Set Apart: Holiness Completed

Set Apart: Holiness Completed

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Notes prepared by Bruce Fidler 

Focus: The story of redemption is completed, and God’s people now reflect the holiness of God so that he can dwell among them.

Revelation 21:1–7 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

The Text in the Story of Redemption

Revelation 21:1–7 are the opening verses for a section (21:1–22:5) describing the new heaven and earth that God’s people will experience in the coming age. Revelation is predominantly an apocalyptic work portraying God’s progressive victory over sin and worldly and spiritual forces of evil. Written explicitly to seven churches in Asia Minor of the Roman empire in the first century, it contains extraordinary, symbolic visions and words given to John. John urges the churches to be faithful to Christ despite persecution, ungodly Roman society, and internal threats from false teaching.

This section begins the celebratory description of God’s consummation of redemption after Jesus has returned to the earth and the final judgment has occurred. John describes the beginning of the new age and our new experience of everlasting life. God has finalized his victory over sin, evil, and death, conformed his people into the image of Jesus, and begun to dwell openly with them in a new world characterized by his holiness and goodness.

The vision is beautiful and compelling, inspiring hope and longing for the Lord’s return and God’s consummation of all things. John intended his message to stir the faith-filled imagination of the believers in Asia Minor with an anticipation of everlasting life with God and one another in the wonderful age to come. His text sought to motivate them to persevere in their love for God and one another, their faithfulness to the gospel, and their commitment to holy living. Despite their difficult trials, a glorious, certain future awaited them.

This sermon should provide a motivational vision to spur us to a life of holiness.  When we see the destination clearly, we will sacrifice to get there.

Successful athletes picture the prize at the end of the season. A young football player may envision holding the FIFA World Cup trophy one day. An aspiring swimmer may imagine herself receiving the gold medal in a future Olympics. These visions empower the athlete to press on through setbacks, injuries, and pain.

In 1968, John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in the men’s marathon. But in a collision with other athletes jockeying for position, he fell to the ground, gashing and dislocating his knee. Most observers assumed he would pull out and go to the hospital. Instead, he received medical attention and returned to the track. Though eighteen of the seventy-five starters had pulled out, he resolved to complete the event.

More than an hour after the winner crossed the line and the awards were distributed, Akhwari finished the race, cheered on by a few thousand remaining spectators. When reporters asked why he’d carried on, he said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

Temptation, trial, and difficulty militate against a life of holiness, but the vision of the new creation spurs us to action when we get weary of the fight.

Revelation 21 gives us a picture of the race completed and motivates us to press on despite the obstacles.

1. God will bless his people with a new creation and a new city.

21:1–2: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The New Creation

The story of the new creation begins with the Genesis account of God’s original creation. Six times God declared that what he had created “was good” (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Then God created humans in his image, male and female. He blessed them and told them to be fruitful, fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over all living creatures (1:26–28). After this, “God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (1:31).

The Garden: God planted a garden on the earth in the land of Eden (2:8). The Hebrew word for Eden has a range of meaning that includes joy, delight, and gladness based on favorable circumstances and anything of outstanding quality. God filled the Garden of Eden with visually beautiful trees bearing delicious, nutritious fruit, including the Tree of Life that could impart immortality (2:9). God placed the first humans in his garden (2:8, 18) and tasked them to cultivate and keep it (2:15). The Hebrew terms for this responsibility commonly describe the priestly service rendered to Yahweh in Israel’s Tabernacle and Temple. We should understand Adam and Eve’s garden responsibilities as a way God ordained for them to express worship to him as the Creator.

Adam and Eve were God’s royal representatives to harness the creation’s potential for the glory of God and the good of creation. The result would have been a cultivated earth of worship filled with God’s glorious presence. But man’s sin delayed the fulfillment of God’s intentions. Although they were delayed, they were not terminated.

Jesus will fulfill them through the gospel of his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return.

In Romans 8, Paul looks forward to the final resurrection and Jesus’ return to the earth. God’s glorious presence and power will roll back the curse and liberate the planet. The creation will no longer be subjected to futility but will be freed to fulfill its divinely intended purpose.

Romans 8:19–23

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

God will eradicate sin and evil from the new creation. Nothing and no one unholy will have any part in it (Revelation 21:8, 27). Righteousness will permeate the new heavens and earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The New City

Genesis 1–2 describes God’s mission for humans in a way that implies a broad range of cultural activities.

Genesis 4 purposefully identifies numerous cultural developments, such as animal husbandry, musical instruments, and toolmaking.

But the population increase created cities, leading to greater sin. This is true historically and is true today. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that in 2021, the violent-crime rate in urban areas was 121 percent higher than in rural areas. Violent and property crime rates in the largest cities were three to four times as high as in rural communities. These statistics are accurate in nearly all other nations. There is more violent and property crime in cities worldwide.

In contrast to ungodly cities, God designated Jerusalem as his earthly dwelling place. The Tabernacle and the Temple were located there with their Holy of Holies—the inner sanctuary where God manifested his presence.

Isaiah envisioned a time when the nations would send delegates to Jerusalem to worship and learn God’s law  (Isaiah 2:2–4). Sadly, Jerusalem was judged and destroyed, first by Babylon, then by Rome. The earthly Jerusalem never became what God desired.

Instead, God will bless us with a new city, the New Jerusalem—the city we long for. The author of Hebrews states that Abraham lived as a sojourner in tents, “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (11:10). Instead of longing for their Mesopotamian homeland, the patriarchs lived as “strangers and exiles on the earth,” because they desired “a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (11:13, 16). The author encourages his readers, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (13:14).

