Sermon 121
Sermon by Paul McCormick at Wonersh
on Sunday 24th February 2008
The Holiness of God
Readings: BibleGateway - Job
38:1-11 and BibleGateway.com
- 1Peter 1:13-21
Subject tonight is
the Holiness of God.
I want to cover
this in 3 ways as follows:
The word holy and
holiness are often use somewhat glibly. They are still used of the Pope as a
title that comes with the office. Similarly they are used of the Dali Lama. In
that context the title is used in the same way as we refer to “Her Majesty the
Queen” or “His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury”.
However it is clear
in scripture that it is not linked to an office nor is it something automatic.
Our word in English
is of Germanic origin and has an early meaning of being whole or complete or
perfect. It is therefore sometime used as a word in “holistic” meaning taking
everything into account.
In Latin the word
is “sanctus” from which comes
the French word “saint” and our word saint. We also get our word sanctify from
the same Latin root being combined with facere “to
make” giving the meaning of making holy. And in Greek hagios.
The word used in
Hebrew is kadesh.
It is clear in the
Old Testament, that holy as used of God has a special meaning. It means set
apart or completely different.
Therefore the first
thing to define and look at is who is God.
Let’s cast our
minds back to Genesis 1 where we are told that in the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth out of nothing. Even scientists now believe that creation
started with a big bang and matter came from nothing. Physicists tell us that
if we keep probing into the world of atoms, we find that matter is mainly empty
space consisting of force fields. They have drawn up complicated equations to
explain it. But the very fact that you can write an equation means that the
forces are obeying a law.
Similarly when we
look into the skies and see the array of stars which we are now told are
millions of light years away, we can but echo the Psalmist 8 v3 and in 19 v1.
To the Psalmist, the wonder of creation was self evident. To modern man it
would seem that it is not so evident. The fact is that the inanimate creation
around us does obey laws to such an extent that we can predict to within
seconds exactly when certain things such as eclipses, new moons etc will
happen.
God’s wonderful
message to Job 38 is a piece of classic Hebrew poetry but still rings
wonderfully in English. Just who did Job think he was to argue with God? The
god who created that great fiery furnace we know as the sun on which all life
depends. So intense is the heat that no life can approach
anywhere near it. Yet God is there. Similarly in Job God tells jobs he
has been in the deepest oceans. Who can reach into the stars, who can know the
laws of the heavens? The questions are rhetorical but clearly man cannot do any
of these. We now know that the ground on which we stand is but a crust on a
molten core. Matter was created apparently from great volumes of gas. The very
materials which we use are actually quite remarkable. The water on which life
depends has been given remarkable properties. For example the fact that it has
a maximum density at about 5°C and expands when it freezes means that ice
floats on the surface of lakes and seas and the water at the bottom of the lake
stays at 5°C where the fish can live. There are many examples of how the
inanimate universe has been apparently tailored to support life on earth.
In
chapter 39 God moves on to the animate world and talks of the animals. Likewise, animals in their
natural habitat are where God placed them.
God is telling Job
that he is way outside anything Job can think of. Theologians use different
words such as transcendent, ineffable, ubiquitous, immortal, almighty,
omniscient, -
all these words are used to try and describe something which is way beyond our
comprehension. This is what God was saying to Job.
We have many other
examples in the Old Testament. Isaiah’s calling in Is 6 is a case in point.
Here God is revealed as a glorious being in the temple. Isaiah uses what words
he can to describe something that was terrifying. It took the purifying fire
from the altar to allow him to speak.
The call of Moses
likewise saw god as a consuming fire but the bush was not consumed.
Ezekiel in Ez 1 had a similar vision where he struggles to describe just
what god was like.
All these examples
are used by the Old Testament writers to impress on us that God was someone
totally different. He was not at all like the Pagan gods who had limited power
and exercised such power as they had in a local area. As Paul tells us such
Gods are actually demons. No the God revealed in scripture is the all powerful
creator of the universe.
The Problem of sin
Now we must move to
the second part of our investigation. We have seen that God is a spiritual
being who single handedly created the universe. So
what is the problem? The problem is sin. Again we have to look at the meaning
of sin and we get a very good definition in 1 John 3 v4 where it is defined as
lawlessness. In the authorised it translates this as “transgression of the
law”. However it is rather more than this. It is a state of not obeying the
laws and behaving as though there is no law. Contrast this to the universe as
God created it where everything follows the laws which God set. As it say s in
Job, the sea is given its limits, the stars their places, the moon its orbit.
