The fruit of the Spirit adorns our personalities.
When Jesus said (Luke 14:26) that the cost of discipleship would cause having to hate our nearest and dearest in comparison to our love for Him, we understand that this did not mean hate as the word is used meaning intent to harm. It has to do with preference and priority. The Bible gives many examples of individuals who preferred others or themselves and gave priority to their desires, plans and timing.
Just a few: Abraham went where he shouldn’t go (Genesis 12:10) which led to his lie and fear for his own neck and landed his wife in Pharaoh’s harem. Moses pictured himself (Exodus 2:10) as immediate deliverer and became a murderer. David chose to stay where he shouldn’t (2 Samuel 11:1) gave top priority to his lust and then raped a woman and murdered her husband. Athaliah really loved herself as queen (2 Kings 11:1-3) so she murdered all the royal seed. Hezekiah insisted on his timing (2 Kings 20:3) and fathered the most wicked king that had ever reigned.
One more example, but with the opposite response. Years ago in our denomination there was a young man who knew God had called him to be a missionary in India. His mother said if he loved her he would not go. Of course, he loved his mother but he chose to respond in obedience to God’s call. Before his furlough his mother had become a believer.
O.K. so where am I going with this? Let’s boil it down to the bare bones and dig until we discover God’s true motive. Is there anything in God’s desire to be first in our hearts that is in any way similar to Lucifer’s desire (Isaiah 14:13) to be supreme?
NO! NO! 10 TRILLION TIMES NO!
How do I know for sure and how can I be so positive? Come with me and we’ll be blown away in adoring wonder and worship by the genuine motive of the Lord our God.
Listen – I must tell you something. I am often shocked by the thoughts God gives me in the strangest places and at the weirdest times. It was early morning a few minutes before 3:00 a.m. and I had to get up. As I stumbled to the bathroom I was very tired but on that short trip God dropped a lightning bolt into my mind. I went back to bed but sleep was impossible. My mind was churning as it raced through the centuries since the dawn of creation.
There was a man who sensed the possibility of losing his very beautiful wife and chose her over God. So what? Since the beginning of mankind on Planet Earth have you ever heard of rape – murder – child abuse – slavery – famine – disease – war? Was there ever an Antiochus Epiphanes or Hitler or Mussolini or Stalin or a viciously cruel false religion? It took all of Satan’s wiles to seduce and deceive Eve. But Adam (1 Timothy 2:14) was not deceived, he was a pushover for a woman. With his eyes wide open he deliberately chose to participate in sin against God rather than risk losing Eve. From that moment on every person born into physical life arrives spiritually dead.
I tremble at the magnificence and the terror of our god-like power of free-will choice.
God has many attributes, love – wisdom- power – faithfulness etc. But God’s greatest attribute is His holiness which is mentioned in the Bible more often than any other of His attributes and the only one declared triplicate.
Holy, holy, holy (Isaiah 6:3). Holy, holy, holy (Revelation 4:8) is the Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come.
Later I was in the hair salon sitting under the dryer when He said something else to me. He told me that our safety is because of His holiness. I didn’t fully understand so I asked Him what that meant and He explained it to me. (Do we ever stop to think how highly privileged we are - - we can be anywhere with other people around and still be having a wonderful conversation with the Sovereign Ruler of the universe!). This is what the Lord told me. Nothing can touch, taint, decrease or detract from or change God’s holiness. The reason it is His highest attribute is because all His other attributes flow from His holiness and are dependent on it and therefore so is our safety. How come, I asked. Just think about it. If God’s holiness was not absolutely pure – unselfish – unchanging, then the other attributes could be inconsistent and uncertain. Now we see clearly God’s motive for wanting first place in our lives – it is always for our good and our protection. Our safety and rich inheritance in Christ is assured because of God’s infallible holiness.
Join me and let us worship the Lord in the beauty (Psalm 29:2) of His holiness.
My prayer – (Psalm 90:17) God of all grace, let the beauty of Your holiness be upon me in every word, thought and deed and establish continually Your work in and through me.
Let His gracious patient Words fill you with adoring wonder as they did me. Nothing or every treasure of this world could ever compare with fellowship and communion with the Living God, our loving, giving heavenly Father.
What is the beauty of God’s holiness? On its own, His holiness is terrifying. Our instant doom would be certain if we tried to approach Him (1 Timothy 6:16) in the blinding light of His holiness. But I need God! Does the God Who lives in terrifying holiness know or care that I need Him? He must know because He created me with that need. Is there any possible way to bridge the yawning gap between holy God and sinful me? Yes! He does know. He does care and He has provided the WAY. How? What I need is a go-between, a mediator. Good news (1 Timothy 2:5) There is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the MAN Christ Jesus. God’s holiness which once filled us with terror now fills us with awe and gratitude. The beauty of God’s holiness actually is Jesus Himself because in and through Him all God’s wonderful attributes lavish their treasures on us. As long as I live I don’t think I’ll ever fully grasp the super abundant and overflowing GRACE of God. Grace and Truth (John 1:17) came by Jesus Christ.
The beauty of God’s holiness is the outpouring of all His other glorious attributes. BUT there is more - - for us the beauty of God’s holiness is (Galatians 5:22-23) the fruit of the Spirit, the lovely characteristics of Jesus, with which He wants to adorn our personalities.