What Does Holy Mean? Series

As I was praying over what direction God would have me to go, God brought my attention to the fact that, as Christians, we have a unique vocabulary. We tend to use words that a non-Christian might not understand. So, when trying to witness to someone, we should be careful to use words they can understand.

But as I thought about it a little more, I realized that there are several words in our “Holy vocabulary” that even Christians don’t fully understand. So, I thought for the next few weeks, we might take a closer look at some of these Holy words to make sure that we fully understand them before we use them. Words like: lost, salvation, faith, sanctified, eternal life, and today’s word, HOLY. What does it mean to be Holy?

Did you ever have someone say to you, “You’re one of a kind.”? “You’re one of a kind, Kenny!” That statement can be a compliment or it can be an insult. That statement applies to you—to each one of us. No one is exactly like you. When you put all the pieces together—your physical makeup, your personality, your temperament, your interests—you’re truly unique. And God is big enough to put a different print on the fingers of each individual in all of human history. Not even your own fingerprints are all the same.

But even though we might each be unique, we’re also somewhat interchangeable. For instance, you can donate blood or receive blood from someone. You can donate certain organs that keep another person alive. Knee and hip replacements are proof that our parts can be replaced.

There’s only One, though, that is totally unique and completely unlike any other being in all of creation. And that’s the One that created all things. God is truly distinct. Our God is Holy. That might not mean a whole lot to you right now because you hear that all the time. But hopefully, by the end of this message, you will see why God has that characteristic—that of being Holy.

The definition of Holy is exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one is perfect in goodness and righteousness. Our God is so holy and set apart that Jewish people will not pronounce the covenant name God told Moses. That name is Yahweh, which essentially means I AM. Devout Jews shy away from using the name Yahweh. They replace that name with LORD in caps. So, why is this word Holy so Holy, and what does it mean?

Let’s turn to Isaiah 40:25-26 and read. Through the prophet Isaiah, God asked two foundational questions. (1) Who is like Me? And (2) Who is equal to Me? Now here’s the important thing to know. If you and I try to answer either or both of those questions with anything except the obvious answer “no One,” then we haven’t set apart God as Holy.

The word Holy describes someone or something that is devoted or set apart. For example, at the end of creation, God declared the 7th day holy, meaning it was set apart and different from the other 6 days. So, Holy definitely applies to God, because He is totally separate and unique from anyone and anything else. Would you agree?

Have you ever played with Play-Doh with a group of kids. Kids have this unique imagination. Try it sometimes and see if you don’t find out the same thing I did. Kids will make the weirdest shapes and then come up with names for what they have made. What I thought was a blue stick or a yellow ball would end up as a main character in their make-believe story. Each one had a name, a job, and a role to play in their story.

And then they would ask me to play. “Now you make something with us.” The only thing my brain could come up with was a bat and ball. I could never come up with things as imaginative as they could. My creative juices flowed like old motor oil. But the kids always seemed to come up with wildly original things.

On an infinitely large scale, the things we create are nothing compared with what God created. Our God is so creative and unique that He is totally unlike and far above anything we could ever think to create. So, God says through Isaiah, “Who created all the stars? God brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”

If anyone wants to know what makes God unique, the Holy One says this in v. 26, “Look and see for yourself. No one but God can bring out the stars, number them, and call them all by name. No one. The majesty of the stars announces God’s holiness, power, and glory.