God is Wholly
I’ve been thinking today about the nature and character of God. One of the staple words used to describe our Creator is “Holy” as in “Our God is Holy” or “Holy God,” or even “Holy of Holies.”
Do a little digging on the word “holy” and you’ll discover its not quite the halo-over-your-head, never-hurt-a-fly kind of holy you thought it was growing up. Apparently, “holy” means “different, other, alien.” So – if God is holy, than God is…”other.” That’s true – but it isn’t exactly revealing much about who God is or what God is like.
Take a poll of most people, and they’ll tell you that God is “a white-haired, judgmental, old grandfather in the sky.” God for most people is just more of the same – more of the fear, condemnation, and hate-filled world we live in. A constant stream of bad news flows into our homes from the media, and horrifying acts of violence, abuse, and disrespect happen all around us…even within us. If God is nothing more than more judgment, can he really be holy?
If this world is all about judgment, and if God is all about being holy, then God’s character must primarily be something “other” than judgment. 1 John 4:8 says that “love comes from God,” and that we as children of God ought to love, for God is love.“ John 5:22 says, “The Father (God) judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge.”
Judgment is still in the picture; we are all to blame for the mess we’ve created on this earth. But thankfully, the one who has the authority to judge has forgiven us and has taken those judgments upon himself. If we have the courage to honor Jesus, his life and teachings, we’ll find that instead of participating in the judgment of this earth, we’ll begin to participate in love. This is true love – the kind that comes not out of a sense of obligation or moral/social survival, but because we know whose we are.
John 13:3,4 is an interesting case in point. Here sits Jesus, pure, blameless, loving even his enemies. He sits among his confused, fearful disciples – one of whom is his betrayer, his hit man. But these verses say it all, “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet…”
Jesus loved out of a sense of intimacy and identity with the Holy God he was a part of. This love is what makes God, and those who love God, holy. God cannot be primarly an angry, wrathful, judgmental God; not if we consider him to be holy. He is something wholly other than the poison on this earth – he is love. If we choose to refuse Christ’s forgiveness, then our judgment falls back on ourselves, and we are left to our own devices.
Thoughts?
Chris Evans, and 
millertalbot are discussing.
millertalbot 1:14 pm on October 3, 2008 Permalink
mark,
you’ve got some really good ideas here! i like what you’re doing by actually defining “holy” for us.
however, i’ve got some questions for you…
you said, “If this world is all about judgment, and if God is all about being holy, then God’s character must primarily be something “other” than judgment.”
i’m not sure i agree this world is all about judgment. i think it’s about a lot more than that. it’s also about beauty and love and acceptance… and God is not “other” than those things. i mean, he made the world didn’t he so how can a God who is not about judgment make a world that is all about judgment???
how does this work?
you said, “we are all to blame for the mess we’ve created on this earth. But thankfully, the one who has the authority to judge has forgiven us and has taken those judgments upon himself.”
OK, this sounds a little contradictory. (first i feel like you’ve judged me by saying i’m to blame for the mess we’re in) you said God isn’t primarily about judgment, and then that he has the authority to judge. arent’ you implying that there will still be a judgment… we’re not all forgiven are we??? i’ve always been taught there will be a judgment day and there will be many who get thrown into hellfire, in fact more will burn than don’t according to my bible teachers. i thought you said God is different from the part of us that is eager to judge…
???
talk to me more about God’s holiness and God’s judgment how can the two be reconciled???
i’m confused
(i hope you don’t mind me playing around some, i’m not really very confused about what you’re saying… just pushing a little
Mark 1:34 pm on October 3, 2008 Permalink
You bring up great points Miller. Thanks for thinking through this post with me.
I agree that God’s character is not quite as linear as I made it sound in my post. Ultimately nothing can be deduced about who God really is that he hasn’t revealed to us. He is both revealed and concealed. That tension will remain no matter how much we try to dissect him.
