Holiness | Daily Devotional

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? 

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,” 

Exodus 15:11

Beginning with Holiness 

In the coming weeks, we wanted to shift the focus of our blog to the nature and character of God. Our hope is to foster awe and worship as we reflect on God’s attributes together. 

As we begin this series, it's important that we begin with an attribute that, in a sense, stands out from the rest. That is not to say that this particular attribute is of greater importance than the others. God is not imbalanced, and all of His attributes exist in perfect harmony with each other. But this particular attribute, as we will see, manifests itself in every other attribute of God. This attribute, of course, is God’s holiness. 

What is Holiness? 

Exodus 15:11 proclaims that God is majestic in holiness, but what does that word “holy” mean? The answer is actually found in the rhetorical questions stated previously in the verse. 

Who is like you, O Lord? The answer is absolutely no one. That is what it means to be holy--completely and utterly unique, unlike anything or anyone in the rest of creation. 

Another way we can understand God’s holiness is by seeing Him as “set apart.” He is a cut above everything else that exists. He is not to be treated as common or ordinary but one of a kind in every possible way. 

Holiness among the other attributes 

Many books have been written on God’s attributes. The table of contents lists characteristics of God like His love, justice, wrath, faithfulness, and perfection. Holiness manifests through every other attribute because every one of God’s attributes is completely and utterly unique. 

As Paul Washer in his book, Knowing the Living God, puts it,

The triune nature of God is an expression of His holiness-is there any created being so incomprehensible, mysterious, and wonderful? To say that God is spirit is to express another aspect of His holiness-is there any created being so free and unhindered? God’s perfection, eternal nature, self existence, immutability, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience are all expressions of His holiness-is there any created being so great and worthy of reverence? 

What this means is that as we pursue knowing God through a study of His attributes, each attribute will present completely uncharted territory. We have never, nor will we ever encounter a being with characteristics like him. He is holy. 

Holy God, we stand amazed at your majestic holiness. We humbly admit that you are not like us nor are you to be compared to any created being. You stand alone, in a class entirely unto yourself, and you are not to be shrunk to creaturely size through any idolatrous comparison. You are who you are and there is none like you. Would you open my eyes to see more of your holiness that I might stand in awe of you?