Holy God, gracious God

This passage is one of my favorites in the Bible and it never fails to touch me.

I was just thinking today about God’s holiness and God’s grace.

The seraphim (a kind of angel) cried out,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth. (Isaiah 6:3)

That was something that King Uzziah failed to recognize late in his life. (2 Chronicles 26:16-21)

Isaiah, on the other hand, recognized God’s holiness all too well, crying out,

Woe is me for I am ruined
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of Armies. (5)

And yet, we see God’s grace just as clearly.

Ironically, we see it in the judgment God declared on Israel. He told Isaiah to harden the hearts of the people.

How? By telling them the truth they didn’t want to hear.

But while the nation would ultimately fall to the Babylonians, there would remain a stump, a remnant of people who would remain faithful to God because of the words Isaiah spoke. People like Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

And ultimately, through that remnant, Jesus came to save us. The King that Isaiah saw that day in his vision would come down from his throne to die for our sins. (John 12:23-41)

That’s what Christmas is all about. The King coming down from his throne to save us.

And now, when we come before him burdened with guilt and shame as Isaiah did, he looks at us in grace, and tells us, “Your iniquity is removed. Your sins is atoned for.”

That’s why we sing,

Joy to the world!
The Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!