The Holiness of God the Father, part 4
God reveals His holiness in His will
Peace is essential to the nature of God in three persons. There is no disharmony in the Trinity. There is no struggle for supremacy. God moves with a majestic deliberateness and stately calmness, unmarred by the rash, impulsive, and nervous actions we so frequently have.
It is this peace which He wants to bring into the hearts and lives of His children. Holiness is inward harmony which works itself outward in human relationships. There is no lasting peace in the heart where sin is, and there will be no peace in this world where sin abounds. Holiness is the only way to a peace that satisfies. God Reveals His holiness, in His love, by separation from sin and in His peace…
Fourthly –
God Reveals His Holiness in His Will.
God’s will is perfect because it is the expression of His nature. Morality is shown by what someone wants. God is absolutely perfect and has an absolutely perfect will. He wants only what is good. God does permit evil to endure for a season, but only while His love and mercy and kindness are being displayed toward the evildoer.
God does NOT will what is sinful. He wants all people to repent. He wants all believers to be sanctified. He wants all people to come to knowledge of the truth.
The plan of salvation is because of God’s perfect will. Nothing happened by chance; He planned it all. It was because of His will that we have a Mediator, a Mediator that bridged the gulf between infinite, exalted holiness and fallen, sin-infested man. It was by His will that a way was provided to grant full justice toward sin, and yet win the sinner in a loving display of deliverance. It was by His perfect will!
Because God wills holiness for His children, within the sphere of that holiness, He also wills the very elements which His own holiness possesses: The beauty of the sanctified life, moral excellence, self-giving love, separation from sin = a perfect will, to do the will of God.
We as humans cannot know the absolute holiness inherent in the infinite God. We can know a holiness that is perfect in quality, though conditioned to our earthen vessels. In Deuteronomy 6:5, when God commanded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” CSB, He was indicating a love relative to a person’s heart, soul, and strength. These are far beneath the infinite measure of God Himself. But nevertheless, within a person’s redeemed capacity, we are given the qualities which are part of the same qualities of God’s own holiness.
God Reveals His holiness in His love, by separation from sin, His peace, and His will.
Continued tomorrow
