The Quest for Holy Transformation in a Secular World

Explore the essence of the divine with us as we navigate the complex yet beautiful relationship between grace, holiness, and righteousness. In a world where sin's shadow looms, we uncover the unchanging holiness of God as presented in the Old Testament, shaping our understanding of reverence and the pursuit of a sanctified life. By studying Jesus' life, we find a mirror reflecting the character of God, guiding us to honor His sacred nature through our daily actions and choices.

As the Easter season reminds us of redemption's power, we delve into the profound grace accessible through Jesus' atoning work. We share stories of human frailty juxtaposed with divinely appointed paths towards holiness. Reflecting on the nation of Israel's historical trials and the consequences of disregarding God's commandments, we draw parallels to our own experiences, finding solace in the promise of a renewed heart as prophesied in Ezekiel.

In our journey toward transformation, we discuss how embracing holiness influences our identity and actions, setting us apart in a world often resistant to divine guidance. We underscore the call to holiness, a transformative endeavor underpinned by the Bible's wisdom and God's empowering presence. Join us for a heartfelt exchange that seeks to uplift and challenge, offering insights into living a life aligned with divine righteousness, enriched by the grace bestowed upon us.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:05

You know, a lot of times, I think, when we talk about you know God, and rightfully so especially coming off of Easter, we really love to talk about the idea of grace and mercy and listen. I believe with everything in me that that is an aspect of God that is very much needed and one that we need to understand, especially for those in the world who might not know him. And Jesus exemplifies that in the way that he lives, the way that he lived, the things that he did, the kind of people that he interacted with, and so that's an aspect of God that is important and we cannot forget that. On the other hand, we also have to acknowledge and the Old Testament does an incredible job of establishing this that God is holy. He is righteous in everything that he does, he sits outside of time and space and he doesn't adhere to our understanding of what's good. He sets the tone for what's good. He is the one who has always established what it is to be right. The word holy in the Hebrew text actually means separation. So this idea that God is holy establishes this idea that he is separated from humanity in the sense that he's holy, he's perfect, he's righteous, he's completely just, he can do no wrong. It also establishes that he's separated from anything that is evil and any affiliation with sin. God and sin do not exist on the same plane. Light and darkness cannot inhabit the same area. God is holy and set apart.

Speaker 1: 3:25

That's something we don't talk about a lot, and a lot of times when you go in the Old Testament, people want to point and make God out to be this awful person, this, how can he destroy nations? How can he bring judgment on people? And the short answer to that that is he's God In all of creation. He is the only one who is allowed to cast judgment. When you and I die, I'm not going to be standing next to you judging you. It's not my place. When you and I die, we will stand before the holy and righteous God and he will either acknowledge that we know him or he'll cast us away from him. His purpose in all of creation is to be the one who sits on the throne and he's in charge. The reason that is important is because, unless you understand God is holy, then following him doesn't make sense. That's what a lot of people struggle with.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Isaiah 57, 15 says, for this is what the high and exalted one says he who lives forever, whose name is holy. It says I live in a high and holy place, but also the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit. To revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite Revelation 15, 14,. Who will not fear you, lord, and bring glory to your name, for you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. Exodus 3, 5 through 6 says do not come any closer. God said he's talking to Moses to take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Then he said I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And at this, moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. Exodus 15, 11,. Who, among the gods, lowercase g, is like you, lord, who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You and I, when we approach God, cannot separate the fact that he is holy.

Speaker 1: 5:59

One of the most beautiful things that's happened in Christianity is Jesus. Jesus came to earth as a baby, lived for 33 years. He is God incarnate. We were able to, for a short time, see and understand the characteristics of God. Not only that, but Jesus lived a perfect life, which means he never sinned, he never failed, he never did anything wrong. Jesus is the example to humanity of how you and I are supposed to live, by the way, with full flesh and full temptation and full craziness of the world that he lived in. He did it. So it's not that we can't, because he established we can. But what we have to really understand is that while God is incredibly approachable this is the beauty of it he's incredibly approachable. Jesus established that. But he also is someone who should be approached with a level of respect and honor and worship. Those two things have to go hand in hand and a lot of times I think we approach God in a non-respective way. I think that's easy to do if we're not careful.

