“A Christian is a person who has an awe and reverence for God and His holiness.”
Welcome again to Powerful God – Practical Faith and our series… “Bringing Clarity to the Term Christian”. So grateful you have joined us again in this series.
In this blog, I want to focus on the Christian’s response to who the Triune God is and what all He has done for the Christian in salvation. This leads us to Statement 10, which says….
A Christian is a person who has an awe and reverence for God and His holiness.
Now this post will not be as theological or exegetical as many of our earlier blogs in this series. However, I do want us to understand what kind of response and attitude should be developed and cultivated when a person receives salvation from our Triune God.
When the Christian comes to understand who God really is, through the Word of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, there is a deep awareness and reverent disposition toward God that comes with this understanding.
First of all, the Christian develops a since of awe for God. He comes to understand God’s power and majesty. He can finally “see” God for who He is and creates a sincere and deep appreciation for God intervening in his life and changing him from and enemy to a son. As he begins to consider the past reality of his condition without God, a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving springs up for the grace God has granted in salvation.
In Romans 11, Paul, after explaining how God, in His divine plan and providence brought salvation by faith to both Jew a and Gentile, he says this….
Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:34-36 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
What a wonderful doxology! This is the sentiment of the Christian who truly understands the immeasurable wonder of God.
Secondly, the Christian develops an attitude of reverence. Now reverence for God is and should be the highest form of respect given. God is above every man, woman, and creature, both in heaven and earth. God is to be extremely honored, even with a since of dread for who He is.
I think one of the most disrespectful, callous and arrogant things a person can do is to refer to God flippantly, like He is some everyday guy on the street. I have heard people address God or Jesus as their “home boy”, or “best buddy”. In my opinion, these casual expressions used for God should be shameful and are borderline sacrilegious. It is very difficult to see many in today’s culture so irreverently address a God who those, historically, fell on their face before. The God who saves the Christian is all powerful, all knowing, and altogether holy. He is the giver and sustainer of life as well as a God of judgment and eternal punishment. A healthy fear of God is always right and necessary for the Christian. The proper response to the presence of God is never to be like giving Him a high five, it is to bow your knees, face, and heart in complete worship.
I am reminded of the passage in Philippians 2 which says:
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason, also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
God the Son, Jesus, is not our “casual close buddy”. Although He is a friend, He is our Lord and nothing less. Reverence for the name of Jesus Christ should be of primary, spiritual importance for the Christian.
Lastly, the Christian should have a deep concern to preserve the holiness of God. There are very few passages of scripture that convey the message of God’s holiness quite like Isaiah 6. Isaiah’s vision of the Lord and his response to being in the presence of holiness is profound.
Isaiah says….
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies.
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,
“Woe to me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.”
Isaiah 6:1-5 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
In Isaiah’s vision, the holiness of God is greatly emphasized to the point where trembling occurs when the angel speaks of it. I am sure to experience the holiness of an almighty God would be life changing. It is evident that it was for Isaiah. The Holiness of God immediately made Isaiah come to grips with his own sinfulness and unworthiness. He says.. “Woe to me for I am ruined”… meaning he is destroyed, laid waste, made nothing before a Holy God. He also says that he and his people are of unclean lips, meaning that we are all sinners without an answer or a righteous claim before pure and utter holiness. In the presence of holiness, all we can do is humbly ask for forgiveness and mercy.
For the Christian, the holiness of God is and should be taken very seriously and should give the Christian a desire to also be clean, pure and holy in His presence. However, the Christian also knows that we need the power of God the Holy Spirit to live holy lives. Christ is our standard and the Christian becomes like him as he submits to his authority.
Thank you again for joining us. Hope to see you again as we continue to “Bring Clarity to the term Christian”
God Bless.
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