How Much is a Soul Worth These Days?

Ten days ago, I meditated on "Jehovah-M'Kaddesh," which is one of the names of God. It means "the God who sanctifies." I posted a song to go with that blog post called "What Do I Know of Holy" by Addison Road. I love the bridge of that song that says:

What do I know of holy?

What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?

And the God who gave life it's name?

What do I know of holy?

Of the One who the angels praise?

All creation knows Your name.

On earth and heaven above

What do I know of this love?

That part wrecks me every time I hear it: "What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?"

We look at the cross through the eyes of followers who couldn't believe what they were seeing, through the eyes of a broken-hearted mother who was watching her son suffer a cruel and humiliating death, or through the eyes of people who have heard so much about the death of Jesus their whole lives that they forget its power. Regardless of how we look at the cross and what Jesus did, I think most of us miss a valuable component of the whole situation.

How did God see the cross? Did he hurt? Was he angry? Did he want to slap the stupid smirk right off the devil's face? How does a holy God look upon the cruelty of the cross?

(Key word: holy. Today's meditation was on the fact that God is holy.)

How does a holy God look at my shame? How does a holy God look at the sin that caused my shame? How does a holy God deal with my sin, shame, and the punishment that I deserve?

Let's see what scripture says about the holiness of God:

Isaiah 40:25-31 (NLT)

25 "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name. And he counts them to see that none are lost or have strayed away. 27 O Israel, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? 28 Have you never heard or understood? Don't you know that the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. 30 Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. 31 But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.  

For a God who has no equal, created all that exists, knows the name of every star and ensures that no star gets lost, never gets tired, and has understanding so deep that it can't be measured, it's pretty safe to say that He looks at everything differently than we do. His perspective is beyond our ability to comprehend on our own.

So for a holy God that can be described as such, how does He deal with my sin, shame, and the punishment that I deserve? A cross. While I don't believe for a second that the cross was easy to endure or to watch, I believe that God, in His perfect and holy perspective, looked past the pain, humiliation and betrayal and saw all of the souls that would be saved from eternal punishment through this one final Divine sacrifice.

Your soul has great value to God. My soul has great value to God. Though what God went through was hard, He thought it would be harder to spend eternity without us. He did what was necessary to rescue our souls even though it cost Him something. That is holy.

What Do I Know?

Today's thoughts were directed toward another name of God: Jehovah-M'Kaddesh. This name means "the God who sanctifies." It basically means that God is the only one who can make you holy.

Leviticus 20:7,8

7 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I, the LORD, am your God. 8 Keep all my laws and obey them, for I am the LORD, who makes you holy.  

There is so much in this one little verse. First of all, becoming holy involves a choice we must make to allow God to "do His thing." It involves walking away from our past of sin and taking a step of faith to surrender who we are to God. In American society, "who" we are is a concept that is under constant scrutiny. Are we too fat, too skinny, pretty, ugly, nice, rich, poor, prideful, humble, mean, tall, short, or "just" average? The media fights for our attention and is labeled as THE source of all news and up-to-date stats on the latest fads and bandwagons we should be jumping on. (Don't EVEN get me started on THAT one. Another blog for another day.)

It's all a distraction from the truth that God is not concerned with the fact that some people wear white shoes before Easter!

He's interested in your heart. That is where the holiness begins. It begins with first allowing Him into your heart, confessing & walking away from your sin, and then following Him on your own journey. Holiness is such a HUGE concept that it's difficult to really grasp.

I do know that holiness is not the same as legalism. It doesn't involve an endless list of rules we must begrudgingly obey.

God IS holy and we can only become holy with His help, guidance, and direction. A year ago, I couldn't have told you thing about how God does this in people. He has blessed me with the opportunity to be involved in a process where I get to watch Him change people. Over the course of the past year, the changes I've seen in these people have been so profound that I am can only stand in silent awe of God. No human could do that. No checklist of rules could accomplish what God has accomplished. He is healing people, forgiving people, giving them hope, and making them HOLY.

They are totally different than they were a year ago. I am totally different than I was a year go. If there is any holiness in me at all, it's all because of Him because I'm a hopeless case without Him. Holiness doesn't mean that we just get a big "Shazam!" and we're all of a sudden perfect. FAR from it. It is a marathon, not a sprint. In fact, those who are truly holy will probably tell you they are not, but the evidence is clear. They can't hide it.

Now, that is one side of it. I can't say I understand it all or else I would be lying, but I'm learning more about what is true holiness and what is just smoke in mirrors.

The holiness of God on the other hand.....I can't even begin to fathom the depths of what that means. We get to experience a bit of holiness on this side of heaven, but who can truly understand the fullness of GOD'S holiness. He doesn't war within Himself on what is right and wrong. He is the only One who can ever be perfect.

Please listen to this song. It perfectly expresses what I think about the holiness of God. What do I know? What do I know of holy? All I know is that I am so small and He is everything. I'm humbled that He would even THINK of me....much less love me.

What Do I Know of Holy by Addisons Road