Our Holy God and Father

“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30)

Old precepts die hard. For instance, discussions regarding the holiness of God can easily cause us to fall short of fully comprehending and embracing our relationship with The Holy One. We understand that God is holy and we are not, because it is our nature to sin. Why? It is because at the root of all sin is the doubt that God exists, that He provides for our needs, that He loves and cares for us, or that He hears and answers our prayers. Sin is loveless and self-centered. The evil one wants any discussion of God’s holiness to leave us feeling wretched, as if God is unapproachable and wants nothing to do with us.

In our minds, we envision the Seraphim covering their faces as they cry out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isaiah 6:3). We feel that, at best, that is our calling as well—to stand off at a distance in awe and reverence, praising and worshiping God. But is it? If we are truly God's adopted children through faith in our Savior Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13), are we not positioned above the family's servants? Shouldn’t the servants do what they are called to do, while we do what we were "born again" to do?

The enemy wants us to believe that truly knowing God, our Father, is reserved for the afterlife. But Jesus declared, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). Our only remaining separation from God is physical, not spiritual; our feet are, in fact, firmly planted in the Kingdom of God. Our Savior, Jesus, continues to intercede on our behalf as our High Priest, saying, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:15-16).

The evil one wants us to send our hopeful prayers up like arrows shot toward an aloof God, offering no defined target. But behold the veil of the Holy of Holies, which has been forever torn in two by the finished work of God's beloved Son, Jesus. We can—and must—enter the throne room boldly to make our concerns and requests known to our Father. He sees us, hears us, and answers our prayers according to His perfect will.

Does our adoption make us equal to Jesus? God forbid we should ever entertain such a thought. However, we must faithfully stand firm upon every promise Jesus made to us and defy Satan's divisive lies. The day we believed in Jesus, there was rejoicing in heaven; God no longer holds anything against us. To the contrary, we became, in an instant, God’s beloved children in whom our loving Father is well pleased. Have we earned or do we deserve such lofty status? Absolutely not! But that is the pure beauty and brilliance of the Gospel. As God’s adopted children—set free from the unbearable weight of the law to rest in the loving arms of our Shepherd and Savior—the Holy Spirit compels us to confidently live each day as a delight to our Heavenly Father.

There can be no doubt that God is holy beyond our comprehension, but there must also be no doubt that we are the ones Jesus spoke of when He said, "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11). Our one and only purpose is to be about our Father’s business, just as Jesus was, until we leave this world to know ultimate peace and joy in the place prepared for us by Jesus Himself.

Father, Father, thank You that Your holiness is no longer a barrier keeping us at a distance, but now a beautiful welcoming light, through the finished work of Your Son and Our Savior, Jesus. Help us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live fully as Your adopted children—ready to recognize and reject the lies of the evil one and at ease entering Your throne room with our petitions. Let Jesus’ presence in us draw others closer to You, and teach us how to be a delight to you. Amen.