Sermon Notes from Hesston MB-God is Holy and Loving

Introduction: A.W. Tozer writes, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. And the second is what we think God thinks of us.”

Opening: What does holy mean? In 3 words or less, define holy.  Share your answer with the person beside you.

Picture of Holiness (Isaiah 6:1-8)

·         Vs. 1-I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, train filled the temple

o   as early as 742 and as late as 735 BC.^[1]

o   In the OT, it was understood that no human could see God and live.

§  the vision was probably so otherworldly that it was difficult to find adequate words to describe God’s glory in human terms^[2]

·         Vs. 2-Seraphs with 6 wings

o   Covered their faces, covered their feet, and flying

o   The word means “fiery ones”^[3]-some kind of angelic or supernatural being

o   With two sets of wings they were covering their own faces and feet, not from shame or guilt, nor because of their inability to look at God. Their humble posture was likely motivated by the natural tendency to bow in worship before the holy glory of God^[4]

·         Vs. 3-Saying to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory

o   Hebrew word, Qados (kadosh) purity, set apart, awesome, commanding respect, singled out

o   Yahweh’s holiness is an expression of his separateness from the corruption of his people.^[5]

o   Holiness is the very excellency of the divine nature, so is purity the splendor of every attribute in the Godhead (holy justice, holy wisdom, holy promise, holy power, holy love)--A.W. Pink

o   Repeating a word in Hebrew is to express “highest quality or degree”

o   A reminder of the Good and Great God who created all things for His glory and proof of His great love for His people.

·         Vs. 4-Their voices

o   Shook the doorposts and threshholds

o   Temple was filled with smoke

§  The smoke or cloud is traditionally associated with God’s appearance and serves the function of concealing the awesome majesty of God from human eyes.^[6]

·         Vs. 5-Isaiah speaks

o   Woe to me! I am ruined! (literally “I must be silent”) For I am a man of unclean lips & I have seen the King

§  The holiness of God, the majesty and awesomeness of God causes Isaiah to recognize his own sinfulness.  It reminds Isaiah that God is God and He is not.

·         Vs. 6-7-Seraph flew to Isaiah with live coal from altar and touched Isaiah’s mouth

§  Notice how Isaiah’s unclean lips and living among a people of unclean lips is dealt with.

§  This was an act of God’s grace; Isaiah did nothing to accomplish his atonement. Isaiah offered no sacrifices, did not promise to be a missionary to gain it, and had no power to save himself from certain ruin.^[7]

o   Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for

§  When the seraph symbolically touched Isaiah’s lips, it announced that God “removed” (sār) Isaiah’s guilt (an active verb) and that his sin “was atoned” (tĕkuppār) by God (a passive verb). clear explanation--The removal of guilt indicates that the consequent punishment will not be exacted from Isaiah. This guilt can no longer keep Isaiah from God’s presence. The atonement means that God’s wrath and the sin that motivated it were satisfied and taken away, making renewed fellowship possible. Sin no longer separated God and Isaiah^[8]

§  Notice how the vision incorporates many of Isaiah’s senses: see (Lord seated on throne, robe filled, seraphs), hear (seraphs speak Holy, Holy, Holy & whom shall I send), smell (smoke), touch (coal to his lips)

·         Vs. 8-Voice of the Lord said “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?

o   Out of delight, gratitude, and respect for the holiness of God and what God had done (guilt taken away and sin atoned for) Isaiah said “Here Am I. Send me!

At the cross, we see the holy and loving God expressed. “Wondrously and yet most solemnly does the atonement display God’s infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin…that which His holiness demanded, His grace (love) has provided in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Pink)

Picture of Loving (1 John 4:7-11)

·         Vs. 7-Dear friends-God who is holy calls us friends expressing his affection towards us

·         Vs. 7-Love comes from God

·         Vs. 8-God is love

·         Vs. 9-God showed His love

o   He sent Son into the world that we might live

·         Vs. 10-He loved us

o   The author begins negatively by pointing out that love is not to be understood in terms of our love for God: ‘This is love: not that we loved God’. Having made that clear, he states positively that love is to be understood in terms of God’s love for us^[9]

o   Sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

§  The word translated here as ‘atoning sacrifice’ (hilasmos) is found in only two places in the NT, both of them in this letter (here and 2:2). OT-6 times-(Lev 25:9; Num 5:8; Ps 129:4; 130:4; Ezek 44:27; Amos 8:14)-the removal of guilt because of sin, ^[10]

·         Again in response to the picture of God’s love for us, out of joy, delight and gratitude for that love, we then: Vs. 11-Since God loved us, love one another

Closing: Because God is holy and loving, I am

·         Holy--“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12)

·         Loved--“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

·         His Child--“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

Reflection (3-4 minutes while music plays) Think about pictures of the holy and loving God.  How are they connected?  How are they different? Like Isaiah, how do you respond?

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^[1] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 186). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

^[2] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 187). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

^[3] Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1910). Isaiah (Vol. 1, pp. 106–107). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

^[4] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 189). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

^[5] VanGemeren, W. A. (1995). Isaiah. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 480). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

^[6] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 191). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

^[7] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 192). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

^[8] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 193). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

^[9] Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 160). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.

^[10] Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (pp. 160–161). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.