What we believe about God and the church (1): THE NATURE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READING
Isaiah 6:1 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."
INTRODUCTION
Today, we're beginning this series on what we believe about God and the church and we begin it by looking at the nature of God. It's a huge subject, of course, and it's utterly impossible to say all that needs to be said today. But by looking at Isaiah 6 and this vision the prophet had of the Lord, we can learn at least three things about God: he is the King of kings; he is holy; and he is gracious.
KING
So, the first thing to note is that God is the King of kings. When Isaiah has this vision of the Lord, he sees him seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Imagine a king, wearing his royal robes, enthroned in his palace, from where he rules over all. Well, that's what God is like. And to underline the fact that God really is the King of kings and Lord of all, Isaiah tells us that he had this vision of God in the year that the earthly king, Uzziah, died. Earthly kings come and go. Human kings are born, they rule but then they die. But the Lord God rules for ever and for ever. His reign knows no end.
Now, this is immensely important. It really is. Ireland is changing. The old ways are being left behind. Our towns and countryside are changing rapidly. Our society is being transformed and is far, far different than it was only 10 or 20 years ago. Where are we headed? What does the future hold for us? What will be the end of all this change? People are wondering this. They are worried. Things we were used to have gone. New things have taken their place. Where's it all headed? Ireland is changing.
And the world is changing and has become a dangerous place, with the threat of terrorism everywhere, it seems. Someone is heading off on their holidays, about to board an aeroplane, off to enjoy themselves for two weeks. But then, suddenly, there's a security alert. What is it? Is it a bomb? And then there's the trouble in the Middle East. What's going to happen? How will it end? Will it develop into something more serious? Things are changing. And things appear uncertain. And perhaps it all seems out of control and in chaos.
Even our own lives are uncertain. What will happen tomorrow. What will the doctor say after my next check-up? How can I pay that next bill? What will happen to my children when they grow up? Everything seems so uncertain.
What about the church? In the past perhaps we used to come to church and there was a large congregation and now it's much smaller. Can we survive? What does the future hold for us? What will become of us? We don't know. We're not sure. Things are different now from the way they used to be and we're wondering what new changes are still to take place. There's so much uncertainty today.
But then look at this. In Isaiah's day, there was also great uncertainty. The king had died. And when there's a change-over in power, people are always worried and anxious. What will happen next? Will the new ruler be better than the last? Will he be worse? Will he be wise? Will he be tough? We don't know and we're uncertain and we're anxious. Isn't that the case? There's so much uncertainty. When Castro took ill a few weeks ago, we saw this. On the news people were discussing what this might mean and what would happen if he died and who would take over and whether that would be good or bad for the USA and for the world. Well, Uzziah had died in Isaiah's day. What was going to happen now? There's the same uncertainty.
But what does Isaiah discover? That even though the king has died, the true King, the King of kings is still enthroned in heaven, high and exalted, and he rules over all. Look at verse 3: he is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. He rules and reigns over the whole world.
Now, do you see how practical this is? People sometimes complain that the teaching of the Bible is impractical. It's too much like pie in the sky. It's irrelevant to our day-to-day lives and to the fears we have and the problems we face. It's far too esoteric and unrelated to real life. When there are wars and rumours of wars, when there are terrorists plotting to blow up aircraft, when the doctor tells someone that there's nothing that can be done, when a loved one says, it's over, when our children are facing the stress of exams and peer pressure, then perhaps it seems that we're wasting our time talking and thinking about God. How does knowing that God is King of kings help us? Tell us something practical and helpful! When there's so much uncertainty, tell us how to make our lives more stable and secure and safe. Give us something to hold on to?
But this teaching about God is immensely practical and helpful and important. Because when everything is changing, when everything is uncertain, when life is hard, what comfort it gives to us, what encouragement, what hope, to know that there is one who sits on a throne and rules over all things. God is in charge. He is in control. He has his plans and purposes for the world and he knows where the world is headed. He rules over the great events of the world, and he rules over the events of my life and yours. We see this in the Bible. In the OT, Joseph was taken to Egypt as a slave. He was thrown into prison. What was happening to him? It made no sense. He seemed to be caught up in something he could not control. And then, in the end, he discovered it was all part of God's great plan to save his people. Think of the disciples in the NT. Jesus was taken from them and killed. What was going on? How could this happen? What now for them? But then, after the Lord's resurrection, they realised that this was all part of God's great plan. God is enthroned in heaven, he rules over all, he's working out his plan, and so we can rejoice, and we can take hope and we can be comforted with the knowledge that our God reigns.
