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