"The Air of Heaven", from the section on "Who He Is": Completely Holy

Holiness is so intrinsic to who God is that we simply cannot separate Him from it. Today, the love of God has been taught so extensively that many do not even comprehend the relevance of His holiness. Much like ancient Israel, we have stepped away from the reality of who He is.

When God created man, He created him without sin. The fellowship that God intended to have with man was tied to that lack of sin. And God walked and talked with man – the Creator with the created – having him name the animals and assigning him to keep the garden of Eden. Then the serpent tempted Eve and sin came between God and His much loved creation, corrupting the relationship that God sought. It was sin that caused the Holiness of God to curse His creation and send man away from His presence.

If we appreciate the effort expended creating us, we can begin to comprehend how great a loss this was for Him. He didn’t just get angry with man, His Holiness required a separation from sinful man. So, Adam and Eve were driven from His presence out of the garden and forbidden to return. In seeking to be equal to God, they had cut themselves off from God.

If we look at Noah, we see God’s Holiness requiring the near extinction of His creation.

And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had  corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.” – Gen 6:12-13

Man had separated himself so far from God that he committed evil continually. So, God sent the flood to cleanse that evil from the earth. This time they weren’t just sent away. They were destroyed to prevent further corruption. Noah and his family were all that remained of man. Clearly the Holiness of God is something with which we need to be deeply concerned.

Then there is the defeat and exile of ancient Israel. After bringing them up out of Egypt – which was no small feat in itself – leading them through the desert for 40 years, empowering them to defeat the nations occupying the “promised land”; God turns them over to be slaughtered and carried away as captives.

We know that He loved them and called them His own. We know that He went to great lengths to reveal Himself to them as the true God He is. Yet, once again, when man turned from God and became intolerably evil, the Holiness of God required separation. In this case separation not only meant the deaths of many, but sending them far away from the land He had given them and ending His provision and care for them for a time. What we need to identify with here is that if He would not spare His chosen people, neither would He spare us.

When we strip away His authority over us – such as by choosing which of His laws we will obey, we are literally attempting to place ourselves on par with Him – like Adam and Eve. We think He will not treat us as He did them, because Yeshua is our redeemer. However, the Scriptures do not say that. We have just read this meaning into them.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. – Joh 15:5-6

Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our abode with him. – Joh 14:23

Then we have this from Paul:

You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear, for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. – Rom 11:19-21

So, we see that continued, willful disobedience separates us from God. If we are to draw near to Him, we must turn away from disobedience. We must identify sin as sin and submit ourselves to His holiness. We must remember that it was God’s holiness that required the sacrifice of Yeshua. It is sheer folly to think that after such great sacrifice, He would now decide that sin was no longer an issue. If then, we are to breathe the air of Heaven we must first require holiness of ourselves.

“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.” --- Lev 11:44