Holy, Holy, Holy

So last Sunday we studied Revelation chapter 4 in Sunday School. Of course it is a dramatic description of the worship that takes place around the throne in Heaven. The mental picture this description paints is awe inspiring. I love the way everything in heaven is centered on God. I am moved by the description of heaven as the place God is, and not the place where we have no pain, streets of gold, and fellowship with loved ones. God is the reward of heaven. But an interesting thing happened during our discussion of the passage. We were discussing verses 8-11.

8.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 Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"
9.And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10.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,
11."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."

I asked the question,

For what reasons is the Father worthy of worship? Which of His deeds or attributes is praised in 4:8-11?

And the students were very quick to name several of God's attributes like Creator, eternal nature, etc. But no one mentioned God's holiness. Yet God's holiness is the one attribute that is emphatically lauded in this passage the four living creatures say "holy, holy, holy." Now, I am not trying to say that the particular students in class Sunday were not observant, to the contrary they had some great insights into this text. I think what I am trying to say is that God's holiness, one of his greatest attributes, is so foreign to us that we simply don't see it like we should. We don't understand it's significance. We don't display it in our lives.

Holiness doesn't only express God's pure or sinless existence. It literally means set apart, like no other, separate. That describes all of God's character. God's love is holy love, it is love like no other. God's grace is holy grace, grace like set apart from any other grace. God's wisdom is holy wisdom, it is wisdom with no equal. God's wrath is holy wrath, it is wrath set apart from any other wrath.

God is holy! His holiness ought to guide, fuel, and fill our lives of God centered worship.