But Man---? He chose lawlessness.
Here is what the
9th Article says:
Original sins standeth not in
the following of Adam( as the Pelagians
do vainly talk) but is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man,
that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam: whereby man is very far
gone from original righteousness and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so
that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit:
and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth
God’s wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in
them that are regenerated: whereby the lust of the flesh called in Greek phronema sarkos, which do some
expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire of the
flesh, is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation
for them that believe and are baptised, yet the Apostle doth confess that
concupiscence and lust hath of it self the nature of sin.
There is this big
problem and one which some modern teachers would sweep under the carpet. The
problem is in the genes as Paul in Romans makes clear.
Since the so-called
enlightenment in the 18th century, Positivists have suggested that mankind
is on an improvement curve and Darwinism in the 19Th century seemed
to support this. However this was followed in the 20th century by
one of most violent on record. It proves that the bible has got it right and
that the positivists have got it wrong. Lawlessness is a principle that marks
sinful man. This why Jesus told Nicodemus that the genetic
disease of sin can only be cured by new birth. Paul in 2 Cor tells us that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation. The redeeming wok of Christ therefore pays the penalty for sins
committed and new birth solves the genetic problem of original sin.
Now let’s look at
the passage in 1Peter. Peter recognised that man in the flesh under the control
of the old nature or of the flesh but to be holy, to be like God. This then
brings up what is meant by sanctification.
Paul views all
believers as sanctified, that is fit to speak to God as father. He addresses
the Romans, the Ephesians and the Philippians as saints. In Corinthians it is
those sanctified in Christ and called to be holy. It is clear that Paul did not
regard this as a lifetime’s work as the Roman Catholic Church would have us
believe and that this sanctification process can continue after death. This led
to the error of believing that somehow certain saints had built up a balance of
good works above that needed to be admitted to heaven. Hence the concept of
works of supererogation which the church could dispense as indulgences to
assist in sanctification.
Some writers such
as J C Ryle have
taught that sanctification is a process which can continue as we learn more
about God and the work of the Holy Spirit proceeds in us. What Peter says would
certainly support the view that sanctification of our lives is something to
work at. It does not affect our status before God but will affect our day to
day enjoyment of that status. If we indulge in a life style which is
displeasing to God, then we will not enjoy his fellowship to the full. As Paul
says in Romans 6 “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Certainly
not! It is clear that believers should have a different lifestyle from
unbelievers. There is a grave danger that we sink to the level of the world or
at least try to keep a slightly better standard than they do. Peter in chapter
4 says that the pagans think it strange that the Christians do not behave in
the same way as they do. Again nothing has changed, has it.
It is tough for young people these days. Paul’s exhortation to flee fornication
in 1 Cor 6 v18 is still true. In that chapter he warns
them that such persons will not inherit the
Bishop Ryle however
has a point. He remarks that James would challenge a believer who claims to be
justified and sanctified and have eternal life. James would say “Show me in
your lifestyle that this is so!” Peter tells us that our heavenly father judges
each mans life style impartially. Paul has a similar theme in 1 Cor 3 where he tells us that the foundation laid is Christ.
However what we build on that will be tested. If it is shoddy and combustible,
it will be consumed. Maybe this is where the RC’s get their idea of purgatory
as a place where our life’s work will be tested. Certainly Peter infers that
this will be judged so we should live our lives accordingly. Not in empty
traditions handed down from our forefathers but thorough the finished work of
Christ, the Lamb of God who was a sacrifice fro us.
Peter brings us
back to where we started this evening, to before the creation. When the
physical universe did not exist, God foresaw the emergence of sin and planned
the solution. If we contemplate the holiness of God and his abhorrence of sin,
it will help us not to trifle with sin. As John says in his epistle, if we do
sin we have an advocate with the father but the objective is to avoid it. If we
realise that it is something God hates because it spoiled his perfect universe
and necessitated the death of his son, then we would draw back from it. The
holiness of God is an exceedingly high standard and is one which the world
cannot imagine. It is nevertheless what the apostles tell us God expects of us
and is the standard he measures us by. While he accepts us a justified and
sanctified though the work of Christ, nevertheless we are expected in our daily
lives to demonstrate our desire to emulate the holiness of God