(Isaiah 6) 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty'

Maybe the worst thing to share if you want to motivate people to live their life to the fullest is to write the word SIN. The rules are simple: Make people feel good, write what people want to hear instead of what they need to hear, and never ever mention about the words ‘sin’, ‘judgment’, ‘hell’ and ‘holiness of God.’ I don’t live by that rules and I hope you are on my side too.

His live had change since Prophet Isaiah which mean ‘God is Salvation’, when to the temple at Jerusalem to worship God. It was around 740B.C. that he saw an amazing vision of God seated on a throne above which were seraphs (six-winged angels, Google this if you want to know more.) It was a vision of God’s holiness and splendor, and he hear voices saying,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

The whole earth is full of His glory.” (verse 3)

Most of us have a basic belief, a justification that while we make mistakes, we’re still fairly ‘good’ people. That day, Isaiah whom many have called a good man, was confronted by the proof of his sin. My NIV Bible study comments that ‘‘Holy, holy, holy’ is the triple repetition underscores God’s infinite holiness.’ In front of God’s holiness, there’s no room for us to hide. Today before I write this note, I looked at myself naked in my shower room thinking ‘I could never survive… to have my place with God, I must be holy.’ Isaiah must be thinking the same way. He said,

“‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (verse 5)

Such a sight inspired great fear in Isaiah, as he instantly recognized his sinfulness. Someone had asked me a question, ‘Richard, what would you say if God is standing in front of you?’ ‘I didn’t say anything; I just bow down before Him.’ The words come out of my lips is not mine, it was the Holy Spirit. Like Isaiah; my lips, our lips is unclean!

“Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Verse 6,7)

E-sword explains that the word atoned (kaphar in Hebrew) means ‘cleanse, forgive, be merciful, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation). Isaiah was declared clean before God. To be completely holy is to be sinless, pure, and perfect before God. Of course, rock band Simple Plan shout it out loud ‘I can’t be perfect’, but yet our ultimate goal and it will be our final destination when we stand before God in Heaven.

In their book Saint & Scoundrels of the Bible; Linda, Carol Chaffee and Drenda Thomas writes, ‘Isaiah went on to prophesy about the coming King of kings, who would come to earth as a man to suffer and die on behalf of all. This man – Immanuel – would ultimately make any who trusted in him clean before God, without having to use a coal to do so.’ He would be Jesus, the Savior.

I was thinking ‘I could never survive… to have my place with God, I must be holy.’ I don’t know how. We can’t make ourselves holy. A thousands good deed will not be enough to cleanse our sins. 24 hours prayer and 6 months of fasting will not make a different unless I acknowledge that I need help from God. St. Paul pointed us to a living hope for humankind. A message that was rejected by many,

“You were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)