Second Look
This week we continued our series, We are Nazarene, and we looked at the second core value, "We are a Holiness People."
Holiness is one of those things that generally falls into a couple of categories: it's either something we do not understand or something we think is unattainable. Yet the call from God in Scripture is clear: 1 Peter 1:16 echoes the call from Leviticus, "But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is hoy. For the Scriptures say, 'You must be holy because I am holy.'"
What does it mean to be holy? To be holy means "set apart for God's plans and purposes." To put it another way, holiness is Christlikeness - living like Jesus in what you say and do.
In our message this week we had four important points:
1. Holiness is God's design - Holiness is not something WE created or even something WE can work out for ourselves. Holiness was created by God and we were created in God's image. God created us in God's image so that we would reflect that image in the world. So, what does it mean for us to be holy? It goes back to our message from last week – we are to declare Jesus is Lord with our lives – we are to be set apart – allowing every part of our lives to come under the Lordship of Christ. But, not only are we to be set apart – we are to be a reflection of God; to be Christ-like – to live our lives in such a way that when others look at us, they see a reflection of Jesus.
2. Holiness is God's gift - Holiness is God's gift to us. Yet, sometimes we struggle because we recognize our sinfulness and struggle to comprehend how a holy God would want to be near us and cleanse us, and make us new. We struggle because sometimes we have an image of holiness as a list of rules or chains meant to weigh us down. YET, holiness is not meant to bind us, holiness is not a ploy from God to make you feel unworthy…The work God wants to do in your life to make you holy is a work that does what we cannot do for ourselves – it cleanses us, it washes us clean. And this gift is not meant to bind us – this gift of holiness is meant to set us free because this gift of holiness draws us closer to God and the transformative work God wants to do in the hearts and minds of His people!
3. Holiness is God's calling - we are called to be holy because God is holy. We are called to be holy because we were created in the image of God - and God is holy. Let me just stop and make a note here: Holiness is not something we “achieve” it is something we work to become. On this side of eternity, holiness is something we work toward…and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we CAN live our lives in such a way that we reflect our holy God – we CAN live lives that imitate Christ – as Nazarenes we believe that is what God is calling us to – and we believe it is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit!
Holiness is God's desire for everyone who calls him Lord. We are called to be a holy people, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, a people who can show the world what holiness looks like – what a holy God looks like as we seek to reflect him! This is a high calling. This is a holy calling. This is who we, the church, are called to be! We are called to be a HOLY People! If Christ is Lord, if, as Peter says, you have tasted and seen the Lord is good, there should be a change that has happened in your life – there should be some distinct shift, distinct turning that has happened – that is the work of the Holy Spirit, working to make you more like Jesus!
4. Holiness is an invitation to communion - The communion I’m speaking of is more than the sacrament…when you look in the dictionary, the word communion means – the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings – especially on a spiritual level. That is what holiness invites us to! Holiness is an invitation to draw near to Jesus. It is an invitation to a deeper relationship – a deeper love – you see, we can sometimes become so good at knowing “about” Jesus that we don’t even realize we have stopped growing closer “TO” Jesus.
If we are serious about becoming more like Jesus, then we need to get serious about being WITH Jesus – if we want to be holy, if we want to be set apart for God – then we need to commune with God – we need to be in God’s presence…
There’s a quote I read this week that said something along the lines of – there is no equation when it comes to holiness. When we are truly seeking to be holy, we actually find something far better – we find Jesus – we find our Savior who is ready to be with us, commune with us – to share with us his thoughts and feelings – to share with us his heart, and in doing so, make us holy as he is holy…
Questions to ponder:
Have you opened your heart to allow God to do the deeper work of making you more like Jesus?
Do you need a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to renew your commitment to living like Christ?
Maybe you need to start by asking Jesus to be Lord of your life first.
If God is speaking to you - do not delay! Say yes - because this journey with Jesus is worth it!