TEXT: Hebrews 7:26

SUBJECT: Attributes of Christ #11: Holiness

This year at the Lord’s Table, we’ve been reflecting on the human attributes of Jesus Christ. I say human attributes because the Lord is a Man—not only a man—but a man as human as you and I. In this Man, we have the Image of God complete and unmarred. In Him we see "the fullness of the Godhead bodily" Paul says, and in another place, "the glory of God [shining] in the face of Jesus Christ".

What kind of Man is the Lord Jesus Christ? Many things can be said here (and have been), but at the heart of them all we find holiness. Our Lord is the loving and brave, wise and generous Man He is because—above all else—He is a holy Man.

What is holiness?

At the bottom, the word means separate; a holy thing is taken away from its common use and put into the service of God. Under the Old Covenant, many things were called holy—places, pots and pans, incense and oil, fire, food, clothing, and so on. We wouldn’t call them righteous pots, would we? Or a God fearing hat! Of course not—they have no ethical qualities for good or bad.

But they are holy things…because they’re separated from the world and devoted to God.

That’s what holiness is. When applied to a man’s character, it means he avoids the pollution of sin so that he can worship and serve God in cleanness.

Can a man be holy—I mean truly holy and not just in name? Yes he can be: the Bible says so. Peter called the prophets "Holy men of old". He adds the Church is now "A holy nation". Another writer says "Without holiness no man will see the Lord". Yes, there is such a thing as real human holiness.

In the best men, the whiteness of holiness is a little off-white and is stained all over with sin. This is true of the saintliest saints: Noah, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and all the rest! Even the cleanest are dirty.

Except for the Lord Jesus Christ, who isn’t!

I read the Bible every day, but I don’t read it very well. I’m a sloppy reader of God’s Word, often missing the most obvious things! The Holy Spirit knows how badly we read, and so He goes out of His way to spell it out! In case we missed the word holy or took it to mean somewhat holy, he says our Lord is

Even a sleepy reader understands; not even a crying baby will prevent its mom from getting it. The Lord Jesus Christ is a Holy Man—not relatively holy, not holier than most others, as holy as His weakness permits, but holy in the absolute. He is fully separated from sin and fully committed to God.

The Lord’s holiness is distinctly human. In the Medieval Church, the words world and worldly were confused. It was believed that to be holy, one had to leave the world, and so monasteries were set up for men, nunneries for women, and—for the radically committed—caves and deserts were run to to escape the world and find God.

But there’s none of this in our Lord Jesus Christ! He was a Man among men; He lived with His family; He went to parties; He ate meat; He drank wine; He traveled with His friends; He met people, He talked to women; He spent time with children. If you didn’t look too closely, you’d mistake Him for any other good man.

And yet, in the humdrum of daily life, He lived in perfect holiness. That’s where holiness is found—not alone with God in a cell—but with God in the middle of a noisy world.

The Lord’s holiness is balanced. Many think of holiness as a purely negative thing—what you don’t do: smoke, drink or dance or maybe eat meat, wear fur, or drive SUVs!

Others go to the opposite extreme. To them, holiness is only positive—doing good works, going to church, or protesting war. If you do these things, it doesn’t matter what else you do—like lie or cheat or have an affair.

Which is it? Is holiness a negative or a positive thing? Is it bound up in what you’re not or what you are, what you don’t do or what you do?

Yes it is! Holiness is both positive and negative. Our Lord did many good things and no bad things. That’s holiness! And our Lord is a holy Man through and through.

The Lord’s holiness is Godward.

The things He did, He did for God, and not for the praise He might get for doing them. Our motives are always mixed—but His were pure.

Every labor He did and every comfort He did without was done for the glory of His Father! This is holiness at its best! This is the holiness you don’t have, I don’t have—no one has.

But the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Lord’s holiness was tried.

Holiness is never easy—it wasn’t easy in the Garden of Eden! But how hard it must have been for the Lord to be holy! He had precious little help in this world. He had so many temptations. He had so few days off to recharge His batteries. And all His living examples of holiness were bad examples!

His character was put into the furnace—and came out pure, 24 karat holiness.

The Lord’s holiness breaks us. How can we live for the world when He lived for heaven? How can God be so little in our thoughts and other things so big? And—most of all—how can we look down on others when looking up to Him?

The Lord holiness puts us back together. This Lord—the holiest man who ever lived—wants our friendship and enjoys our company. He wants us to be as Holy as He is, but He’s willing to wait on us and love us as we are!

This is the Man we remember today at His table. The holy Man who makes us holy—at the cost of His own body and blood. How we ought to love Him! God help us! Amen.