Isaiah 6v3

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Holy: His Anger with sinners

So God’s holiness concerns his exalted majesty above creation. But of course that leads us to his holiness as a moral distinction. Holiness also speaks to us about the infinite perfection of his sinlessness; of his goodness and righteousness. It tells us of his innate hostility to what is less holy than himself. We see this with Adam, with Noah, with Moses.

Now holiness doesn’t make God so far away as to be aloof and disinterested. That is a wrong view of God. Holiness tells us that God is too holy to ignore us in our sin.

In his holiness he demands our perfection, dictates to us his commandments, requires our obedience. In his holiness he is roused by our flaws; in his holiness he is angry with our transgressions; and in his holiness he is determined to work vengeance and extract justice for our depravities.

How should we react to this? There ought to be some reaction of fear and the sense of impurity, a consciousness of sin, of offence, and of conviction, v5. The offended holiness of God is not a trifle, it is not a performance or a put on. It is the true expression of the very who God is when confronted with sinners.

Holy: His Salvation of Sinners

Now we love to think about salvation. God proclaims peace on earth, god will toward men. His Son is anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to set at liberty them that are bound. It is a marvellous salvation.

But it is a holy salvation. Here sinners are being handled by God, accepted by God, changed by God, inhabited by God, fathered by God, loved by God. The worst sinners and the lowest classes are in fellowship with God. And yet it is a most Holy salvation.

It was always a holy salvation. Ever since the Fall, amidst all the types and pictures God was making clear that his way of salvation would be holy. It could not be anything else. It had to be holy, for he is holy.

Of all the holy places recorded in the Old Testament (think of Eden, or Bethel, or Sinai) - where was the most holy place of all for any saints of that time? The answer is easy: The Holy of Holies, that innermost sanctum of the tabernacle or temple. Now that most holy place is also the place that most clearly spoke about salvation, about God dwelling with men. This is no coincidence.

And in the Old Testament what was the most holy object? Not the ten commandments on stone, nor the brasen altar even. The ark of the covenant.

And what part of the ark of the covenant was most holy - ah the mercy seat! There even the cherubim sought to cover it with their wings.

God was always teaching that salvation would be holy.

Now let us come to the salvation of Christ on the Cross. It was a vile scene. A repulsive view. Three men torn and in the agonies of death. The crowd baying for their end. The soldiers exercising their cruelty. The highest classes of the Jews debasing themselves to name-calling, to mockery and to taunts. There you have the full depravity of man in plain view.

But also there is the spiritual presence of evil. There is Satan, dancing his victory-dance. There are the hounds of hell, opening their jaws against Christ. What a scene it is!

And there still, more awesome yet - God is dealing with his Son, as though he were the greatest of sinners. As though he had lived the lives of millions of sinners. He was made sin. And oh, friend, of all the scenes in the Bible that you would go to if you were looking for holiness, who would go to Calvary?!

But listen. Listen to the word of Christ on the Cross, as recorded in Ps 22:

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

In all his dealings with his Son, God acted in deepest holiness at Calvary.

There, as nowhere else, we see the holiness of his anger at sin. There as nowhere else we see how God is above us, utterly different from us - this salvation would never have entered into the heart of man. 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God did it.

Neither was the holiness of the Son ever lost or compromised at Calvary. Listen again to the Scriptures on this point: against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

Holy, Holy, Holy. Separate. Angry. Saving. Holy. Holy. Holy.

Christian, do not fall into the trap of thinking that now, in the New Testament age, that the God of the Cross is less holy than before. See the care that ancient Israel took in their approaches to God. Be aware of his holiness when you approach him, publicly and privately.

Don’t think that, since Calvary, you only have to deal with a forgiving God, not a Holy God. God was fully holy at the Cross. His holy anger with sin rained blows on the representative of sinners. His holy majesty exalted over Creation; working salvation in a way that could not have been accomplished by any creature, nor even thought of.

Calvary is holy. Christian, you are reconciled with God in all his holiness. Take courage on this very point. God took of all his ire, but he did not take of one whit of his holiness. All the holiness of God was present and approved of your Saviour and your salvation.

Seeker - come to this point with confidence. If you’ve been hiding from the holiness of God, you have been hiding from the Cross of Christ, where your only hope of salvation lies. Meet him today, in the holiness of his salvation.