We switch on the news and worry about the wars and the terrorism? Is the world in chaos? No, because God is in control and we can rely on him.
We sit before the doctor who gives us the diagnosis. How can I cope with this news? But remember: God is in control; we can rely on him.
The farmer goes out into the fields and worries over his crops. What happens if it's not a good harvest? But remember: God is in control. My life is in his hands.
When my children start that new school, will they manage ok? But remember: God is in control. I can trust him.
Whatever we face, we can turn to God and rely on him, because our lives are in his hands; he's in control; he rules over all; we can trust him; he's the King of kings.
HOLY
What's next? It's this. The Lord is holy. The angels call out to one another in verse 3, saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.' Now, it's possible that we have a reference to the Trinity. The God we worship and adore is one, but he is also three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So it's possible that the angels are saying the Father is holy and the Son is holy and the Spirit is holy. Now, we don't have time to speak about the Trinity today. What we do need to notice though is that God is holy.
This means that he is pure. He is perfect. He is utterly good and without any moral spot or blemish. He is utterly and completely sinless. But it means much more than this, because it refers as well to the fact that God is set apart. He is separate from everything else. That's what being holy means. It means being separate, being set apart. In the OT, various utensils were used in the temple and there were described as being holy. They were set apart from ordinary use to be used only in the temple. Here in church we celebrate Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper and the bread and the wine are set apart, made holy, so that instead of being used to make sandwiches, the bread is used for Holy Communion. In the OT priests were set apart as holy, to devote themselves to the Lord.
And so when we say that God is holy, we mean that he is set apart from us. He is separate. It refers to his majesty and his transcendence, his greatness over us, the distance between him and us. The fact that he is not a human like us. He is altogether different from us. For he is God and we are not. He is the Creator and we are his creatures. He is the Creator who made everything and therefore he stands apart and separate and over everything else. Look even at the angels in this passage. They are in the presence of God, but even though they are sinless, and pure, they cannot look at God. They cover their faces with their wings. Do you see that in verse 2? Even though they are sinless, perfect beings, they feel it necessary to cover themselves by their wings because of God's holiness, his majesty, his separateness.
REVELATION
Now this truth about God's separateness, his holiness, has two important consequences for us. The first one is this: how can we know God? If God is so utterly different from us, so separate, so distant from us, how can we know anything about him? Think of someone like the Queen of England. She is separated from her people. She lives in a palace surrounded by a wall and security gates and guards to protect her. None of the people of England can come near to her. She's separate from them. She's at a distance from them. If they tried to approach her, they'd be kept back by the guards. So how could they ever come to know anything about her? Well, she'd have to come out and reveal herself. And that's what God has done for us. He has come out and come down and revealed himself to us in various ways.
In the OT, he revealed himself through prophets mostly, like Isaiah, who received visions and messages and who were inspired by God to speak to the people to reveal what God was like and what his will was for them. And these things were then written down to form the OT.
And, of course, God has revealed himself to the world by sending his Son, Jesus Christ. Think of the Queen coming out to speak to the crowds, mixing with ordinary people, talking to them. That's what God has done. He concealed his majesty. He concealed his glory. And he came to earth as a man and lived among us. This was God making himself known. And now the NT gospels and letters tell us about the Lord Jesus and all that he did and said. God inspired the apostles and others to write the NT to tell us about the Lord Jesus and all he did.
Because God is so separate and set apart and so far from us, we could not know him, except that he has revealed himself through Jesus Christ and through the Bible. So how can we know God? How can we find out what his will is? How can we know what he wants from us? Well, we turn to the Bible, and there we discover what he has revealed about himself and about his will for us.
Again, this is a very practical teaching. What am I meant to believe? What am I meant to do? How should I live my life? One person says, 'Do this.' Another person says, 'No, this is how you should live.' What are we to do? How are we to decide? Well, God has revealed what we are to believe and what we are to do through his Son and in the Bible. That's why we spend so much time on Sundays studying this book. In order to know God. There is no other way of knowing him than through this book.
COVENANT
But then there's a second consequence to God's holiness and his separateness. Since God is so far from us, since he is separated from us, so that even the angels in heaven must hide themselves from him, how can we ever connect with him? How can we ever come before him? How can we ever have a relationship with him?
Think of the Queen of England again. She's set apart from the people in the UK. She's separate from them. Ordinary people do not know her and they cannot come before her. They can't enter her palaces and have tea with her. They can't go round and have a chat with her. They can't phone her. They can't have a relationship with her. She's set apart. She's separated from them. And only on special occasions, when she is willing, will she come out and mix with the people. Only when she agrees, can people come and meet her.