Speaker 1: 7:35

But God is holy and the reason and I said it already, but the reason you have to understand that is because if God is holy, if God is righteous, if God does everything correct, if God does everything right, then it makes sense to live the way he calls us to live. It allows him to look into my life and say hey, listen, jason, I saw the way you were treating someone the other day, the way you were gossiping behind someone's back. You probably should knock that off, because my word tells you not to do that. By the way, you're in a marriage and you're struggling in your marriage and things are difficult and I see you. I see you, not me, but you see people that listen, you're struggling in your marriage and you have this feeling and desire that you want to go cheat on your wife. Don't do that. That's unbiblical. That's not the way I'm calling you to live right.

Speaker 1: 8:37

So God being holy and righteous gives him the ability to call us into account for the sin that is in our lives. He is the only one who is able to do that, who is able to do that, and the danger that we see is when we don't see him as holy, when we don't see him as righteous, when we don't see him as perfect, we can easily write him off and act like these are just good suggestions. When we don't understand that God is holy and righteous, this just becomes another self-help book that I guess I'll do it if I want to, but maybe I don't really want to. But when you see him and you understand that he is perfect, then the words that he has given us through the scriptures are also perfect. They tell us how to live. They set the tone for how you and I are supposed to treat each other. They lead to transformation.

Speaker 1: 9:44

One of the things we've been talking about all year is a transformed heart. Being transformed by God is a process. I accepted God when I was 15 years old. I didn't wake up the next day and did everything right. I still did stupid things. I still made poor choices. I still do stupid things. I still make poor choices, but I'm better than I was when I was 15. I don't make the same mistakes, because part of transformation, it's a process. It takes time.

Speaker 1: 10:34

You know a lot of times when we talk about a transformed heart and we're going to talk about that in a second that you know God is looking at the nation of Israel and he's seeing their rebellion, he's seeing their murder, he's seeing how they really just ignored him. And in the midst of the warning of destruction that is coming, he says I'm going to change you, I'm going to transform you, I'm going to help you become what you need to be so that you can serve me fully. And I can do that because I am holy and I am separate from the things that you are connected to. I sit on my throne, I stand above, I call judgment on all of creation that I made, and I see that you're failing and I'm not happy, but I'm also not going to let you stay that way. I've said it before and I'll say it again, that Jesus loves us so much that he'll meet us where we are, but he loves us too much to leave us there. Part of having a relationship with God, part of becoming a Christian, is this understanding that by my nature, I'm rebellious.

Speaker 1: 12:03

You ever noticed how easy sin is to do the wrong thing and listen. I'm just being honest because I know people say it to me. There's a lot of good people in the world who don't know God, I agree, but all of those people still sin, all of those people still do bad things, all of those people make mistakes. And what's crazy is we compare sin. We're like well, at least I don't murder anyone. Okay, I haven't killed anyone.

Speaker 1: 12:49

Did you lie about someone at work? Did you spread false information? Did you lie to your boss? Did you show up late to work? And you were like why were you late? Traffic you know there wasn't any traffic, you went through Dunkin' Donuts. You shouldn't have, right, and I know that doesn't seem like a big deal. But to God all sin is sin, no matter what it is, because God is holy, god is. Because God is holy, god is separate, god is perfect, god is righteous, so all sin to him is wrong. And so he's looking at the nation of Israel and he's saying listen, you have these rebellious hearts, you've rebelled against me and now I'm going to bring destruction upon you. Because here's the thing you and I, whether we agree with it or not, deserve that destruction. If God showed up today and punished each of us according to our sin, if he chose to do that, there's not a single person in this room who could argue against him.

Speaker 1: 14:01

The book of Revelation I know I don't talk about it much, but the book of Revelation is very clear that at the end of the world which obviously didn't happen at the eclipse, at the end of the world that God is going to make everyone take account. Everyone will stand before the king of kings, the one who created everything, and everyone will be judged accordingly. God can do that because he's holy. He's the only one who can do that he's the only one who can do that, and we have to understand that, because if you choose to follow him, you are saying to the one who is perfect I now give you control of my life. I will now live in the way that you call me to live. I will get away from the things that are sinful. I will separate myself. I will seek to be like you.

