Lion Heart ENCOURAGE - What God asks of us Pt3 - Holiness

Encouragement:

Hey Man of God!

Today we will continue on the topic of what God asks of us. The first two parts covered Love and Faithfulness. Today we will delve into Holiness. A tough one indeed.

Looking across the broad landscape of scripture we can see these 4 ‘responses’ that God asks of us. He requires from us:

·        Love

·        Faithfulness

·        Holiness

·        Trust

If you’re just joining this mini-series please use the links below to catch right up.

Part 1 Love can be found here: https://www.hopenation.faith/post/lion-heart-encourage-what-god-asks-of-us

Part 2 Faithfulness can be found here: https://www.hopenation.faith/post/lion-heart-encourage-what-god-asks-of-us-pt2-faithfulness

Holiness. It’s both a journey and a state of being.

Holiness can be described in several different ways. By default, we think of Holiness as moral purity, and this is correct as the word means to be unspotted/separate and untainted by unholy surroundings. The other way of describing Holiness is the word Mature, or Complete. Almost like the word Shalom means more than simply peace; but peace, wholeness, nothing lacking nothing broken and nothing missing. When the Jews say Shalom to each other, they are kind of saying ‘be holy’. (😊 This is not a doctrine, just an interesting connection I made). Being Holy also means to be Unique, as if to say that there’s nothing quite like it. God’s Holiness is also Good. It is not something to be seen in a negative light, although it can be dangerous, it is actually utterly good.

And thus, if we put all of these together, we see that God being Holy shows us that He is Fully Mature, lacking nothing to be complete, He is absolutely pure in all His ways and in His being, and He is Unique, there is none like Him, at all, anywhere.

(And He loves you!)

Moving on, I’d like you to imagine for a moment a story of a secret Admirer and the object of His love, a fair maiden.

1 John 3:1 ESV “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

John 3:16 ESV ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Rom 5:8 ESV “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This secret Admirer has had His eye on this fair maiden from the very first day, you could say from before the foundation of the world actually. You could even say that she is the apple of His eye. She captures His attention like nothing else in all creation. But she is unaware of this attention, of this consuming love. And the reason that He can’t show this love to her is a little complicated. One of these complications are that He doesn’t want to reveal His full identity to her all at once as it could affect how she responds back towards Him. Knowing who He really is will probably not illicit a true and honest response from her.

One of the other big complexities is that He is Holy, and she is not.

His Holiness is so pure, so good, so intense, so undiluted it burns brighter than the brightest star in the heavens. Its intensity permeates every corner of His dwelling place. Nothing that is near Him can be unholy. His Holiness is Good, but it can be dangerous.

He would love to run to her and to embrace her in His everlasting arms. To swing her around and around twirling her from one level of Heaven to another. But if He just went out and did it, if He just ran to her, then she would go ‘poof’. Gone. Consumed.

Somewhat like what happens to a mosquito that flies into those blue light electrified contraptions. Poof. Vaporised in a split second.  My brothers, GOD IS HOLY HOLY HOLY.  I think we need a healthy firmware upgrade on our understanding of how Holy God is!! It is beyond our comprehension. It’s a serious matter.

So, we have a textbook Catch 22. Overflowing lavish love for her, and an undiluted burning Holiness. So what now? We’ll delve into the solution shortly.

Furthermore, do you know what God is actually also a bookkeeper? Everything in His magnificent Universe has to balance out. Actually, His holiness demands that everything is in balance, and that everything is right. Holiness demands Righteousness. And so, when sin entered the world, the ‘books’ went out of balance. Sin put the universe out of kilter, like a ship sailing skew.

Rom 6:23 “ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not to worry, He always has it covered. Where there is ‘a wrong’ it has to be ‘paid’. He has always had a plan to balance the books.

God starts the process of re-unification with His fair maiden with a ‘temporary’ solution called ritual purification via sacrifices. The payment for a wrong is an innocent life.

Sin = Death.

Sin is so serious that a life has to be given to atone for it, to pay for it. GOD HATES SIN. This death that is needed to cleanse us is also supposed to show us how Holy He is and how destructive sin is.

During the animal sacrifice the ‘sinner’ is present during the shedding of the animal’s blood. Now I don’t know if you’ve every cut an animal’s throat before, but it is pretty intense. The ‘sinner’ had to be part of this process so that the wages of sin can clearly and personally be seen and experienced. This is a vivid illustration of how costly sin is.

On the one hand blood sacrifices atone for sin, but also, blood sacrifices also teach us how serious sin is. ‘The Law’ itself as a whole also doubles as a thorough lesson about sin and holiness. The Law is a teacher, but not a saviour.

There’s a lot of wrongs in the world that need to be righted. A lot of tabs that need to be settled. If ever things can be brought back into balance again, it will take a ginormous effort, and a monumental price will be levied.

