CHAPTER TWO
THE HOLINESS OF GOD

       We are therefore told in many places of the decision to which the Trinity came before the creation was begun (John 1:1-13; 17:5 and 24; Romans 16:25, 26; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:4; 3:5, 9-11; 2 Timothy 1:9,10; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8 & 17:8). The whole plan of the Ages was discussed, the cost of the enterprise understood, the dangers and difficulties foreseen, the steps to be taken to counter them laid down, and the final victory assured. The possibility of sin was recognised and its costly overcoming provided for: the sorrows and griefs of God, angels, men and creatures were not forgotten, but it was recognised that the joys of Eternity were well worth the sufferings of a few years, if this was the price that must be paid (2 Corinthians 4:17,18; Romans 8:18).

       At this point it may be helpful to consider the crisis that arrives in the life of all Sons of God, when after their salvation they realise for the first time that they are "saved to serve". It may come as a call to the Mission Field, to the Ministry, to the Open Air Service, the Sunday School class, the life of prayer, the unwelcome yoke: but however it comes it revolutionises the whole outlook. Here is a call, to be accepted or rejected, to lose one's life, one's career, one's aims for the sake of others; here is the first realisation that we are saved not to please ourselves but to take our place in the Family Business! Here is the danger-point in the Christian life, and very often the challenge is quietly evaded.

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Nothing is said, but the decision is made not to put oneself out, but rather to take all one can for oneself. This is the hour of holiness or sanctification, the day when God puts the facts before us and calls for a decision (John 17:17-19). Holiness or sanctification, both translations of the same word, do not only, or even primarily, mean purity. Our Lord needed sanctification (John 10:36; John 17:19), but He never needed purity, for He was always perfectly pure. Holiness, or sanctification, carry the meaning of consecration or setting apart for service, like the bells on the horses, or the pots in Jerusalem. (Zechariah 14:20,21). They were set apart for God's purposes, and should only be used for that! Holiness as a Christian term means the devotion of a lover to those he loves. It is a denial of personal aims or ambitions, and absorption in ministering to others.

       So our Lord came down to earth, not like the Angels of Genesis 6 because He wanted something for Himself, but wholly for our sakes and to do His Father's will. It was equally for our sakes that He went back to Heaven (John 16:7) to send the Holy Spirit to take His place, and to act as our High Priest, and not at all to escape from a dangerous battlefield!

       This exact crisis entered into the hearts of the Trinity, when the Father proposed "The Plan of the Ages" (Ephesians 3:11 Greek). Here Father, Son and Spirit had before them a project which, if proceeded with, would revolutionise their lives, bringing hard work, eternal responsibility, sorrow upon sorrow, hatred, suffering and betrayal, even death into their experience, which had hitherto known nothing but the joy of each other's company. The Father was proposing that all three should lay themselves upon the altar of self-sacrifice, and that too for thousands of years, simply in order that countless numbers of beings, who were not even in

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existence, and never need be, should spend the Ages of Eternity in bliss, which they would never miss, if they were never created! We know the answer they all gave, as they donned the uniform of sacred duty. We gaze upon the Throne under which (Ezekiel 1) and above which (Isaiah 6:1-3), the Almighty placed the Cherubim and Seraphim with their ceaseless call for consecration, those living creatures, which in Heaven represented the four-fold creation of earth, so utterly dependent upon the love, patience and self-sacrifice of their Creators: and hear God's appeal to ourselves, "Be ye Holy for I am Holy".

       As our study proceeds we shall find ourselves from time to time face to face with the very simple fact, that the Universe will never prosper until all within it who are free are as determined to make a success of it as are the Trinity. The Holiness of God is not sufficient by itself to bring success: He needs all His creatures to be holy too, to have that consecration to the demands of Love, without which no man will be able to look at God, but will cower away at the realisation of his own selfishness. The usual thought, even amongst Christians, is that, if only God would take us all to Heaven all would be well. Whereas the fact is that it was in Heaven that sin and unhappiness and selfishness began and set the Angels at that mortal conflict with each other, which has lasted to this day! (2 Chronicles 18:20; Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 6:10-12; Revelation 12:7-9). If Angels fight in Heaven so could men! Sin is not the result of surroundings, but the shaper of them. The simple fact is that the root of all unhappiness, whether in Heaven or on earth, is selfishness, the desire to have something for oneself. Men hate God because He insists upon practical unselfishness (Luke 10:37). Yet happiness can only come when all selfishness is ended, either by repentance or the eternal prevention of Hell. In

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other words, God is Love, and He created a world for lovers, and it cannot work successfully in any other way.

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