Speaker 1: 15:07

Leviticus 20, 26 says you are holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. He's saying this to Israel, by the way. It's at 1 Peter, 1, 13 through 16. It says therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed or is coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written be holy because I am holy. 1 John 1.7,. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we will have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus' son purifies us from all sin.

Speaker 1: 16:02

Romans 12, 2 says Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and improve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will. The one who is holy, the one who is separate, the one who has set himself above all desires for you and I to be holy. That's a tall order, because when I look at God, when I look and try to understand who he is and what he's done, I realize that, as I stand before him, that I can't cast judgment on him or anyone anyone else for that matter Because I'm not perfect.

Speaker 1: 17:00

Sin is still something that I struggle with. Sin is still something that, for the rest of my life, I believe that I will, and I think that that's where Jesus comes in and that's where Jesus is important, because God knew that you and I would never be perfect. We would never be able to say things like he does or do things like he does, because we all fall short. In the same letter, paul writes the Romans. He says we've all fallen short, we've all sinned. And so that's where Jesus comes in, and we talk about this around Easter that the reason that he died was to take the sin of humanity on himself, so that you and I can be presented to God as perfect, that the sin that we struggle with, that he took the wrath upon us, that he was the one who made it, so that you and I can have eternity with him through the death, burial and resurrection. And it's through him that we have the opportunity to be what God wants us to be. But it's also through him that we have grace and mercy for when we fail. However, it doesn't give us an excuse to not seek to be holy in all that we do.

Speaker 1: 18:27

In there lies the challenge. The nation of Israel failed over and over and over again. They tried to wash away their own sin. They would make sacrifices, but they would quickly over centuries of failure. They would find themselves serving other gods and because of that they would face judgment, harsh judgment, right. And when we read the Old Testament, we have this sense of. I think we have a sense of two things. One we think, ah, they deserved it, and that's our approach, which I would agree they did. Or we have the other approach of how can a loving God do that? And the answer to that question is because he's holy, he's perfect. His judgment is always going to be right. You and I don't get to challenge him on that. You can try, but it won't work.

Speaker 1: 20:09

I think about it with my kids, right? Not that I'm holy or righteous by any means, but compared to my kids, I know a few things. I've learned a few things. I've made enough mistakes to try to help them not do the same thing. Everett's in an age right now where he challenges me. It's fun. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so smart and he remembers everything that I say. He starts to be really careful what I say because he brings it up later in conversation. But my eight-year-old is going to make mistakes and when he gets disciplined for those mistakes, his immediate response is how could you do that to me? That's not fair To. That's not fair To you. It's not fair To me. It makes perfect sense. That consequence is a direct result of the action you made. When you continue to.

Speaker 1: 21:16

You know my kids play Roblox on the iPad and him and Griffin play together. It's kind of fun to watch them. But there are certain games they're not allowed to play and we established this early on. That if you play those kind of games and they're not awful. I don't want my kids having nightmares because some of that stuff is stupid.

Speaker 1: 21:36

And we've had this conversation that you're not allowed to play certain things, and so about a week ago, I caught Everett playing a game that he shouldn't have been playing, and I caught him because Griffin told me Griffin's my honest one so far. So they're sitting on the couch and they said something that kind of made me think of this game and I was like are you playing that? And everyone didn't say anything. And Griffin's like yes, I'm like, there you are. And I was like what did I tell you? And of course we kind of had this dialogue, but so we took the iPad off of him and he was mad Well, that's not fair.

Speaker 1: 22:15

But listen, it is fair because I set rules in place for you to follow for your good and you failed to keep them. And here's the consequences. By the way, that's what's happening in the book of Ezekiel. God has set the stage and the rules that they needed to follow for their good, because God never asked them to sacrifice their kids. Other gods did. God never asked them to abandon their marriage and prostitute out their wives to worship an idol. The other cultures did so God set a tone and said listen, you can have everything and I will watch over you and I will protect you, just don't do this. And they did all of that and more. And so God said here are the consequences, here's what's about to happen, but from you I will bring a people. I will not leave you in this mess. Ezekiel 36, 22-38. This is him, god, speaking to Ezekiel.

Speaker 1: 23:35

Therefore, say to the Israelites this is what the sovereign Lord says it's not for your sake, people of Israel, that I'm going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes, for I will take you out of the nations, I will gather you from the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and from all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors and you will be my people and I will be your God. I will save you from all uncleanliness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and your wicked deeds and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I'm not doing this for your sake, declares the sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgrace for your conduct.