The secret Admirer knew from the beginning that a permanent solution will be needed. She needed a Saviour. The whole of humanity needed a Saviour.

So, His plan kicked into motion that same day that He saw her at a distance.

1 Peter 1:19-20

“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”

Rev 13:8

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

But it wasn’t a simple matter. In actual fact, like most situations that involve true love, it will cost Him His own life. To pay for all the debt, to balance the books for all mankind, His Own perfect blood will need to be spilled.

The ‘coverall’ solution allows man to be somewhat reunited with God, but it’s His permanent solution that forever takes care of the sin issue and pays the accounts and balances the books for good.

What a marvelous story of love and sacrifice!

Let’s move forward to our side of the story, to our response. Holiness. So, the sin is paid, the books are balanced, but what about our holiness. He is still Holy and it’s this Holiness that demands Holiness from us in return.

Just because the tab is permanently paid, doesn’t mean we can keep drinking at the bar. Just because His atoning blood fixed all our damaging behaviour, doesn’t mean we can keep shooting up the town and burning the buildings.

No!

Rom 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid!”

God is still Holy. And God demands a Holy bride for His son. Just because she has received the free gift of salvation, doesn’t mean He wants a harlot for a wife.

No!

God the Father wants to present a pure and spotless bride to His son. This is pivotal!

Leviticus 19:2 NKJV

“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”

This doesn’t sound like a suggestion to me. It’s a commandment.

Peter quotes this verse in 1 Peter which immediate makes it relevant for us today.

There are two important aspects that we must cover here: Holiness should not be confused with Salvation, nor should the we ever misunderstand that our Holiness earns us His love, nor does it earn us salvation.

He invites us in. It’s always God that initiates and we choose to respond. So how do we respond in Holiness?

Let me remind you again what Holiness is:

-            Absolute Purity

-            Absolute Goodness

-            Being fully mature and complete

-            Being unique and separate

Just like with God’s Holiness, it encompasses His entire being. And this is what He asks in return. I told you it was a tough one. But He is understanding, merciful and gracious. So we’re in good hands here. No need to stress about this process.

Let’s look at it practically. Holiness is a process. A process of preparation. Just like the queens of old, we need to be prepared for our King.

In ancient Jewish tradition, specifically in the biblical account of Esther, the process of preparation for a queen to marry the king involved a series of rituals and treatments. According to Esther 2:12, the preparation process for the virgins selected to be considered for marriage to King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes I) included:

• Purification: The virgins were required to undergo a 12-month process of purification, which included six months of treatment with myrrh oil and six months with perfumes and other cosmetics.

• Cosmetic treatments: The virgins were treated with various perfumes, oils, and cosmetics to prepare them for presentation to the king.

• Dietary restrictions: Although not explicitly mentioned in the biblical account, it is likely that the virgins followed a specific diet to ensure their physical and mental well-being during this period.

These preparations aimed to make the virgins, including Esther, presentable and attractive to the king. Esther, who was a Jewish orphan, eventually gained favour with the king and became the Queen of Persia.

The process mentioned above may not have been universal for all ancient Jewish queens, as the biblical account specifically refers to the practices of the Persian Empire during that time. However, it provides insight into the customs and traditions of the royal court during that era.

Who has God sent to prepare us? The Holy Spirit! Walking in step with the Holy Spirit will allow Him to Prepare us to meet the King.

Secondly, Isa 6:1-6 BSB

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

Then I said:  “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And with it he touched my mouth and said:

“Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

This is a profound scripture! As Isaiah says, so do I: Woe is me.

We can see something happens both here in Isa 6, but also in the New Testament, when Jesus touches people, their uncleanness is cleansed.

Let’s look at Isa 6 a little closer:

• To me the coal illustrates a piece of the Holiness of God

• Iniquity removed: This word Iniquity means perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.

• 
  

We see that God’s Holiness removes our unholiness. (As a side note, look at the meaning of 'Iniquity removed' = ‘Punishment removed’: we can also see Jesus in this scripture.) When we’re exposed to His Holiness, covered by the righteousness that Jesus blood bought for us, we are changed. We are purified. He purifies us.

When Jesus touches us, we change. When we seek His face, we change. When we spend time in His presence, we change. When we behold His goodness, we change! This is the journey of being prepared for the King.

Holiness, albeit a ‘tough’ one, is not out of reach when we expose ourselves to His Goodness continuously and learn to walk in step with the Holy Spirit.

That’s it for now, we’ll delve into the others next time.

Journey Groups:

The next Journey Group is on the morning of the 12th of July 2025. Upper Level of Cappuccinos, in Woodlands Mall, Pretoria East. Starting at 8:00 through to 9:00 sharp. Please reach out to me if you need more info: info@hopenation.faith

If this has blessed you, please forward it to another.

Your Brother in Christ,

Stanley