“The Good & Beautiful God:
God Is Holy”
1 Peter 1:15-16
February 20th, 2011
"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.""
1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)
Introduction:
> Five weeks ago we began a sermon series based on the ideas found in James Bryan Smith’s book, The Good & Beautiful God.
> During this series we have dealt with the following statements…
God is Good — we said that, even in a world that is unfair and unjust, God’s justice prevails and in the end, we will all agree that God is a fair and just God, decidedly good.
God is Trustworthy — Jesus reveals to us that God can be trusted. He is our faithful Father who will care for our greatest spiritual need.
God is Generous — He looks past our inadequacies and weaknesses and mercifully chooses us to be His children. We don’t deserve His mercy and grace but He generously offers it if we call out to Him.
And finally, last week,
God is Love — Exodus 20:6 says…
I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Ex 20:5-6 (NIV)
God chooses to love us, not because of what we have done but because it is His character—Love is who God is, not just something He does!
> We have seen that God most certainly is a good and beautiful God. These truths about God can bring peace to troubled souls who have been brought to believe that God is an angry, judgmental God who desires to punish harshly because of sin. To learn that God is good, trustworthy, generous and loving is a true blessing to those who struggle to have a relationship with God.
> However, there is a tendency today for people to consider God much like they consider Santa Claus. Smith writes that some believe…
God is “a cosmic, benevolent spirit who never judges, does not punish sin and sends no one to hell (pg. 116).”
> It has become fashionable to consider God as all of the collective good feelings and positive vibes in the cosmos—as though God is a giant cosmological “Teddy Bear.”
> The illustration James Bryan Smith gives of the young girl who was thrilled to hear his message about the unconditional love of God and the generous forgiveness of Christ because it liberated her from the guilt she was feeling due to her adulterous relationship with her boyfriend is a great example of this modern thinking. We love the convenience of a God who ignores our sin and lets us do as we wish without any fear of punishment.
But,
Isn’t this a bit like believing in the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. Only adult fools and immature children believe such things really exist.
> A God who completely ignores sin and does nothing about it is definitely not a good God!
> It’s like the time Ronda and I went over to a couples house that we had befriended. While visiting with them, we curiously asked if they had any children. They answered, “yes, we have a six year old and a three year old.” We asked where they were to which they replied, “the six year old is playing with the stove in the kitchen while the three year old is playing with his broken glass collection.” Ronda and I were terrified and said, “what, are you kidding, why don’t you stop them?”
> They laughed and said, “No, we couldn’t do that, it would upset them so much. We want them to like us and think that we are good parents!”
> NO! This didn’t really happen.
NO! Nobody would think that these parents were good parents.
And yet, this is what we want God to be like.
> Truthfully, there is nothing good and beautiful about a God who is not also perfectly Holy and rejects that which is sinful or that which is evil.
> The world has two false narratives about God that are like the extremes of a pendulum.
Either God is an angry, wrathful God who hates us because of our sin that He is ready and waiting to punish us severely when we mess up enough.
Or God is nothing but good vibes and positive energy. There is no bad, sin, or evil according to God. We are free to do as we wish as long as we aren’t mean to others and we don’t hurt anyone else.
> The pendulum swings to one extreme or the other.
> But what is the truth? What does Jesus teach us? What is Jesus’ narrative about God in regards to sin?
I. Wrath Is God’s Right Action
> We have a tendency to picture Jesus as meek and mild, as one who “strolled through the lilies of the field and talked of peace and love (Smith, pg. 117).”
> We have turned Jesus into the television persona of Mr. Rogers.
> But this is not the picture the gospels paint of Jesus.
> All four gospels reveal a Jesus who fights injustice and stands up for what is right. All four gospel writers tell us of the wild-haired Jesus with anger in his eyes and stern words of wrath coming from his mouth as He threw the unjust money changers and merchants out of the Temple.
> Mark tells us that Jesus displayed anger when no one would show compassion upon the man with the shriveled up hand at the synagogue.
> Throughout the gospels, we see a picture of a strong, firm, righteous, Jesus who will not look past evil or ignore wrong-doing. Clearly, Jesus did not endorse sin and he stood against evil at every opportunity. Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus giving the injunction to “go and sin no more.”
> Jesus was sinless and Holy and He did not consider sin to be an acceptable practice for anyone else.
> So what did Jesus teach us about God’s attitude toward sin?
James Bryan Smith lists the following scriptures for our benefit regarding this matter...
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
John 5:28-29 (NIV)
“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matt. 12:36-37 (NIV)
How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.
Luke 21:23 (NIV)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him."
John 3:36 (NIV)
> Clearly, Jesus’ narrative is that there is a punishment for sin and evil. He uses words like condemnation and wrath to describe God’s response to sin.
> Paul says…
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Romans 11:22 (NIV)
Some translations use the words goodness and severity but the meaning is the same. God is both loving and holy. Therefore, He is both gentle toward the lamb, and yet severe toward sinfulness.
II. Wrath Is A Verb, Not An Adjective
> It is important for us to understand the difference between a verb and an adjective.
A verb is something that is done, it’s an action taken.
An adjective is descriptive of someone or something. It reveals a characteristic of someone or something.
