This morning I meditated on Isaiah 52:10 and the holiness of God really hit home in a way I hadn’t realised before:
The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
In other words, our holy God rolled up His sleeves, got down and dirty in order to save us from unholiness and the bondage of sin. Jesus came to set sin’s captives free (Isa. 61:1) and it took complete humiliation and ferocious violence against Him so intense that “his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness” (Isa. 52:14).
Just think about that - our God did that for us. God suffered such horrendous suffering so that we would be set free from our sin, be declared holy and be given His righteousness:
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isa. 61:10).
We are resplendently adorned in holiness by the grace of God. In return, all God asks of us is to trust in Him and completely give ourselves over to Him, living a righteous and holy life:
Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the LORD's house. But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard (Isa. 51:11-12).
Beyond all the unclean and unholy things that have come upon us, beyond our past painful experiences, beyond treachery and grief, beyond problems in our life, beyond our anxieties and worries, our God ushers us into His holiness and freedom promising to protect us from the rear.
This ‘promise is for you, your children, to those far away and all who the Lord our God will call’ (Acts 2:39) for He has declared that “he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him” (Isa. 52:15).
Since our God went to such extreme lengths in order to make us holy and to save us, let us give up pining about injustices, reliving the hurts of our past and living in despair and disappointment for all such behaviours are unclean and unholy. Jesus suffered to take these behaviours away from us and He wants to see us fully justified and living in wholeness and security.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities (Isa. 53:11).
#kristinatrott #christian #christianblogger #christian @kristina_trott #holy #holiness #Godisholy #disappointment #despair
All quotations are from the NIV.
Comments