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On God’s Holiness
How can one define or attempt to explain what it means to call God Holy?
God cannot be anything but who he is and his own revelation of self (self realization) is that he is unique. His uniqueness is not merely personality or appearance, his uniqueness is bound up in his limitless being – he is truly one of a kind. He is also a being that bears the emotions of love, anger, hate, mercy, compassion, sorrow etc. God is alive and filled with the reality of his own existence. A theology of being helps one make the move towards speaking of God’s holiness. God is Holy because of who he is, any holiness that we possess is acquired through relationship with the one who is holy.
It is God’s nature to be holy, or holiness is God’s nature. The nature of God is hidden from us as finite limited beings. The omnific qualities of God are beyond our scope of comprehension and understood only by faith. However, when God became a human being and emptied himself of all that it meant to be God, (aside from the essence of his being, which is his nature) he revealed to us his nature in Christ through the exhibition of his character. When God is bereft of all that it means to be God in regards to power and limitlessness then his holiness remains. His Holiness is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ completely, communicated through Jesus life, message, and actions.
On Being Holy
Since it is at the very nature of God to be Holy and Holiness is a reality of his being, a characteristic of who he is, then I can only share in his Holiness through the giving of his Spirit. II Peter 1:4 tells us that we have received promises that have brought to us the grace of partaking of the divine nature. Thus we can be conformed to the image of Christ, and exhibit the character that Christ Jesus revealed, because God is alive in those that have found truth embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. Being Holy is not adherence to rules but the freedom to live in harmony with God in such a way that the rules are not necessary. Holiness is ours through association with the one who is Holy.
On the Nature of Holiness
God in Christ Jesus has lived out Holiness as an individual human being. Holiness is not dependent upon omific attributes or limitless abilities. Holiness is at the very nature of being and belongs distinctly to God. Because of creation Holiness has become a relational reality for without something to measure Holiness against the equation is reduced to a single digit. The Holiness of God revealed in character bereft of limitless power, knowledge and presence requires a creation. Holiness revealed allows for holiness to be shared. Holiness is strength of being, it is a glorious reality that requires other beings in order for Holiness to ‘be’. At the very nature of God lies the desire to create others that can know his Holiness. At the very nature of the creator lies the desire for celebrating his Holiness with others. Holiness is a love of being. Holiness is relational existence. Holiness is shared through the one who is Holy with all that have found Holiness embodied in the person, life, teachings, and actions of Jesus Christ.
An Open Conclusion
Holiness is not a glowing euphoric presence that soothes the soul. Holiness is revealed through the struggles of Jesus humanness. Only Spirit led contemplative thought on the person of Jesus can bring to the intellect shimmering glimpses of defining Holiness. Only by living like Jesus can we experience Holiness within our being. Holiness is exhibited in us through a balance of contemplative thought and Spirit led living.
On the Second Coming
For humanity, or more specifically, for believers the second coming is an anticipated event and is bound up with hopes and dreams of a better day. Even Paul the Apostle thought that the Lord would return in his lifetime. Perhaps we should attempt to know the heart of God on the subject. God has no pressing matters which determine the point at which he will send Christ Jesus. God does however have a motivation that seems to account for his pro-longing the close of the old age. God is interested in producing ‘children of the living God’; Hosea 1:10. When God closes the age and Jesus’ return has taken place then comes the final harvesting of the earth’s fruit – people - children of the living God. God is interested in a big family and so he graciously pro-longs the time of the end as his family grows.
The irreplaceable uniqueness of every individual human being is a reflection of God and his creative power. The inestimable value of every human being is weighed against the sacrifice of God himself upon a barbaric instrument of torturous death. To bring humanity to a close is not an event that God anticipates void of loss, rather the end of the possibility for another child of the living God, propels God’s desire to continue the human race. So Peter records that the promises of God are not to be measured against the passing of time, (II Peter 3:8,9). One day, one glorious day, a day of loss and a day of promise, on God’s day, by God’s sovereign choice his redemptive work with humanity will come to a close.
On Defining Truth
The attempt to reduce truth to a declarative statement fails to recognize the complexities of life and denies the living example of Jesus Christ the one person that embodies truth. Truth is found not in definitive ethics, but in a relational life of obedience to the voice of the living God whose voice is found through study and meditation on the scriptures and from the experience of relationship with God. See Hebrews 5:12-15.
On Fear of God
Fear of God allows us to live free of fear, so that we fear nothing else. Fear of God causes people to always think of their life before God rather than their own security, or their life before man. Why do human beings committ crimes in the name of 'following orders' as during the holocaust, or in South Africa before apartheid, or in America during the slaughtering of the Indian peoples? The answer is simple; they fear their own loss of securtiy more than God.
Fear of God produces a person that strives for the ideal, for that lofty possibility from which others bow their head in defeat. Idealist are those whom others write books about. Idealist are those that are looked upon as the antagonist of society while alive and the heroes of the past once they have died.
The American Dream
The American Dream in the present century is to alleviate suffering for the American Citizen. This dream is readily seen through the insurance industry where Americans attempt to insure every aspect of life from loss. Suffering, however is a reality of our existence that is inescapable. The kind of dependency upon God that produces faith is absent in America, because of affluence and insurance and pensions. When does the American Dream conflict with God's vision?
What is God Like?
God is a redeeming creator.
Redemptive power is an act of love and precedes God's act of creating humanity because God is love.
God is relational.
Because God is realtional he needs his creation. The act of creation has only increased his need. The need of God for humanity is found in the permanence of the incarnation. Psalm 110:4
God is determined.
The inscrutable will of God has determined that his glory (will) is going to fill the earth. Numbers 14:21 God speaks in an elliptical phrase and as a literary device depicts God's inscrutable will that is determined to win...the prize is humanity.
God is restless.
Although God is at rest over the chaos, the chaos yet exists and humanity is the cause, the negation that defies life and opposes Gods very good. Yet, God is restless, he is determined to win, he has risked everything even his own emotions.
God is a dreamer.
God's dream of a redeemed humanity will be achieved and the Lion will lie down with the lamb.
God is a transfomer.
God is incessantly working to transform the world to a place of life in Christ.
God is a victor.
In the end...God wins.
Therefore what kind of People should God's people be?
We should be restless dreamers seeking to transform the world with a determination that is inscrutable. We should be practicioners of redemptive power that brings the creating power of God near.
On the Culpability of God
God is solely responsible for creation. Meaning that it is God who sets the rules for existence and if he allows us to break those rules then the ongoing results require some culpability from God because he is God. Yet God's culpability for the present condition of creation is a direct result of his mercy not of any active wrong doing....he is guilty of being merciful and will accept his culpability for the present condition of creation based upon his mercy.By Mike Garner