This new Jerusalem will have all the communal and cultural advantages of cities without all the chaos and evil.

Human cultural development stripped of every vestige of sinful influence will continue in the age to come as God’s people, holy and conformed into the image of Christ, worship and serve him and reign together with Christ forever. 

The song “Hallelujah” by the Newsboys expresses the theme of longing for the new creation.

I’m looking up

Holding out

Pressing forward

Without a doubt

Longing for the things unseen

Longing for things I believe

My true country

We hope and wait

For the glorious day

All tears will vanish

Wiped away

On the saints this day already shines

On the saints this day already shines

It already shines

We’ll be singing hallelujah

We’ll be singing hallelujah

At the top of our lungs, hallelujah

To Your glory, hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah

And I know that it’s coming

But I can’t see it now

And I’ve touched it in moments

But I can’t hold it yet

And it glows in the darkness

And it calls us away

To our true destination

To that glorious day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPK9nzF8qzs

2. God will dwell with his people in the new Jerusalem.

21:3–5: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

This is an extraordinary promise. God will live with us former sinners, having cleansed, sanctified, and conformed us into the holy image of Jesus. We will not be ashamed in his presence. Everyone will experience the full extent of his merciful and gracious love. We will know he loves us like a groom loves his newlywed bride (19:7–9).

In profoundly moving terms, a voice from the throne assures John that God will remove all the grief and misery of this world. The sadness of past sins committed and suffered will forever be forgotten. God will wipe the tears from our eyes and comfort us. Never again will anyone or anything cause sorrow in the age to come.

The Lord will put an end to the turbulence of the nations. No longer will kingdom rise against kingdom. God will eradicate greed, covetousness, envy, pride, resentment, vengeance, anger, hatred, and prejudice from our hearts. We will be pure even as God is pure.

Concerning this glorious future, God declares, “Behold, I am making all things new” (21:5). Nothing will be the same as it is now in this sinful, weary, troublesome world. The excitement of God’s people will overflow as we experience all the new things God has planned for us. God’s presence and beauty will permeate everything that we encounter.

Best of all, we will enjoy God. From festive gatherings to direct face-to-face conversations, we will enjoy God’s company.

3. Those who thirst and overcome will inherit life with God in the new creation.

21:6–7: And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Those Who Thirst

John 4:14

Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

In Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, he promised to satisfy our spiritual longing if we would come to him. God offers this water of life “without payment” to thirsty people. If payment were required, we could not receive it because of our indebtedness to God due to sin. Instead, Jesus paid for our sins through his death on the cross. With great love, he offers everlasting life free of charge to everyone who comes to him. He invites all to come and drink from the refreshing water of life.

Those Who Overcome

1 John 5:4–5

Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 

The verb translated three times as “overcome(s)” is the same verb translated as “conquers” in Revelation 21:7.

We conquer when we trust in Jesus. We overcome the world when we persevere in trusting and obeying him.

Overcoming does not depend on age, gender, ethnicity, wealth, education, strength, intelligence, or other human characteristics. Faith overcomes the world and inherits all God has prepared for the new age.

God promises that he will be our God, and we will be his “son(s).” The context implies that this promise belongs to men and women. In the Greco-Roman world, women’s legal standing and inheritance rights varied. Societies were patriarchal, with male heads of households possessing the estate’s legal and property rights. God’s promise, however, belongs to all his redeemed living images, male and female.

God’s inheritance includes a deep, familial relationship with him. God has always desired a parent-child relationship with us. Being made in God’s image and likeness implies God intended to relate to us as his children (Genesis 5:1–3 with 1:26). In the age to come, we will thoroughly know and experience God as our Father, full of grace, rich in kindness, and entirely good. Everyone will confess with John, “We have come to know and to believe the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16). No one will ever again doubt that God loves them as his children. All will know that God’s posture of heart and disposition of mind toward us is always that of a good Father. We will be filled with righteous pride, knowing that our inseparable Father is the great, holy, powerful, sovereign Creator and Ruler of all that exists.

Four Questions

1. How is God glorified in the text?

God’s power, faithfulness, and goodness are on full display as he fulfills his ancient promises to renew the creation and fully redeem all who would come to him.

2. How is our heart transformed in the text?

Our hearts should be filled with hope, longing, adoration, and thankfulness for what God will bring about in the end. We should be motivated to live set apart to him as our heavenly Father.

3. How is the mission accelerated in the text?

The great hope of eternal salvation should motivate us to communicate the gospel to others in the hope that they, too, will inherit the magnificent redemption God has planned.

4. What is the gospel application of the text?

God offers salvation “without payment” (21:6). The Son of God lived, died, and rose again so that we might be forgiven and inherit eternal life in the new creation and new city. Our responsibility is to believe in Jesus and overcome the world as we long for God and the age to come.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Set Apart: Holiness Lived

Set Apart: Holiness Lived

Pastor Joel Magpantay

Jesus gives us a new status of righteousness that enables us to live the daily process of becoming holy.

Colossians 1:21–23 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:10-12 ESV

…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Colossians 4:12 ESV

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Life Empowered by Christ

• They will bear fruit in every good work (1:10).

• They will grow in the knowledge of God (1:10)

• They will be strengthened with power (1:11).

• They will possess endurance and patience (1:11).

• They will give joyful thanks to the Father (1:12).

Colossians 2:4 ESV

 “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.”

Colossians 2:8 ESV

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Colossians 2:21-23 ESV

“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch”  according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 1:21–23 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

1.  Alienation

Colossians 1:21 ESV

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds . . .

Colossians 1:21 The Message

“At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got.”

If you fail to see your sin, you have failed to see the Holy God. We don’t consider our sins very evil until we see the goodness and holiness of God.

2.  Reconciliation

Colossians 1:21 ESV

“… he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death . . .”

Hebrews 9:11-12  ESV

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

3.  Restoration

Colossians 1:21 ESV

“. . . in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him . . .”

John 15:15  ESV

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

No matter who you were, you can be transformed into someone new and given access to someplace new…

…God’s presence. 

4.  Faith

Colossians 1:23 ESV

“…if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard . . .”

Everyone who puts their hope in Jesus’ life and death for the forgiveness of their sin has a new status. 

• How will you live differently as a result? 

• Do you believe he has made you holy? 

Jesus has, and you can live each day with that reality shaping who you are and transforming you more and more into his image.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Set Apart: Holiness Restored

Set Apart: Holiness Restored

Notes prepared by William Murrell

Focus: Jesus displayed perfect holiness as a man and bore our sins so that we could share his holiness.

Hebrews 7:23–28 ESV

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.

25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 

28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

The Text in the Story of Redemption

The Hebrews’ author wrote to first-century Jewish Christians tempted to give up because of severe persecution.

Some were tempted to stop gathering for corporate worship—perhaps to protect themselves from the social consequences of following Jesus (10:25). Others were tempted to abandon their Christian confession and return to the familiar rituals and practices of Judaism (10:23)—and in some cases paganism.

To encourage this group of beleaguered disciples, the author of Hebrews calls them to focus on the person of Jesus—our only hope in life and death.

Throughout this rich letter, the author develops two interrelated themes to help us see Jesus more clearly—the Word of God (revelation) and the Work of Christ (redemption). Recognizing that his primary listeners were Jewish believers, the anonymous author roots these themes in the story of Israel in the Old Testament. 

Many potential authors have been suggested for the book of Hebrews. Some have suggested Paul while others have suggested one of Paul’s close ministry associates—like Barnabas, Apollos, or Priscilla.

For the first ten chapters, he demonstrates how Jesus brings about “a better covenant” (7:22) as the ultimate revelation of God (Hebrews 1:2) and the redeemer of God’s people (1:3). Then, in the last three chapters, the author explains how these truths about Jesus can help us live in confidence (10:19), perseverance (12:1), and holiness (12:10).

Because of these thematic links with the Old Testament, Hebrews is an appropriate place to continue our holiness study—and to bridge this theme in the Old and New Testaments. While every New Testament book testifies to Jesus as the Messiah and fulfillment of God’s covenant to Abraham, Hebrews systematically works through specific elements of the Jewish sacrificial system and demonstrates how Jesus brings about “a better covenant.” This theme crescendos in our passage in Hebrews 7.

1. The Problem with Priests

In this passage, the author of Hebrews highlights two weaknesses of the sacrificial system.  Priests die and priests are sinners.

7:23: The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office . . .

7:27: . . . those high priests, offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people . . .

• On Priestly Finitude

It is important not to run past this point without considering the significant implications of human mortality.

Throughout the Old Testament, great spiritual leaders arose, like Moses, Samuel, David, etc., and everyone died. This is a feature of our mortality and a typical pattern in Scripture and history.  A great leader emerges who leads the people well and oversees an era of covenant faithfulness, and then they die. No matter how outstanding and beloved these spiritual leaders are, their work is temporary.

• On Priestly Fallenness

However, most priests weren’t great leaders. For every Moses on the mountain, there is an Aaron in the valley molding a golden calf. For every Samuel serving God from his childhood, there are the sons of Eli preying on women serving in the Tabernacle. For every David—a man after God’s heart, an Ahab leads the people away from God. Even the great priests and spiritual leaders were sinful. Moses, Samuel, and David were all deeply flawed spiritual leaders who needed a substitute to atone for their sins.

This highlights the perennial problem with priests. They all die. They all sin. None of them live forever, and none of them—even the good ones—are holy.

2. The Problem with Lambs

In this passage, the author of Hebrews highlights two weaknesses of the sacrifice itself. All lambs die, and because people keep on sinning, they need more lambs.

• On Sacrifice and Mortality

Most of us live in modern societies that are not structured around a sacrificial system, so it is easy to forget that sacrificial animals are slaughtered at the altar. Because we don’t see it (and smell it) regularly, it is easy to forget that the animal brought to the temple does not come home. When the worshiper returns to sacrifice, he must always bring a new animal. How many goats and lambs were killed to atone for the sins of God’s people over thousands of years? This was an unsustainable solution to the sin problem because “in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (10:3–4).

• On Human Fallenness

The reason why sacrificial animals have been slaughtered in the thousands (millions?) over the millennia is not because they deserved death. It’s because unholy people deserved death. Because of human fallenness, more animals were needed day after day, year after year, and century after century. (How often have we repented of our sins and vowed never to do “that” again—only to find ourselves back where we started?) Another day, another innocent lamb killed.

This is the perennial problem with lambs (and all sacrificial animals). They all die. And we all sin. None of them live forever (as perpetual sacrifices), and none of us—even the “good” ones—is free from sin.

3. The Promise of Jesus

In this passage, the author of Hebrews tells us how Jesus offers “a better covenant” as a better priest and a

better sacrifice.

• A Better Priest

Jesus’ priesthood is the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood. But he is different from every other priest because he lived a perfectly holy life (7:27) and lives forever (7:23). This is good news because, in Jesus, humanity has finally found a truly holy priest who won’t die.

7:24: . . . he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.

7:26–27: For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily . . .

• A Better Sacrifice

The author points to the stunning fact that our perfect high priest also “. . . once for all . . . offered himself up” as the sacrifice (7:27). Not only did Jesus solve the problem with priests but he also simultaneously solved the problem with lambs. All sacrificial victims die, but Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, was sacrificed and rose again from the dead. Moreover, Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice—the last one ever needed for sins. Though people keep sinning, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross satisfied the wrath of God and atoned for the sins of his people—the dead and living saints and those who will one day put their trust in him.

7:27: He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

4. The Promise for Us

The author packs a lot of good news into this pivotal text in the middle of Hebrews. Even though every priest in human history has sinned and died, Jesus lives forever as a sinless priest making intercession for us. He was the perfect sacrifice who died and rose again, satisfying the problem of sin and death once and for all.

There’s one more promise we should not miss—implied in this text and developed elsewhere in the New Testament. Not only is Jesus our better priest and our better sacrifice, but his mediatorial and sacrificial work also makes us holy.

7:25: . . . he is able to save to the uttermost . . .

The verb to save (sozo) is used absolutely, which means that Christ will save in the most comprehensive sense; he saves us from all we need saving from. Christ’s salvation is a complete deliverance no matter what our need is.

The verb is able (dynatai) refers to power. Christ has the capacity (as other priests did not) to bring complete salvation to all who approach God through him. This is salvation from the guilt of sin, the effects of sin, and the power of sin. Christ’s mediatorial priesthood empowers us to be holy as he is holy.

Through Jesus, God secured our pardon from sin and restored our purpose as humans—to be kings and priests with God. This idea is put beautifully by Peter.

1 Peter 2:9–10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

This idea of God’s people being redeemed by Jesus to be made holy and to participate in the priestly work of God on the earth is reiterated and cherished in church tradition.

Athanasius, the 4th-century African theologian, discussing God’s goal for our holiness, put it succinctly, “He became what we are so that He might make us what He is.”

Martin Luther, discussing one of his favorite theological topics—the priesthood of the believer, wrote this: “Not only are we the freest kings of all, but we are also priests forever. This is more excellent by far than kingship because through the priesthood we are worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, and to teach one another the things that are of God. For these are the priestly duties that absolutely cannot be bestowed on anyone who does not believe. Christ obtained this priesthood for us if we trust in him so that as we are colleagues, coheirs, co- rulers, so we are co-priests with him, daring to come with confidence into God’s presence in the spirit of faith and cry, ‘Abba, Father,’ to pray for another and to do all the things that we see are done and prefigured by the visible and corporeal office of priests.”

Conclusion

1. No priest was holy, and no priest was immortal—until Jesus, the resurrected and holy high priest.

2. All sacrifices died, and their atoning efficacy always fell short—until Jesus, the resurrected and holy lamb of God.

3. Jesus’ work as a perpetual priest and a holy sacrifice saves us completely.

4. Jesus’ saving work enables us to live a holy life.

Four Questions

1. How is God glorified in the text?

God is glorified in this text because he is the hero of the story. Jesus is the better high priest and the better sacrifice. He is the primary “grammatical subject” in almost every sentence, and we [believers] are the “grammatical objects” of God’s gracious actions.

2. How is our heart transformed in the text?

Our hearts are transformed when we contemplate the reality that Jesus saved (past tense) us as the perfect sacrifice and is interceding for us (present tense) as our high priest. More than any mentor, pastor, or parent, Jesus cares about the state of our soul and wants to lead us into holiness, worship, and mission.

3. How is the mission accelerated in the text?

When we understand that Jesus’ redemptive work has a “missional telos”—that of being a royal priesthood—

then we realize, as Luther put it, that “we are worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, and to teach one

another the things that are of God.”

4. What is the gospel application of the text?

Athanasius says it best: “He became what we are [human] so that he might make us what he is [a holy priest].”

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Set Apart: Holiness Revealed

Set Apart: Holiness Revealed 

A Biblical View of Holiness 

Notes prepared by Paul Barker

Focus: God’s holiness is deadly to sinful humanity, but he creates a way for people to have a relationship with him.

Leviticus 16:1–5, 20–22, 29, 30 ESV

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die.  For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

20 And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.

30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.

The Text in the Story of Redemption

Leviticus is the middle book of the Pentateuch. It details the answer to the question continually raised in Exodus:

“How can a holy God have a relationship with a sinful people?”

The Exodus narrative contains two events concerning fire. The first is the fire in the bush (3:1–5), and the second is the fire on the mountain (19:18). In both cases, the fire represents the holiness of God and the threat that holiness is to sinful humans. The Passover narrative in Exodus answers how a holy God can dwell with sinful people.

Passover night redefined Israel’s problem. Hitherto, they had lived under the threat of a genocidal king, but now another king is on his way, even more fearful than Pharaoh. With this King, there is no negotiation. The ensuing death of the firstborn of Egypt showed how real the threat was. But while there was no negotiation, there was a provision: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

Without the lamb’s blood, Israel was naked before the avenging angel. But covered by the blood, they were protected.

The concluding chapters of Exodus lead naturally into Leviticus. Leviticus explains how God’s covenant people will maintain the relationship God established through the Passover blood. 

The Passover solution finds its highest expression on the Day of Atonement—the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Commentators agree that Leviticus 16 is one of the mountain peaks of the Scriptures. They have called it the Good Friday of the Old Testament. It is the day when the holiness and grace of God find their fullest Old Testament revelation.