> When we talk about the wrath of God, we are not describing the character of God. We are talking about an action God takes in response to sin, evil and their destructive forces.
> God’s wrath is not an ill-advised knee-jerk reaction to sin. God is not impulsive, he does not respond without cause and control.
> James Bryan Smith quotes the Anchor Bible Dictionary (pg 989) in order to describe this difference…
...the wrath of Yahweh is portrayed somewhat differently from human anger in the Hebrew Bible. In some respects this is essentially the difference between “passion” and “pathos.” Passion can be understood as an emotional convulsion...and…a loss of self-control… “Pathos” on the other hand, is an act formed with care and intention, the result of determination and decision.
> Unlike us, God is slow to anger, eager to forgive (Ps. 103:8-9). The Anchor Bible Dictionary goes on to say…
God’s wrath must be understood in relation to his love. Wrath is not a permanent attribute of God. Whereas love and holiness are part of his essential nature, wrath is contingent upon human sin; if there were no sin there would be no wrath.”
> Thus, love and holiness are adjectives that describe the very nature and character of God. Wrath is a verb that describes God’s response to sin.
> Think about how unbalanced the universe would be if God was indifferent to sin and evil.
> No, God is terribly grieved by the forces of evil at work in the world—He simply chooses not to respond to them in a knee-jerk fashion.
III. Holy Love Creates Salvation
> So what is God’s response to Sin? The scripture tells us that God desires that no one should perish (2 Peter 3:9). So God sets out to create salvation.
> We are incapable of removing our guilt and making ourselves clean and pure. It requires an act of God’s will to perform such a task. God, through Holy indignation, sets out to remove that which destroys us and restore us to former glory.
> If sin is what destroys us and prevents us from being with God, then I want God to destroy that which destroys me. God’s wrath has a two-fold purpose.
> Look at Romans 2:4ff…
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Romans 2:4-8 (NIV)
> God’s wrath, for the unrepentant is stored up for the day of final judgment when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
> But for those who desire Him and His righteousness, God’s wrath works to cleans us, removing that which ultimately destroys us by separating us from God.
> As James Bryan Smith says, “God is against my sin because he is for me (pg. 123).”
> God is against my sin because my sin is destroying me and will ultimately prevent me from having an eternal relationship with Him. His wrath toward sin, therefore, is motivated by His love for me!!
> I love what Smith writes in his book…
God does not make me feel bad or shame me into better behavior. Nor does he use fear or guilt. God’s method of change is the highest of all. God’s holy love burns the dross of sin out of our lives. It is God’s kindness that leads to genuine repentance.
> However, to the ultimately rebellious, that same love leave us to our own desires. Allowing us the freedom to choose eternal absence from Him—which is the perfect description of Hell.
> C.S. Lewis writes…
“It is not a question of God ‘sending’ us to Hell. In each of us there is something growing up which will of itself be Hell unless it is nipped in the bud. The matter is serious: let us put ourselves in His hands at once—this very day, this hour. (C.S Lewis, The Problem of Pain, pg. 127)”
> God’s love for you and I necessitates His wrath toward sin. He will do whatever it takes to prevent our eternal absence from His presence. He loves us that much! After all, it was God’s wrath toward sin that put His Son, Jesus, on the cross.
Conclusion:
> When we allow God’s wrath to redirect our lives away from sin and into His perfect will, we will experience how truly loving God is. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that [you][ may have life, and have it to the fullest! (John 10:10 (NIV))”
> God loves us so much that He doesn’t want the destructive results of sin in our lives. He works on our behalf, through slow, careful intentional wrath to separate us from sin so that we can be fully His to bring about His perfect will in our lives!
> John D. Rockefeller, Sr., was strong and husky when he was a youth. He early determined to earn money and drove himself to the limit. At age 33, he earned his first million dollars. At age 43, he controlled the biggest company in the world. At age 53, he was the richest man on earth and the world’s only billionaire.
> Then he developed a sickness called "alopecia," where the hair of his head dropped off, his eyelashes and eyebrows disappeared, and he was shrunken like a mummy. His weekly income was one million dollars, but he digested only milk and crackers. He was so hated in Pennsylvania that he had to have bodyguards day and night. He could not sleep, stopped smiling long since, and enjoyed nothing in life.
> The doctors predicted he would not live past another year. The newspaper had gleefully written his obituary in advance—for convenience in sudden use. Those sleepless nights set him thinking. He realized with a new light that he "could not take one dime into the next world." Money was not everything. God was displeased with his sinful life. Then and there he surrendered His life to Christ, repenting of his sins and pleading for God to change his heart.
> The next morning he awoke a new man. He began to help churches with his amassed wealth; the poor and needy were not overlooked. He established the Rockefeller Foundation whose funding of medical researches led to the discovery of penicillin and other wonder drugs. John D. began to sleep well, eat and enjoy life. You could say he began to live life to the fullest!
> The doctors had predicted he would not live over age 54. He lived to be 98 years old.
—Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
> Are you open to the Holiness of God?
Are you responsive to God’s wrath and willing to let Him separate you from your sin so that you can spend eternity with Him?
Closing Prayer:
Closing Song:
