In today's post I will look at GOD's Holiness before HIS Godliness our inheritance when we become One in Christ and Christ is One in us. But before getting there I want to look at what Pastor Hoekstra has to say about Christ and Grace. Then with the use of the ESV translation I will move on and as is my usual custom should the LORD give me utterance I will break in and share it wherever and when even HE does so.
"Jesus Christ, Our Only Foundation"
"According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1Corinthians 3:10-11)
"Another wonderful blessing in Christ is the foundation that He provides for all who live by (meaning in) His Grace. As with buildings, lives also need solid foundations. Our foundation is in the person, Jesus Christ. "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." By the Grace of GOD enabling Him, Paul ministered the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "According to the Grace of GOD which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation." In doing this, he was laying the only reliable spiritual ground for living as GOD intended. So many people attempt to lay other foundations for their lives. Some turn to earthly riches. Others hope in human wisdom. Others put their confidence in personal power and influence. Such vain pursuits are like attempting to construct a building upon shifting, sinking sand.
Our lives need to be built on bedrock as our foundation. It has always been the Father's purpose to provide such for His people. David experienced this through his pilgrimage, as he trusted in the Lord. "From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Psalm 61:2). In the most extreme situations on earth, when circumstances were overwhelming him, David cried out to His God. He looked to the LORD to be to him a rock upon which he could stand above the rolling waves of impossibility. "He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved" (Psalm 62:6). David stood on the LORD alone as his solid spiritual ground. Standing by faith he would not be destroyed.
Of course, the ultimate expression of GOD being the Bedrock to His people would be in the coming of the Son of GOD to earth as a man. This great plan the LORD promised through Isaiah. "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily" (Isaiah 28:16). Jesus is that proven, priceless, and secure foundation. Now, all who stand in Him by faith will not be driven about frantically, searching for solid ground on which to plant their feet."
Holiness, GOD's Holiness:
The first one is found in Moses' song found in Exodus 15,
Exodus 15:2-18 The LORD is my strength and my song, and HE has become my salvation; this is my GOD, and I will praise Him, my father's GOD, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name. "Pharaoh's chariots and his host HE cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow Your adversaries; You send out Your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.' You blew with Your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in Holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them. "You have led in Your steadfast Love the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode. The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fell upon them; because of the greatness of Your arm, they are still as a stone, till Your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom You have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them on Your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your abode, the sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever."
1Samuel 6:19-21 "HE struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great blow. Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this Holy GOD? And to whom shall HE go up away from us?" So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to you."
Psalm 99:6-9 "Moses and Aaron were among His priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon His name. They called to the LORD, and HE answered them. In the pillar of the cloud HE spoke to them; they kept His testimonies and the statute that HE gave them. O LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy mountain; for the LORD our God is Holy!"
Isaiah 6:1-5 and Ezekiel 39:7, Habakkuk 1:13, Revelation 4:8 "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two HE covered His face, and with two HE covered His feet, and with two HE flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of Him Who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts!"
Ezekiel 39:7-8 "My Holy name I Will make known in the midst of My people Israel, and I Will not let My Holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the LORD GOD. That is the day of which I have spoken."
Habakkuk 1:12-17 :Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, You have ordained them as a judgment, and You, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You Who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do You idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?"
Revelation 4:1-11 "After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. And HE who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven Spirits of GOD, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD GOD the Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are You, our LORD and GOD, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your Will they existed and were created."
Revelation 15:2-4 "I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of GOD in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are Your deeds, O LORD GOD the Almighty! Just and True are Your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O LORD, and glorify Your name? For You alone are Holy. All nations will come and worship You, for Your Righteous acts have been revealed."
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