“In Leviticus 16, the sacrificial law of Moses attains it supreme expression, the holiness and the grace of God, their fullest revelation. If every sacrifice pointed to Christ, this most luminously of all. What the fifty-third of Isaiah is to his Messianic prophecies, that, we may truly say, is the sixteenth of Leviticus to the whole system of Mosaic types—the most consummate flower of the Messianic symbolism. All the sin offerings pointed to Christ, the great High Priest and Victim of the future; but this with a distinctness found in no other.”

-S. H. Kellogg, The Book of Leviticus (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903), 272.

1. Our sin is much worse than we think.

Leviticus 16 begins with a reference to the death of Nadab and Abihu.

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died . . . (Leviticus 16:1) 

The death of Aaron’s sons provides the context for the events that unfold throughout the chapter.

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. (Leviticus 10:1–3)

The death of Aaron’s sons vividly illustrates that no sin is small in the presence of a holy God.

God is fearsome in his holiness, and his holiness is intense and dangerous to sinful humans. It is little wonder that the vision of the Holy God is both awe-inspiring and frighteningly terrible.

Humans either retreat in dread or bow in contrite worship. The glory would devour anyone who approached the Holy unclean or unworthily.

Leviticus reveals the great gulf that exists between us and God. Nadab and Abihu were confused because their actions blemished God’s holiness and did not glorify the Lord. The Scriptures record many other times when seemingly small sins had enormous consequences. Adam ate some fruit (Genesis 3:6). Lot’s wife looked back at a burning city (Genesis 19:26). Moses hit a rock twice (Numbers 20:11). Uzzah touched the ark (2 Samuel 6:7).

Ananias and Saphira lied about real estate profits (Acts 5:1–11). What do we learn from these events? There are no small sins against a holy God.

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) The term “polluted garment” refers to “ornamental dress.” The analogy is clear. When we try to dress ourselves up to look good, we are still polluted. Even though sin defiles us, we try decorating ourselves with our deeds to masquerade our true state.”

-Paul Barker

Sin only seems trivial to us when God’s holiness seems trite. God is an all-consuming fire who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 12:29). There is no impurity in him whose eyes are too pure to look on evil (Psalm 92:15; Habakkuk 1:13). Sinless angels who unceasingly cry “Holy! Holy! Holy!”—while covering their eyes and feet—do so because God’s unfiltered holiness is unbearable to endure (Isaiah 6:4; Revelation 4:8). When righteous Isaiah stood before God, he exclaimed, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). When we see God as holy, we see that no sin is small. 

2. God’s grace is much greater than we think.

The priests sacrificed two goats on the Day of Atonement, each illustrating a different aspect of God’s grace. The High Priest chose the first goat by the lot and then sacrificed it for the sins of the nation. The death of this goat as an innocent substitute represents the atoning sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world. (The following verses confirm this truth.)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats . . . but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats . . . sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrew 9:11–14) 

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 NIV)

The first goat pictures atonement—the theological truth that God has restored our broken relationship with him and paid for our sins; they no longer have a claim on us. If you wreck someone’s car and their insurance pays the damage, that person has no more claim against you. The debt is settled.

God settled our debt through the death of his sinless Son—an event prefigured in the death of the innocent goat. 

And though it is “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4), the Israelis who had faith in God had their sins taken away by “the Lamb of God who was slain from the creation of the world”

(Revelation 13:8 NIV).

“Surely, Sinner, there is nothing that should move you to repentance like the thought of that great Sacrifice of Christ which is necessary to wash away your guilt. Law and terrors do but harden, but I think the thought that Jesus died is enough to make us melt. It is well, when we hear the name of Calvary, always to shed a tear, for there is nothing that ought to make a sinner weep like the mention of the death of Jesus.”

“Alas! And did my Savior bleed?

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Drops of grief ought to flow—yes, streams of sympathy with him—to show our grief for what we did to pierce the Savior. Afflict your souls, O you children of Israel, for the Day of Atonement is come! Weep over your Jesus! Weep for him who died, weep for him who was murdered by your sins! Then, better still, we are to ‘do no work at all,’ as you find in the same verse, the twenty-ninth. When we consider the Atonement, we should rest and ‘do no work at all.’ Rest from your works as God did from his on the great Sabbath of the world. Rest from your own righteousness, rest from your toilsome duties—rest in him. Now I will no longer seek to save myself—it is done, it is done forever!”

-Charles Spurgeon, The Day of Atonement, August 10, 1856.

The second goat was called “azalea.” This Hebrew word means “the goat that departs”—traditionally called the “scapegoat.”

The High Priest would lay his hands upon the scapegoat and confess all the nation’s sins. This symbolic act transferred the transgressions of the people onto the scapegoat. A chosen Israelite would then lead the goat into the wilderness, where the goat would wander off and, presumably, die.

The second goat pictures the result of the atonement. We see what has become of our sins—they are gone forever. When the man returns from the wilderness, he informs the people that the scapegoat is gone, and the people clap their hands, for their sins are all gone too. This is cleansing—the theological truth that God pays for our sins and removes them as far from us as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12 NLT).

3. Jesus is our High Priest that solves the problem of our sin.

The noted author Corrie Ten Boom often said, “When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, and they are gone forever. I believe God then places a sign there that says, ‘NO FISHING ALLOWED.’”

“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man puts himself where only God deserves to be; God puts himself where only man deserves to be.”

-John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 160.

Usually, all the priests participated in the sacrifices, but on the Day of Atonement, only the High Priest performed any work. He did everything that day: lighting the candles, the fires, the incense, and all the required offices. He was the only one to take the blood beyond the veil into the Holy Place. Jesus is our High Priest who provides our atonement; only he can go beyond the veil.