Speaking of continual tensions in God’s character – his judgment and his holiness. By saying, “This world is all about judgment.” I was referring to the urge of humanity to condemn itself – through prejudice, distrust, sanction, war, and hate. We see it every night on the evening news. It seems to be pervasive throughout humanity. That is not to say that God isn’t in the process of redeeming us from this self-declared judgment. Of course we see selflessness, love, reconciliation and more in humanity – this I believe (consciously or not) comes from God, communicating pictures of his nature. I believe we are most holy (set apart from the hate of the world) when we are most able to abstain from judgment – that’s why Jesus talked about loving your enemies, and taking the log out of your own eye.
As for your thoughts, “We’re not all forgiven are we?” There seems to be 2 kinds of forgiveness in my eyes. First the the forgiveness that Christ has offered us, his accusers – his betrayers. “Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they’re doing.” I believe he extends the hand of forgiveness to every person. But I believe that forgiveness must be accepted if it is to make any difference in the relationship. (Just look at marriages of infidelity – the offended spouse may forgive, but the unfaithful spouse may never forgive him/herself, thus poisoning/ending the relationship.) Christ has forgiven us all, but we can’t accept it until we recognize what we’ve done against him. My post wasn’t about universal salvation – it was saying God’s nature is about reconciliation. He had every right to judge us, but he passed that responsibility to Jesus Christ who hung it on the cross, and chose to offer peace instead.
God is holy – because he seems to be the only one out there ready to lay the weapons of blame, guilt, and division down, and ask that people simply become what they already are – children of God. Most of the world will never hear that – to their own destruction. But my goal is to share the true nature of our holy God with everyone I meet.
Push back if needed – I like the convo.
millertalbot 9:09 pm on October 3, 2008 Permalink
good stuff Mark! i love it and i think you’ve more than answered all my questions…
you’re a great theologian bro!
peace
Chris Evans 2:21 pm on July 12, 2009 Permalink
Mark,
I am curious about the characteristics of God that you are saying are concealed? What portions or parts of God are you saying He is hiding from man?
As far as being most holy, people that claim no belief or faith in Christ can be non-judgemental. Are you saying that these people are holy? I think part of the problem in your explanation is a wrong definition of the word holy. I do not know where you dug up the meaning of holy, but what I found is quite different. Holy: “exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.” There were some other definitions, but most of them centered around the theme of being divine. I did not find any definition that said holy meant “different, other, alien.” Man is not holy, Christian or not, and will not be holy until they are presented complete in Christ standing before the judgement seat of Christ. To think that man can be holy is a gross misstep towards pride. The only way we can work towards holiness is to lose ourself to Christ, to be a literal slave to Christ. A natural byproduct of that devotion will be a correct thinking of who we are, sinners who are forever separated from God because of our sin. The sacrifice of Christ allows those who are called to cross that expanse through Christ Jesus.
Make no mistake, Christ will come to judge. He has not unilaterally forgiven everyone. His sacrifice was sufficient to cover all sin, from everyone. But that does not make us forgiven. We are forgiven once we seek true repentance. Once we repent and turn from our sin, then we are forgiven.
Your comment: “ask that people simply become what they already are – children of God.” is not exactly accurate. Yes we are created by God and in that sense we are children of God. However the Bible is clear in that while we are in our sin we are also enemies of God. Our nature is to sin, our desire is to be self-serving. The Bible says that none seeks after God, no, not even one! It is through the calling of God that we thirst for Him. Our prayers should be songs of repentance and thankfulness to our God, our Creator, our Savior.
In Him,
Chris
Mark 6:51 am on July 13, 2009 Permalink
Chris,
Hello and welcome!
I believe we may be experiencing some discrepancies in our definition of terms. First – I believe God actually enjoys hiding things about himself from humanity, in part so that we will continue to seek and find him. Spiritual formation is a process of discovering more and more about God. I read about this in Song of Solomon where the 2 lovers spend the book slowly discovering new parts of their beloved. Also in that we learn more about God over the millennia that the bible covers, including the revelation of Jesus in the Gospels.
“Holy” in the Hebrew literally means “other, alien, or different.” English definitions may vary. I agree that a part of God’s holiness is his absolute goodness, something we have to say is completely other than humanity – which is scarred with evil and sin.
People are created good – and while marred with sin, they’re identity never changes. As long as they are created by God, there’s no changing that. My hope is that those who do not follow God may discover who they are and WHOSE they are and turn toward their Father.