“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!’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.‘” (Isaiah 6:5-7)
In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah sees a vision of God in his glory. Around him the angels declare: Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts. God’s holiness is his majestic otherness, his transcendent purity. He is the Creator and King who is totally unique and set apart from us as creatures.
So, Isaiah believes that he is lost. He has seen the Holy One! And Isaiah knows that he himself is unclean and unholy. But what happens next? God provides atonement for Isaiah.
We see here that God’s holiness is not just about God’s transcendence and otherness. It includes his condescension as well. God’s holiness does not lead him merely to move away from his people but to move toward his people both to judge and to save.
Theologian John Webster writes:
“The holiness of God is not to be identified simply as that which distances God from us; rather, God is holy precisely as the one who in majesty and freedom and sovereign power bends down to us in mercy. God is the Holy One. But he is the Holy One ‘in your midst’, as Hosea puts it (Hos. 11.9); or as Isaiah puts it: ‘great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel’ (Isa. 12.6).” (John Webster, Holiness, p. 45)
Isaiah’s experience provides a clear example of this truth. Isaiah sees God in his glorious majesty. Yet, God’s holiness isn’t just something that separates God from Isaiah. God, in his majestic purity, stoops down and provides forgiveness for Isaiah.
God, in his holiness, is opposed to sin in his people like a doctor is opposed to disease in his patients. God opposes sin by working to destroy its hold on our lives.
God’s holiness is God’s transcendence in majesty and purity that leads to his mercy to unholy humanity. It is his majestic purity that turns toward unholy humanity to sanctify and to cleanse and to provide atonement.
Thus, God’s holiness is not opposed to his mercy. God’s holiness moves toward his people in mercy and grace. He is the Holy One, the Majestic God who draws near to his people to cleanse them and provide atonement.
Isaiah’s only hope and our only hope is what at first glance is the source of our woe: God’s holiness. He is holy in both his judgment and his mercy. In his holiness, God has provided a sure atonement in the cross of Christ for all who repent and trust in Jesus. Thus, the holiness of God is our only hope.
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