Everyday Theology: What You Believe MattersНамуна

Day 2: Holy, Holy, Holy: The Goodness of a God who Is Not Like Us

Read Isaiah 6:1-3.

Holy. This summation of God’s perfection and superiority is the proclamation of the seraphim, not once, but three times, emphasizing that God is the most holy. God is superior in all things, even in the attributes He shares with us. We may display a tiny glimpse of His righteousness, purity, and goodness, while He is all these perfectly. He is absolutely holy and completely transcendent. He is Creator, not creature. 

The temple became the throne room of God in Isaiah’s vision. He saw the seraphim, created angelic creatures whose name means “burning ones,” praising God’s holiness and declaring His glory as filling the whole earth.1 They covered their eyes to shield them from God’s magnificent glory and covered their feet as a symbol of their submission to God. 

We cannot gaze upon the face of our God, for one cannot see His face and live because of His great gloriousness! May we too shield our eyes and show our submission to Him in obedience to His Word as a response to the great gift of life in Christ that we have been given. 

We worship the same God who the seraphim worshiped in Isaiah. He is unchanging from eternity past to eternity future, and He is holy. He does not respond like we respond, sometimes in frustration or without pure motives. He never acts contrary to His character.

God is sovereign over all in His holiness. Nothing is outside of His direction. Moment by moment He gives us our next breath, instructs the sun to continue to shine, and cares for creatures humanity hasn’t even discovered yet. He is directioning all of creation toward an end that He has designed, and in His kind providence this end is for our good. He is meticulous in His care of His creation. Nothing catches Him by surprise.

He is in a class of His own, worthy of worship! This is our comfort! God is not like humanity, broken by sin. He is perfectly good and right. He is near. He can be trusted. He is good. And He is holy. 

1. E. Ray Clendenen and Jeremy Howard, eds., Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2009), 715.