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever . . . (Hebrews 6:19–20)

But after the Day of Atonement, work was complete; the High Priest would put on his golden garments again.The High Priest wore his golden garments every other day of the year, but on the Day of Atonement, he shed his royal robes and donned simple linen vestments. Jesus Christ, then, when he made atonement for our sins, laid aside his glory and took on humble human flesh. He did not atone for our sins arrayed in the glories of his ancient throne. There was no royal diadem upon his brow save the crown of thorns.

Christ, having suffered once for sin, is never to die again. He will return as a royal king.

4. We must receive God’s grace by faith.

God required the Israelites to respond to the events of the Day of Atonement by humbling themselves and doing no work.

And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work. (Leviticus 16:29)

The High Priest was to do all the work, and the people could do none. “And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people” (Leviticus 23:30). This is a clear picture of the gospel. We add nothing to the finished work of Christ.

Paul wrote to the Galatians concerning this topic, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6–9). In this passage, the contrary gospel Paul refers to is a religion that places human effort at the center. Anyone who embraces that religion is accursed just like anyone who works for their atonement is cut off from among the covenant people.

The Apostle Paul summarized the message of the Day of Atonement with these words, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

The pardon God issues on the Day of Atonement must be received by faith. If an Israelite did not believe in the work of God’s grace, he would not receive the pardon offered.

In 1829, George Wilson robbed the US Mail, jeopardizing the mailman's life. He pleaded guilty to the charges, and the court sentenced him to death by hanging. Friends arranged for President Andrew Jackson to issue Wilson a pardon. But Wilson refused the pardon, and the case went to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the official ruling for the court. “A pardon is an act of grace,” he said, “the validity of which is not complete without acceptance. It might be rejected by the person to whom it was offered, and the court could not force it upon him. The court cannot give the prisoner the benefit of the pardon unless he claims the benefit of it.”

We cannot receive the benefits of Christ’s atonement unless we receive it by faith.

5. Holy living results from our experience of God’s grace.

The first fifteen chapters of Leviticus lead to the Day of Atonement. These chapters teach us about worship and the way to God. The last eleven chapters follow from the Day of Atonement. They are about holy living and our walk with God. This is an essential pattern in the Bible: God’s work of salvation comes first; our obedience is done in response. Holy living always follows worship.

Worship is our response to God’s complete work to secure our redemption. Holy living is what follows our experience of the grace of God.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

Set Apart: Holiness Lost

Set Apart: Holiness Lost

A Biblical View of Holiness

Notes prepared by Pastor Brian Taylor

Focus: Sin caused man to lose what could only be found in God.

Genesis 3:1–8, 21 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

The Text in the Story of Redemption

Up to this point in the narrative, there has been no mention of sin, brokenness, or anything unholy in God’s creation. The consistent response of God to his creation in Genesis 1 is, 

“And God saw that it was good.” 

When we reach Genesis 1:31, “God saw that it was very good.”

However, from Genesis 1 and 2 to Chapter 4 onward, the question arises: How did we get from a good creation to murder, wickedness, pride, and all manner of unholiness? Genesis 3 gives us the context of the rest of Genesis and all history.

We refer to Genesis 3 as the Fall, and if you have grown up in church, it is easy to rush past this story with a few general details: 

• Satan deceived Eve.

• Eve and Adam ate the forbidden fruit and disobeyed God.

• God sent them out of the Garden.

However, if we slow down, we will notice some details of this story that will shape our lives and reveal something lost.

Textual Exegesis

Last week we saw how Scripture reveals God’s holiness. Holiness is a weighty word. When we see angels and other heavenly creatures worshiping God in Revelation 4:8, they cry, 

“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.”

When we say that God is holy, we recognize that he is set apart, unlike anything or anyone else. In this message, we will examine how sin has affected our ability to relate to a holy God and understand what was lost in what we know as “The Fall.” 3:1: Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

The serpent is part of the created order, made by God but not equal to God. In Revelation, we learn that the serpent is the devil (Revelation 12:9). He is crafty (arum [Hebrew] cunning or shrewd, usually in a negative sense) with a deceiving nature, and he plans to deceive Eve.

The first thing we hear from the serpent is, “Indeed, has God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?”

This statement implies that the serpent was aware of God’s command in Genesis 2. Here we see that the true motive of the serpent is to question God’s Word.

3:2, 3: He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 

Eve adds something not found in God’s command in Genesis 2:17, indicating that she was familiar with the command even though it was spoken directly to the man. She recognizes God’s authority to command because she deemed his words as binding, at least at first.

3:4, 5: But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The conversation is not over yet; the serpent still has deception planned. The tactics of the serpent still ring true today: question God’s words, minimize the cost of disobedience, and paint a false reality of freedom apart from God.

The devil used three strategies against our first parents.

# 1: Undermine the word of God: “Has God said . . .” This question challenged God’s truthfulness.

# 2: Deny the reality of divine judgment: “You will surely not die . . .” This statement challenged God’s authority—especially his authority to execute judgment.

# 3: Attack the character of God: “For God knows . . . your eyes will be opened . . .” This statement challenged God’s goodness.

3:6: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Now the story turns for the worse: Eve considers what she once knew was restricted. The text highlights the positive attributes of the tree with these adjectives: good, delightful, and desirable. It’s as though Eve had never noticed these attributes before. She trusted what she saw and what she desired above what God said. Not only did she sin, but she also passed it on to her husband, and he ate. 

3:7: Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Their eyes were opened to the point that now they recognized they were naked. There was an innocence lost.

