeply about Who God really is, to contemplate His nature and His holiness. When you do, it leaves you in a state of complete and total awe and wonder (amazement), with a healthy respect and righteous “fear of the Lord.” I am limited to using finite imperfect vocabulary here to convey the nature of an infinitely holy God; any words, therefore, fail to do adequate justice to the subject.
And finally, always remember that when we see Jesus, we are seeing Holy God Himself, for they are One and the Same, as it is written:
He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. – Colossians 1:15-16
When Christ returns on the Great Day of Judgment and everyone who has ever lived (both the saved and the lost) sees for themselves the unimaginable holiness and glory of the Lord fully revealed before their very eyes, they will be in such utter awe, shock, and amazement that it will almost certainly be a moment without words of any kind.
When Christ returns on the Great Day of Judgment and everyone who has ever lived (both the saved and the lost) sees for themselves the unimaginable holiness and glory of the Lord fully revealed before their very eyes, they will be in such utter awe, shock, and amazement that it will almost certainly be a moment without words of any kind. It is written:
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. – Romans 14:10b-12
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” – John 20:29
The glory of the Lord will so far surpass anything they ever even remotely imagined that it will be almost beyond comprehension. And then to think, after seeing such glory and holiness of the Lord fully revealed, the lost will be banished to the “place of outer darkness” forever, “away from the presence” of the Lord. That is truly gut-wrenching to think about. I really wish more people would stop and seriously contemplate the Lord’s holiness, as I think it would help them come to see God for Who He really is and want to know more about Him and His Christ Jesus.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. – 1 John 4:8
[God]…who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. – 1 Timothy 6:16
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? – 1 Corinthians 5:6
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. – 1 John 1:5
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9
Your way, O God, is holy;
What god is great like our God? – Psalm 77:13
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:13-16
Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name. – Psalm 97:12
But the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. – Isaiah 5:16
And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.” – Revelation 15:3b-4
“I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
“A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat,
And the books were opened.” – Daniel 7:9-10
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out 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 trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” – Isaiah 6:1-5
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” – Revelation 1:12-18
Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”
And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,
“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” – Revelation 4:5-5:13
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,
“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.” – Revelation 5:11-14
