GRACE AND GOD'S TENSION (2 OF 6)
by Steve Jones
Scripture: Isaiah 6:3
This content is part of a series.
Grace and God's Tension (2 of 6)
Series: Amazing Grace
Steve Jones
Isaiah 6:3
INTRODUCTION: We're in a sermon series entitled ''Amazing Grace.'' We are sinking our roots further down into God's love. We are growing in our appreciation for the height, depth, width and breadth of God's love. We're growing in grace this morning because that's how we grow in Christ. We cannot FULLY appreciate God's grace until we grasp the dilemma that was faced by God. There existed within God a tension that was born out of two equally good elements of his character. So to get our arms around this dilemma let's talk for a minute about these two aspects of God's character.
I. GOD IS HOLY
Is.6:3 ''Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.''
Rev. 4:8 ''Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.''
In both the Old and New Testaments angelic creatures are pictured as worshiping God by exalting his holiness with triple emphasis. In Hebrew idiom repeating something even once gave it special emphasis; a threefold formula expresses an extraordinary superlative of unheard-of intensity. There is no other attribute of God that is tripled in this manner. We never read, ''Eternal, eternal, eternal'' or ''Love, love, love'' or even ''Almighty, almighty, almighty.'' Holiness alone is emphasized in this way.
So what is holiness exactly? We read about it. We sing about it. We know the slang phrases like ''holy Toledo'' or ''holy moley.'' What is the holiness of God?
The best understanding of the Old Testament word for holy is that it means ''to cut'' or ''to separate'' in its verb form. Thus to say that something is holy means that it is separated or set off from other things. The term holy has two basic connotations in Biblical usage when applied to God - ontological holiness and ethical holiness.
God's ontological holiness asserts that the being of God the Creator is qualitatively differen ...
Series: Amazing Grace
Steve Jones
Isaiah 6:3
INTRODUCTION: We're in a sermon series entitled ''Amazing Grace.'' We are sinking our roots further down into God's love. We are growing in our appreciation for the height, depth, width and breadth of God's love. We're growing in grace this morning because that's how we grow in Christ. We cannot FULLY appreciate God's grace until we grasp the dilemma that was faced by God. There existed within God a tension that was born out of two equally good elements of his character. So to get our arms around this dilemma let's talk for a minute about these two aspects of God's character.
I. GOD IS HOLY
Is.6:3 ''Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.''
Rev. 4:8 ''Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.''
In both the Old and New Testaments angelic creatures are pictured as worshiping God by exalting his holiness with triple emphasis. In Hebrew idiom repeating something even once gave it special emphasis; a threefold formula expresses an extraordinary superlative of unheard-of intensity. There is no other attribute of God that is tripled in this manner. We never read, ''Eternal, eternal, eternal'' or ''Love, love, love'' or even ''Almighty, almighty, almighty.'' Holiness alone is emphasized in this way.
So what is holiness exactly? We read about it. We sing about it. We know the slang phrases like ''holy Toledo'' or ''holy moley.'' What is the holiness of God?
The best understanding of the Old Testament word for holy is that it means ''to cut'' or ''to separate'' in its verb form. Thus to say that something is holy means that it is separated or set off from other things. The term holy has two basic connotations in Biblical usage when applied to God - ontological holiness and ethical holiness.
God's ontological holiness asserts that the being of God the Creator is qualitatively differen ...
There are 17914 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