This shows that the serpent was not entirely dishonest about the fact that their eyes would be opened (verse 5).

Satan doesn’t always approach us with outright lies but rather with little half-truths that cause us to entertain what we know is forbidden.

3:8: And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

This could be God physically walking in some anthropomorphic state or his presence felt and heard through the wind. Either way, Adam and his wife recognized it was the Lord and hid. Adam later explains in verse 10 why he did this, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked.” Interestingly, God’s eyes were not the ones that were opened. Their shame was not the result of God seeing them; it was the result of them seeing themselves with sin in the picture.

1. What We Lost through Sin

To understand what was lost through Adam’s cosmic decision, let’s examine what mankind had before it:

Genesis 1:26 God made them in his image and likeness.

Genesis 1:26 God created them to rule over his creation.

Genesis 1:27 God commissioned them to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue creation.

Genesis 1:29 God provided food for him.

Genesis 1:31 God placed them in a very good creation.

Genesis 2:8 God placed them in a luxurious garden.

Genesis 2:16–17 God gave them permission to eat freely except from one tree.

But sin changed everything.

• We lost our connection with God , and we now experience separation.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Isaiah 59:1–2)

• We lost our right standing with God, and we now are children of wrath.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

(Ephesians 2:1–3)

• We lost our purpose, and we now go our own way.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way. (Isaiah 53:6)

• We lost our provision, and we now sweat for our existence.

Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. (Genesis 3:17–19)

• We lost our confidence, and we now experience shame.

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:7)

• We lost our connection with others and now experience alienation and broken relationships.

He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. (Job 19:13–15)

• We lost our awareness of how terrible sin is, and we now attempt to justify our sin.

“There is not one man who fully knows the evil of sin. Men who have lived underground all their lives do not know how dark the mine is, nor can they know it until they stand in the blaze of a summer’s noon. This is one of the most deplorable results of sin. It injures us most by taking from us the capacity to know how much we are injured. O you demon, Sin! You do not only poison us but make us imagine our poison to be medicine—you defile us and make us think ourselves the more beautiful. You slay us and make us dream that we are enjoying life.”

-Charles Spurgeon, The Monster Dragged to Light, February 9, 1873

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

(Genesis 3:12)

[The one thing that was not lost because of sin was God’s pursuit of fallen humanity. This leads us to our second point.]

2. What We Gained through Christ

“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man puts himself where only God deserves to be; God puts himself where only man deserves to be.”

-John Stott, The Cross of Christ

Fortunately, the Fall of mankind is not the end of the story.

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve attempted to cover themselves. But God clothed them by making garments of skin crafted from a dead animal. Blood was shed to cover Adam and Eve’s sin. This is the foreshadowing of how God would heal humanity. In our fallen state, we try to create our own coverings to deal with the shame, fear, and brokenness caused by sin. However, just as with Adam, our attempts to cover our own sin is inadequate so God had to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Now, everything lost in sin is restored in Christ.

• He restores our connection to him.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9–10)

• He restores our right standing with him.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

• He restores our purpose.

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13–14)

• He restores his provision for us.

J. R. R. Tolkien writes: “Such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song.” 

(The Fellowship of the Ring, 287) 

The good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is of such a quality that the past, present, or imagined future, “good or ill, are not forgotten, but cease to have any power over the present.” We could write pages of application on this. If you are prone to worry about tomorrow, you need the gospel. If you tend to fear people or circumstances, you need the gospel. If you are paralyzed by regret or plagued by guilt, you need the gospel. Only the gospel can free us from these things.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:19)

• He restores our confidence before him.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19–22)

• He restores our relationships.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. (Acts 2:42, 44)

Four Questions

1. How is God glorified in the text?

The text glorifies God through the revelation of his authority, holiness, and mercy. As we understand and respond to these attributes, we bring him glory by acknowledging his greatness, embracing his provision, and participating in his work.

2. How is our heart transformed in the text?

The text challenges us to acknowledge the consequences of sin, recognize our need for a Savior, and embrace the restoration offered through Jesus Christ. As we grasp the implications of the Fall and the redemptive work of Christ, our hearts are filled with gratitude, worship, and a renewed desire to walk in obedience to God.

3. How is the mission accelerated in the text?

The text advances God’s mission by exposing our need for a Savior and explaining the redemption available in Christ. It highlights the contrast between what was lost in the Fall and what is regained in Christ, motivating us to actively participate in the mission of redemption.

4. What is the gospel application of the text?

The text applies the gospel by showing us the severity of sin and our inadequacy to resolve it on our own. This encourages us to embrace the salvation offered through Christ, live out our new identity as redeemed children of God, and share the gospel with others.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Set Apart: A Biblical View of Holiness

Set Apart: A Biblical View of Holiness 

Part 1: God is Holy

Notes prepared by Jessica Lee

Focus: Our personal holiness is grounded in the holiness of God. When we see him, we worship him in the beauty of his holiness.

“Holiness is one of the central themes in the Bible. The word and its derivatives occur more than 700 times in the Bible. You can’t make sense of the Bible without understanding that God is holy and intends to make a holy people to live with him forever in a holy heaven.”

-Adapted from Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness

Psalm 96:1–9 ESV

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!

9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

The Text in the Story of Redemption

God’s holiness is the underpinning of the entire narrative arc of Scripture. His holiness means that all the created order functions within a fixed moral order wherein good and evil are never simply relative terms contingent upon a culture’s moral taste buds. Human flourishing is always a function of delighting in that which God delights and desiring that which God desires.