And that is the same with God. The WCF states that the distance between God and the creature is so great that we could never have any enjoyment of him except by some voluntary condescension on God's part. If we are ever to know God, to have a relationship with him, to connect with him, then God must be willing to come to us. He must be willing to begin a relationship with us. And this he has done. God offers to be our God and our Saviour. He offers to bring us into a relationship with him. He offers to bring us into his family so that he becomes our Father and we become his children. Imagine that. The Queen of England invites people to a garden party in one of her palaces and for a few hours they're in the presence of royalty. But then the party ends and they must return home. But God invites us to come to him, and he invites us into his family, and he offers to bring us into his heavenly home. He is holy. He is separate. He is far from us. He is majestic and far, far from us. And yet how kind he is. How full of love. Because he reveals himself to us. And then he willingly, voluntarily, comes to us and begins a relationship with us.
Well, we call this a 'covenant'. When a man and a woman are married, when they enter into their new relationship of marriage, they are making a covenant with one another. The minister asks them, in turn, 'Do you promise and covenant to be a loving, faithful and dutiful husband/wife?' They're beginning a new relationship, as a married couple, and it's begins with this promise of lifelong love and faithfulness and dutifulness. And God makes a covenant with us. He promises that he will be our God and our Saviour. He promises to love us and to be faithful to us so that we can rely on him. He promises to provide for us and to help us. God who is holy, set apart, distant from us, from whom even the angels hide their faces, comes down to us and he promises to be with us for ever.
Isn't this wonderful? Doesn't it make you want to stand up and sing for joy? There are people I'd love to know. Famous people I'd love to meet and talk to and be able to phone and say, 'Come on over and have dinner with me.' But I can't. I don't know them. I don't live anywhere near them. They're far from me. They don't even know I exist. But God, the King of kings, who sits enthroned in heaven, high and exalted, who is majestic and holy and full of glory, knows me. And he's come to me. And he's invited me to come to him and to have a relationship with him. Every day I can talk to him. Every day I can read his word to me. When I don't know what to do, he shows me in the Bible what he wants. When I'm afraid and worried, he comforts me. It's wonderful. And he says to all of us, 'Come to me. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He says to us, Come to me and whoever comes to him he will never drive away. He says, Come to me and I will come again and take you to be with me for ever in the presence of God for ever.
Have you come to him? Have you begun this relationship with him? If not, what is stopping you, because there is no greater privilege given to us. The angels in heaven must hide themselves from God because he is so holy, so majestic, so utterly separate and distinct. But he bends down low, and he draws near to us, and he invites us to come to him and to know him and to be with him for ever.
GRACIOUS
And then, finally, and briefly, God is gracious. Isaiah is overwhelmed with a sense of his own sinfulness. He is convicted and cries out, 'Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips.' He realises that because of God's absolute moral purity and goodness and perfection, that he doesn't belong in God's presence. He doesn't fit in. The angels are covering their faces, but at least they are sinless and perfect. Isaiah knows that he is a sinner and that he doesn't belong.
Now, this is the same for all of us. God is wonderful, and he reveals himself to us. And he invites us to come to him and to begin a new relationship with him and he promises, he covenants to be our God. He invites us to come to him. He calls us. But there's a huge problem. Because we cannot come. We cannot come before him. He is too pure for us. He is too perfect for us. We don't belong in his presence because we are sinners and he is sinless. Isaiah realised this. 'Woe is me!' he shouted.
But look how gracious and kind God is. In this vision one of the Lord's angels goes to Isaiah with a piece of coal and touches his lips and makes him clean. His guilt is taken away. His sin is atoned for. It's wiped out. It's covered over. It's dealt with. God makes it possible for Isaiah to come into his presence by taking away his guilt.
And that's what God offers to do for us all. He was under no obligation to do so. He didn't have to do it. But he is so gracious, and so kind, and so loving, that he sent his Son to suffer and to die on the cross to take away our guilt and to atone for our sins, to make us clean, holy, and fit to come into the presence of God.
What is God like? He is a King who rules for ever and ever, and our lives are in his hands.
He is holy, separate, glorious, high and exalted. But he bends down and invites us to come to him.
He is gracious, and merciful, and instead of treating us as our sins deserve, he pardons us, and takes away our guilt and makes us fit to come into his presence.
This is the God we worship and adore and, all who come to him, all who know him, and love him, will adore him and worship him for ever and ever and we will join our voices with the angels to sing, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty.