"holy" is not just a word

There are living creatures around the throne of God. They never get tired of saying "holy, holy" to the Lord because "holy" is not just a word to them: it is an expression of who God is. God's character has so man facets to it that it is like a prism, splitting light into different hues of color. We see Jesus encircled by a rainbow in Revelation 4:3, a visual image of One reflecting light from many aspects of His Personhood.

We do not know all of God's character, however, He has shared many of His names with us in order that we might know His nature. God is not simple, nor easily grasped by our intellect. The elders and the living creatures see God face-to-face and are always amazed by His beauty. "holy" is not just a word: it is that nature of God we are changed by as we behold Him (2 Cor 3;18). He put all His personhood in His Son Jesus so that, in seeing Jesus, we see God.

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (Rev 4:3).

It is God's intention that His Son Jesus would fill the whole universe (Eph 4:10). To accomplish this, He begins by giving parts of His own nature to men, as gifts (Eph 4:7). His purpose in giving men these gifts is that we all would grow up into maturity, "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Eph 4:13). God, in His wisdom, took the many facets of His holy nature and embodied them in His Son Jesus. Jesus, carrying the nature of His Father, put the expression of God's many faceted nature into gifts that would unify us and build us into His nature. We cannot become holy apart from each other, neither can we become holy by all being the same as each other.

"Holy" is not just a word: "holy" is a plan. God's plan is that the many parts of His nature, embodied in the flesh of His Son Jesus, would be formed by His Spirit in us. It is why the anit-Christ spirit says that Jesus has not come in the flesh (2 Jn 1:7). This spirit does not believe that God could be expressed in the identity of His Son Jesus. They who have this spirit also do not believe that God, through Jesus, could be expressed in our flesh as well. We see, therefore, an antagonism amongst men living the Spirit and operating in the gifts of the Spirit. Satan does not want God's body to mature into God's Nature.

With the living creatures are the elders, before the throne of God. They say "you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Rev 4:9-11). It is not a coincidence that the elders know the Lord's great worth, for they are the ones given the gifts that will prepare people to serve Him (Eph 4:12). The true leaders in God's Church will lay their lives down to those whom they build up into the Body of Christ. They know that it is worth more to form men into Jesus' ministers than it is to build their own fame.

"Holy" is not just a word: it is a life style fashioned in the heart and mind of God. May we behold it, be formed by it, and live it. Amen.