In Psalm 96, we find a hymn of praise for divine kingship. The Lord is king over all creation, and he is the one who has provided salvation for his people. He is the Creator-Redeemer-King. This psalm calls the redeemed people of God to worship him in response to who he is and what he has done. But this call to worship is not only for the Israelites; the invitation goes out to “all the earth.” The psalmist invites the whole world (Gentiles included) to come and worship Yahweh in the splendor of his holiness. 

The universality of this psalm looks back to the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1–3). In the call of Abraham, God’s redemption story advances when he calls Abraham and his descendants to be the channel to bless all the families of the earth. Psalm 96 foreshadows the Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled in Jesus when all the nations are blessed in him, and all people worship God in the splendor of his holiness.

Introduction

Our personal holiness is grounded in the holiness of God. 

“A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine.”

-D.L. Moody

Therefore, to be holy, we must understand the holiness of God.

There are two aspects to God’s holiness. First is God’s uniqueness. As Creator, he is separate and unique from his creation. This is sometimes called the “majesty-holiness” of God. Second is God’s absolute goodness. He is untouched by sin or evil.

This psalm paints a picture of God’s majestic holiness by multiplying descriptive words.

1. He is glorious.

96:3, 7–8: Declare his glory among the nations . . . ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

2. He is great.

96:4: For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.”

3. He is the Creator.

96:5: For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

(Unlike the powerless gods of surrounding nations, the Lord is the Creator. )

4. He is majestic.

96:6: Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.”

And it all crescendos in the psalmist’s call to worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

“The Psalmist means that we cannot be said to know God if we have not discovered that there is in him an incomparable glory and majesty.”

-John Calvin 

How does the psalmist call the people to respond to God’s majestic holiness? In these three verbs: sing, declare, and ascribe.

1. Sing

96:1–2: Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name.

The psalmist says that the people’s first response should be to sing. The call to sing is not just going out to the nation of Israel but to “all the earth.”

The phrase “a new song” doesn’t necessarily mean they are singing a song that has been recently composed; instead, it is a song that overflows from a recent encounter with God and his majestic holiness.

2. Declare

96:2–3: . . . tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

Next, the psalmist charges the people to declare his glory among the nations and his marvelous works among the people.

As they worship God, they become aware that the Holy One is also the one who has saved them. And so, their response to God’s majestic holiness should be to declare his glory to the nations—to testify of what he has done.

3. Ascribe

96:7–8: Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!

The repetition of ascribe parallels the repetition of sing at the beginning of the psalm, but with a new development. In the opening verses, the psalmist calls the people to sing in response to God’s majestic holiness.

But now, the psalmist takes it a step further and calls the people to ascribe (to attribute or give) to the Lord the glory he is due. “He expects that proper honor be given to his name in recognition of his greatness, majesty, and strength.”

Gospel Reflection

96:9: Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

There is a fourth verb that informs us how we should respond to the majestic holiness of God—tremble.

1. When we look upon God’s holiness—his complete otherness and his moral purity—we can’t help but tremble in fear and awe.

“In today’s world, holy is the most offensive of all four-letter words. Why is holiness so reviled? Because the pursuit of holiness involves the acknowledgement of sin and the necessity of repentance—two words as unfashionable as the word holy.”

-Adapted from Brett McCracken, Uncomfortable

2. The psalmist goes on to speak of how God will come to judge (“He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.”)

3. He comes to judge. Can we pass his judgement? He is untouched by sin and evil. Are we?

4. The university of this psalm harkens back to the Abrahamic Covenant when God says that through Abraham, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And so, it foreshadows the day when that will be true, when all people will be able to approach Yahweh in the splendor of his holiness.

5. That fulfillment is found in Jesus. Jesus is our Great Mediator. He lived the perfect life we should have lived and died the death we deserved for our sins.

6. He comes to judge. Can we pass his judgement? Only in Jesus can we stand in the splendor of God’s holiness, his complete otherness and moral purity, and not be consumed because, in him, we trade our sin for his righteousness.

7. And so, as it says in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

When we experience again and again the grace offered to us in Jesus that allows us to enter the holy of holies, to worship God in all his splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty, then our lives will erupt with new songs, just like perennial flowers deliver fresh blooms each spring. (Perennial flowers bloom each spring; annual flowers bloom once and then fade.)

Applications

1. Sing when you don’t feel like it.

I perceive that our minds are more devoutly and earnestly elevated into a flame of piety by the holy words themselves when they are thus sung, than when they are not.

2. Sing in community.

. . . addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart . . . (Ephesians 5:19)

The Christian church sings . . . its singing is not a concert. But from inner, material necessity it sings. Singing is the highest form of human expression. . . . What we can and must say quite confidently is that the church which does not sing is not the church.

3. Sing with a life offered to Christ.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

1. How is God glorified in the text?

The psalmist paints a picture of God’s majestic holiness. He is unlike any other. He is full of glory, splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty, and we are called to worship him in the splendor of his holiness.

2. How is our heart transformed in the text?

Our heart is transformed as we look upon the beauty and splendor of God’s holiness. As we encounter his majestic holiness and reflect on what he has done to save us, our hearts will erupt in a new song.

3. How is the mission accelerated in the text?

The psalmist charges the people to “sing” and “declare.” As we come into contact with the majestic holiness of God, we are reminded of what God has done to save us. And so, we will tell of his salvation and declare his glory among the nations.

4. What is the gospel application of the text?

He comes to judge. Can we pass his judgment? The answer is yes, but only in Jesus. Only in Jesus can we stand in the splendor of God’s holiness, his complete otherness and moral purity, and not be consumed because, in him, we trade our sin for his righteousness.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher