The Holiness of God (Part 1)

Why do we use italics or boldface when typing? To indicate emphasis and to highlight something you believe to be important, to draw attention to that particular phrase or wording.

In the Hebrew language, they would repeat words to indicate emphasis much like we do when we place words in italics or bold lettering. Jesus used this device, “Truly, Truly I say to you” (John 3:3; 5:24)

The bible, however, repeats itself three times when describing God and His holiness. “Holy, Holy, Holy”. When a repetition of three occurs in the Hebrew language, it indicates the highest degree of that word. We could say, the infiniteness of God’s holiness is described by giving it the highest degree.

What is infinite?

The distance to the known edge of the universe is said to be about 13 billion light-years away. In miles – 78,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (21 zeros!!)…. Seventy-Eight billion, trillion miles. That is an exceedingly vast distance, but it is not an infinite distance. Not even Buzz Lightyear can travel to infinity and beyond!

Infinite means without limits and immeasurable. Only God is infinite, and He is infinite in all His glorious attributes. Only his holiness is given the threefold ascription “holy,holy,holy”. 

We never read of God being “wise, wise, wise” or “powerful, powerful, powerful” Although he is wise and powerful and his attributes are infinite, God wanted, it seems, to magnify his holiness in a unique way.

God says of himself in Isaiah 40:15,17: “Behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales… All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness”

God is saying that if you combined all the power and might of all the great nations and empires throughout history and compare it to God’s power and might it would be nothing and full of emptiness. He also says that we could multiply that combined power and might 1,000 times and it would be to God no more than a 1 single drop from a bucket. God is infinite, He has no limits and God is immeasurable. And this is the way we should understand the infinite holiness of God.

What does the Bible mean when it speaks of the holiness of God?

Hebrew word for Holy – Qadosh: defined as separate. It signifies God’s separation from His creation including His complete separation of/from sin.

Isaiah’s vision of God, as recorded in Isaiah 6:1-8, is the classic passage of Scripture on the holiness of God, and it will help us gain insight into the holiness of God and the implication of that holiness for us today.

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” - Isaiah 6:1-8

Next blog: I will continue talking about the holiness of God and His transcendent majesty. 

Partners 4 Africa Mission Trip

My wife and I are making plans to travel with the mission team from Rose Hill Church of Christ in July, 2015 to Zimbabwe where we will partner with Dorian Flynn and Partners 4 Africa to accomplish many tasks such as door knocking, feeding orphans, conducting a bible school for kids, participating in worship, helping with the new medical clinic in Zimbabwe and much more! We are looking forward to this opportunity to spend 14 days in Zimbabwe spreading the gospel to the people who live there. Joy and I have been praying for an opportunity like this because we have a heart and desire for mission work. However, mission work comes at a price and we pray that you will partner with us in helping to take the gospel to Africa through making donations.

First let me tell you a little about Partners 4 Africa Ministry:

Partners 4 Africa does wonderful mission work in Africa through their M.O.M project where they feed 700 children on a weekly basis. They are also building wells that provide safe drinking water to the community. So far, Partners 4 Africa have drilled over 30 wells with most of them located near a church building to provide water for baptisms. Another project that we are involved in at Rose Hill that benefits Partners 4 Africa is the Banana Box Ministry. Each year banana boxes are packed with clothing and textbooks to be sent to Africa. This year we sent 507 boxes to Africa which is part of the 4,000 total that will be sent from other sponsoring congregations. 

We would love to see all these good works in action and to meet the families and children that we minister to from Columbus, GA while leaving a lasting impression in Africa by the good works we will do while we are in Zimbabwe.

In order to be a part of this great opportunity, We will need to raise close to $5,000 to cover airfare, lodging, transportation, medical shots, and other expenses during the 14 days we will be in Africa along with 10 others from our mission team. I believe God has called us to be a part of the mission team. To make a donation please visit: http://www.gofundme.com/8cpvvo  

Thank you in advance for your prayers and donation. You will not only be investing in our mission team, but you will be investing in the lives of the people of Africa. 


To find more information about Partners 4 Africa visit www.partners4africa.com.

To know more about Rose Hill Church of Christ visit www.rosehillchurch.com.

Church for

This video has been circulating through social media over the last few weeks. Today, I had a moment to actually stop for a minute, watch this video, and soak in the message of what it was saying. At the heart of it is a powerful message about the Church for ALL people! The church of misfits who all are common through Christ.

At the beginning, it really keys in on the silly arguments and squabbles we get into over the name on the sign. Is it a big C or little c? Do we put "meets here"? Do we put Church of Christ first followed by the name of the city? We get too focused on the name on the sign when our focus should be on the name at the center of everything we do... Christ.

I would like to think that our sign would read Rose Hill Church for Sinners, for Broken People, for ALL. We are truly a bunch who loves and supports one another and at the core of what we do we realize that first we are sinners saved through Jesus Christ, that we have a building full of broken people who are hurting and who need that love, so we show it to them. Last, that we truly are a church for ALL people no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter what your past is, that we are all accepting of one another because we have a common bond that can never be broken through Jesus Christ.

In the end, isn't that what matters, Who we are the church for and the church of? For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:35-40)