SPECIAL FEATURE
Great is the Lord (Psalm 96)
Words & Music by Carson Li @KEC Worship
MESSAGE SUMMARY
Introduction
- We often think of God as being loving and full of Mercy
- We do not want the angry and mean Old Testament God that punished people
- We pick and choose what we want in our theology and our understanding of God.
- We ignore or even toss out some of the characters of God that do not suit our needs.
- One of the most important attributes of God that we have been ignoring is God’s holiness.
- Question: Can we still call ourselves Christians if we pick and choose what suits us?
What is the Holiness of God?
The Greek word for holy is Hagios which means:
- God is unique and set apart from everything else that exists in the universe.
- God is absolutely pure and free from any form of evil.
- God has absolute moral perfection and He is incapable of sinning.
- God is good and perfect in all his works and all his ways.
God's Holiness and His Grace
- Seraphim worshipped God with "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3b)
- Isaiah was overwhelmed and terrified in the presence of God because he saw his own sinfulness, and the sinfulness of his people. (Isaiah 6:5)
- Uzzah touched the Ark when it fell; God got angry at Uzzah and instantly killed him. Uzzah did not take God, his holiness and commands seriously. (2 Samuel 6:3-7)
- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
- Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are no longer separated from God. This sacrifice is a form of love that the world has never seen before. It is a sacrificial love that is undeserved.
- We have been taking God's grace and love for granted.
- We can never separate the grace and love of God from his holiness
- “God's holiness is not an unloving holiness, and God's love is not an unholy love. It is only by keeping these two primary moral qualities of the divine being closely related that we may rightly behold the character of God." (Thomas C. Oden, The Living God: Systematic Theology: Volume One)
Application
- Knowing God’s holiness actually motivates us to pursue holiness in our own lives. We are called to be holy because God is holy. (I Peter 1:14)
- God is calling out to you to be holy.
- Would you accept His invitation?
MUSIC CREDIT
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Great is the Lord (Psalm 96)
Words & Music by Carson Li @KEC Worship
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Great Are You Lord
Words & Music by David Leonard, Jason Ingram & Leslie Jordan
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In Control
Words & Music by Aodhan King | Ben Fielding
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Stay Amazed
Words & Music by Jamie Birkenfeld, Robert Quintana and Klaus Kuehn
