Hope Singapore: Greatness of GodSample

The Greatness of God: The Greatness of God's Holiness The God that we worship is a holy God. “The primary meaning of holy is ‘separate.’ It comes from an ancient word that meant, ‘to cut,’ or ‘to separate.’ Perhaps even more accurate would be the phrase ‘a cut above something.’ When we find a garment or another piece of merchandise that is outstanding, that has a superior excellence, we use the expression that it is ‘a cut above the rest.” - R. C. Sproul Our God is apart from His creation in His nature of perfectness and righteousness, and yet it is His desire to fellowship with man, with us, despite of the sinfulness of man. God calls His people to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). However, we live in a world that belittles sin, ridicules holiness and mocks righteousness. We live in a world that says purity is only for the weak and the Philippians 4 test: “Whatever is good and honourable and lovely, dwell on these things’” is just for losers. On the contrary, the picture is incomplete if we only see God as a holy God and forgotten that He is also a merciful and gracious God who forgives our sin when we acknowledge our sins and repent (1 John 1:9). God forgives us not because we deserve it, but because He is a God of mercy and grace and He is glad to extend forgiveness to those who are repentant so that they can enjoy His presence. The understanding of God’s holiness is not so much just to acknowledge that we have fallen short of His standards, but that we understand there is only one way to get from the depths of our sin to the holiness of God forevermore. It is not through religion or through meaningless, unrepentant sacrifice. It is through Christ and Christ alone for what He has done on the cross. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. - Rom 12:1 (NIV) REFLECTION • Do you see God as a Holy God? If so, what does it mean to you personally? • What is your view of holiness? Has it been affected by what the world is communicating? How should you personally respond to God’s call for holiness?