Chapter 3. The Fearful Mystery
Chapter Summary:
This
chapter describes the word holy.
“The
word transcendence means literally “to climb across.” “
“When
we speak of the transcendence of God, we are talking about that sense in which
God is above and beyond us. Transcendence describes His supreme and absolute
greatness.”
“He
is an infinite cut above everything else.”
“When
the Bible calls God holy, it means primarily that God is transcendentally
separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign
to us. To be holy is to be “other,” to be different in a special way.”
“The
things that are holy are things that are set apart, separated from the rest.
They have been separated from the commonplace, consecrated to the Lord and to
His service.”
“Only
God can sanctify something else.”
“…the
idea of the holy is never exhausted by the idea of purity. It includes purity
but is much more than that. It is purity and transcendence. It is a
transcendent purity.”
“God
is called holy in a general sense. The word is used as a synonym for His deity.
That is, the word holy calls attention to all that God is. It reminds us that
His love is holy love, His justice is holy justice, His mercy is holy mercy,
His knowledge is holy knowledge, His spirit is holy spirit.”
“We
tend to have mixed feelings about the holy. There is a sense in which we are at
the same time attracted to it and repulsed by it. Something draws us toward it,
while at the same time we want to run away from it.”
“There
is a special kind of phobia from which we all suffer. It is called xenophobia.
Xenophobia is a fear (and sometimes a hatred) of strangers or foreigners or of
anything that is strange or foreign. God is the ultimate object of our
xenophobia. He is the ultimate stranger. He is the ultimate foreigner. He is
holy, and we are not.”
“We
fear God because He is holy. Our fear is not the healthy fear that the Bible
encourages us to have. Our fear is a servile fear, a fear born of dread. God is
too great for us; He is too awesome. He makes difficult demands on us. He is
the Mysterious Stranger who threatens our security. In His presence we quake
and tremble. Meeting Him personally may be our greatest trauma.”
Questions:
Allowing
God’s holiness to touch our lives:
1.
In what ways is God an “awe-ful”
mystery to you?
2.
Does God’s mystery comfort you or
frighten you?
3.
What do you learn about yourself as you
comprehend the mystery of God’s holiness?
4.
During the coming week, how will you
worship God for the mystery of His holiness?
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