Since we were all small children, we were taught that things fall. I drop a pen, it falls to the ground. In fact, everything in this world, at some point, falls down, right?
In Tucurui, Brazil though, sometimes things fall up. I’m serious! Lumberjacks in the area cut trees, but don’t have to worry about being smashed by a falling tree since the trees fall up.
Allow me to explain. In the mid 80s, three dams were constructed in Brazil. These dams provide electrical power for the nearby cities, but resulted in the flooding of 6 million cubic meters of forest. Since Brazil has a booming construction industry, this wood is necessary for use as construction material.
Enter Brazilian entrepreneur Juarez Cristiano Gomes. Where others saw millions of tree trunks, he saw opportunity. He invented a power saw that can run underwater and began cutting the trees to sell the wood. Lumberjacks equipped with air tanks go down as far as 164 feet, but are never in danger of being smashed by trees they cut since they 'fall' upward to the surface. The trunks are then towed to sawmills along the water’s edge.
In Tucurui, Brazil, trees fall up. This happens because Tucurui is a place that follows a different set of laws. This is just as true for the Christian who lives by the laws of the Kingdom of God. Empowered by the love of Jesus, we can defy the laws of this world.
This does not mean you’re allowed to break criminal laws! But, instead of following the law of this world that says you must seek power and fame, the humble believer seeks small things. Instead of wanting to be served, he serves. Instead of only loving those who are easy to love, she loves those who hate her. In the Kingdom of God, what’s up is down and what’s down is up. Matthew 20:16 says, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Like trees falling up, to the world this doesn’t make a lick of sense. The world spends all of its time trying to be first in everything! Why would we want to be last? The world doesn’t understand it; and like many things that are not understood, the world also hates it.
That’s OK, though, because we don’t really belong to this world. In John 15:19, Jesus says, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” God, through Jesus, has chosen us out of this world. Personally, I’m grateful for that -- if I had a choice between living on earth or living in heaven, I’d choose heaven every time! There is a fancy word for what Jesus did, though, in pulling us out of the world -- sanctification.
All sanctification really means is to set something apart to make it holy. It’s just a big word for a simple concept -- at least, it should be. Too often, though, we over complicate things. For example, if sanctification means to make something holy, what does it mean to be holy? in the Old Testament, something that was sanctified meant that it was set apart for use in the temple. What was the difference between a lamb used for sacrifice and a lamb that was eaten for dinner? The lamb used for sacrifice was sanctified -- set apart by the priest specifically to be used for God. The priest killed a lamb for sacrifice by following God’s rules, where the village butcher killed a lamb for dinner by following the rules of the world. By following God’s rules, the lamb was made holy.
Similarly, sanctification also applies to days of the calendar. The Sabbath day was sanctified by God to be a day of rest, set apart from the rest of the week. The various feasts and fasts of Israel were times specifically set apart from the rest of the calendar to be celebrated by the people. The Year of Jubilee -- which came every seven years on the Day of Atonement, promised a new beginning of redemption and liberty for all, and was also set apart from other years.
Setting apart also applied to places on the map -- the camp of Israel, the hill of Zion, Jerusalem, the Temple, the Holy of Holies (which was even set apart from something that was already set apart!), even the Holy Land itself is specifically set apart by God for the people of Israel.
Even people were set apart for the service of God. Jeremiah was sanctified to God’s service as a prophet. Samuel was promised to God. The high priest was set apart from the rest of the people, who were also set apart from the rest of the world to God.
Holiness can apply to objects, days and times, places, and people. But we still don’t really know what holiness is! The idea of holiness has gotten so muddled and confused that sometimes it’s just easier to give up trying. Fortunately, we have the Bible to help us out, and it is filled with examples of sanctification -- of someone or something being made holy. We heard one such example from the book of John a few minutes ago. But sanctification is not something that is specific to the New Testament. In fact, in the book of Exodus God reveals another of His names -- Jehovah M’Kaddesh, or God who Sanctifies.
“12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” (Exodus 31:12-13)
I am the LORD who makes you holy. Jehovah M’kaddesh. Let’s look at these verses in a bit more detail here, shall we? God tells Moses that the Israelites must observe the Sabbath. Essentially, they’re not supposed to work that day. God says that this will be a sign between Him and the future generations -- but what kind of sign?
At the time, people didn’t have normal 8-5, 5-day-a-week jobs like we do now. They worked every day, sunup to sundown, or until the work was completed. By taking one day off and reserving it for worship, the Israelites were defying the law of the world -- they were intentionally setting themselves apart.
So does that mean that as long as you go to church on Sunday, you’re sanctified and made holy? Not quite. Let’s read on in the book of Leviticus:
“7“ ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” (Leviticus 20:7-8)
This goes into a little bit more detail, doesn’t it? First God tells us to consecrate ourselves (which just means to make holy) and be holy, because He is the Lord our God. God is saying that because He is God, the only God, and He is holy, then we should be holy too. God knows, though, that we are all fallen sinners and can’t become holy on our own. That’s why He adds verse 8. If we keep His decrees and follow them, God will make us holy.
Follow God, and He will make you holy. It really is that simple. But why is God the only One who can make us holy? Why not the pastor of a church or someone like that?
Only God can declare something as holy because there is no one more holy than God. 1 Samuel 2:2 says, “There is no one holy like the Lord (all caps!); there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” OK, so there is no one holy like God, except for other gods, right? They can be holy too, can’t they? Isaiah 44:6 says otherwise. “This is what the Lord says -- Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Well. That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? There is no one holy like God, and apart from Him there is no other god. That gives God the authority to declare what or who is holy. If no one is more holy than God, then it makes sense that only He can determine if something or someone else is also holy.
God makes us holy if we but obey his commands! It’s that simple! When we are saved through Christ, we have obeyed God’s commands and therefore can become holy. We know this because it’s what the Word says. And, John 17:17 says that we are sanctified through the truth of the Word. “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
God demands holiness, but He understands that we cannot be holy on our own. Because of this, He has given us commands to follow in His Word. He promised us (and He always fulfills His promises!) that He is Jehovah M’Kaddesh, God who Sanctifies. Only through God can we be sanctified.