Speaker 1: 25:11

People of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says. On the day I cleanse you from all of your sins, I will resettle your towns and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated Instead of lying desolate in the sight of all pass through it. You know God in this moment, in this really pivotal moment is saying to Israel listen, you have failed to be what I need you to be, but I'm going to restore you anyway. I am going to make it known, by the things that I'm about to do in your life, the way that I'm about to transform you. The nations will know who I am. This transformation is the same kind of transformation that you and I get to experience. Listen, israel would continue to mess up Time and time again. They would fail.

Speaker 1: 26:23

The reason Jesus had to come is because the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was never going to be good enough. There had to be someone in all of creation who could stand before God and who could live a perfect life and who would be the sacrifice for all of humanity, and that was in Jesus. That's what he accomplished, and he did that so that you and I can not only have grace and mercy and we don't have to deal with the wrath that we so rightfully deserve. But he did that so that we can be transformed. People deserved. But he did that so that we can be transformed people.

Speaker 1: 27:10

The moment you accept the relationship with Christ is the moment your life starts to change, and that's the beauty of who God is is he wants us to be changed. Listen, he could have wiped out Israel. He could have wiped them out of history. We might not have even known who they are, but he didn't. Because he said even though you have failed for my namesake, I'm going to take your heart and I'm going to make it new. The world around you will know who I am by the transformation that they see in your life. The world around us, even today, will know who we are by how you and I are different, how you and I are holy, how you and I are set apart.

Speaker 1: 28:06

By the way. Not perfect. God's, not he's calling for perfection, but he understands we're not going to get there. But he sees and he transforms us so that we're different. The way we handle tragedy, the way we handle loss, the way we handle the way you know people treat us and how they talk about us, the way we handle our finances, the way we handle our marriage, the way we raise our kids, like all of these things are different. You and I should not look like the rest of the world. That's the beauty of it, but that's also the hard part, because we're bent towards being like the culture.

Speaker 1: 28:59

You know why a lot of people and this is something at least I've experienced, a lot of people choose not to follow God. Because they can't understand. Why would I want to follow someone who's trying to tell me how to live my life? Because that rebellion in us is I don't want that. I want to do what I want to do and I'm going to do it because I'm right and I'm perfect and I don't make mistakes. And then you look at the nation of Israel as they sacrificed their children to worship statues because they believed, like most humanity, that they knew better than God. Because somewhere along the line they forgot that God is holy, they stopped treating him as such. He wasn't this loving, perfect creator. He was someone who didn't know what he was talking about.

Speaker 1: 30:10

Church, we have to give back to the point where we realize that God is holy. That's what this world needs, because he's the only one. He's the only one who can walk into this darkness of the world, the culture of the countries. He's the only one, in all of his holiness, that can walk in and say listen, I know what's best for you. I made you, I created you, and, like Israel, he's like. I want nothing but the best for you, your rebellion, your desire to walk away from me. You ruin it, and I think that we do that ourselves.

Speaker 1: 30:59

We have this God who wants the best for us, this loving Father who not only showed us through Jesus by his death, but has a desire to transform our hearts from stone to flesh, to make us better, to make us better, to make us everything that we're supposed to be. He's the one who is willing to do it. He's the only one who can, because he's holy and everything he does, everything that he says, is right and we can stand on that. And so when we talk about the Bible that's such an important aspect is everything in here is for our good. God wants us to be what he wants us to be, and he's already told us how to do it. We just have to listen to it. We are called to be holy and God has given us the power to do it. He's also given us the grace through Christ. When we can't, through Christ, when we can't, god is holy.

Speaker 1: 32:26

The first 33 chapters of Ezekiel establish that God is holy. As we finish up this series for the next five weeks, we have to start there, because everything I say from here on out doesn't make sense if you don't believe God is holy. Everything I say, everything the Bible says, every scripture we read, doesn't make sense if you don't put God in his proper place, which is high above everything, the one who stands outside of space and time, the one who is the righteous judge of all things, and you and I are called to live for him, and it's for our good that we do. God is holy. We start there, alright, let's pray.