God's Holy Nature

The Nature of God – Holiness

Revelation 4:2-11

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

ISAIAH 6:1-9

1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

2. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

3. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

4. At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6. Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9. He said, "Go and tell this people:

I. Nature of God is Mysterious

a. Different than the works of God

i. Typically this is what we talk about because we better grasp understanding

1. Creation

2. Redemption

3. Reigning

b. Beyond our human ability to comprehend –

i. Eternal

ii. Omnipotent

iii. Omniscient

iv. Omnipresent

v. Trinity

c. Beyond our sinful eyes to see

d. Beyond human language to describe

i. Eskimos seven words for snow

ii. Jesse Duplantis said he could better describe his vision in tongues – heavenly language

II. Where to Begin Understanding the Nature of God

a. Salient Key Traits

i. If you were to begin describing someone to a sketch artist, where do you start?

ii. What is there most outstanding trait?

iii. Jerry was looking for me and to a stranger he asked if he had seen someone “short & heavy set”

b. So what trait would be most impressionable about God?

i. When you are in the presence of greatness, have you come away impressed with a trait from someone?

1. Joy Sexton – impression of Bill Clinton as a genius

2. Eric Hensley – impressed with his sense of humor

3. You can think of someone new you walked away from spending time with and you were impressed with their kindness, humor, intelligence

c. So to the seraphim & cherubim – the angelic creatures that live in God’s throne room, what are the top things they talk about?

i. God’s love – because surely it is an overwhelming facet of the Person of God that would compel Him to act in redeeming the world through Christ