What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I mention the word “holiness” in relation to the God of the Bible? For most of us the answer would be this: “He is without sin.”

Now that’s partly true, but not wholly true. What do I mean?

Well, the essential meaning of the words used in the original texts of the Bible to describe God’s holiness each emphasizes something more than being simply sinless. Both gadosh in Hebrew and hagios in Greek mean something “separate, set apart, in a class by itself.” The very root meaning of the words is “to cut.” So this means that the idea of holiness as applied to God is primarily that of being set apart from everything and everyone in creation. It means God exists at a level all His own. He is wholly other. Distinct. Unique.

Now, being sinless is indeed a part of this identity, because as being separate from this sinful reality we live in, He is by nature above and separated from sin. Sin can’t touch Him because he is on a plane far above it. But holiness implies that He is not only above sin… He is above everything. When you grasp this exalted truth about the holiness of God, it can launch your worship experience into a whole new level. Let me describe how this can happen.

First let me show you where in the Scriptures this “holiness as exaltation” motif is taught. In one of the first doctrinal declarations in the Old Testament record, Moses celebrates the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea by exclaiming “Who is like You, Oh LORD, among the Gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11) Having just seen the God of Israel humiliate the idols of Egypt through ten plagues and defeat the armies of Egypt with one mighty miracle, Moses sang what He saw: God is exalted above every earthly and spiritual power. He is on a level all His own.

When a desperate woman named Hannah defeated infertility by receiving a miracle from God and gave birth to a son named Samuel, this overjoyed mom cried out to God, “There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2) Having seen God overrule biology and turn back time to grant her a miracle baby, Hannah sang what she saw: There is none holy like God. He is above every law of nature and time. He is on a level all His own.

When an aging prophet named Isaiah called out in prayer to God for a fresh vision of His glory, he and his nation were in a frightening place. Isaiah called out to God to give him comfort and guidance as he preached to a spiritually dull culture that was on the edge of disaster, and God gave him a vision in which he saw the Lord “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” (Isaiah 6:1) As Isaiah heard the voice of the angels ringing in the rafters singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” he wrote what he saw: God is indeed high and lifted up, supreme over the nations and sovereign over the times. He is on a level all His own.

Here’s one last example, this one from the New Testament. This time it’s an aging apostle named John who is called up in a vision to heaven, where he sees a preview of a worship service around God’s throne that is yet future. His mind must have been reeling as he wrote, “And the four living creatures (probably worshiping angels) each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within (signifying that they are able to see the depths and breadth of God’s great person); and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8) Beholding these angelic inhabitants of heaven who had viewed human history from its beginnings, John wrote what he saw: Holy, holy, holy is He (repeated three times in the Biblical manner of emphasizing perfection), because He is set apart from all time and history, the only One who was, and is and is to come. He is on a level all His own.

So the holiness of God really does have this dimension of exaltation to it. It means more than that He is simply above sin (though He surely is)…it means He is simply above everything. Exalted. Supreme. Wholly other. The original words of the Bible texts contain this truth, and the greatest prophets of Biblical times saw it and told it. What a God.

Let me help put this in perspective. Scientists almost daily discover new reaches of the physical universe we live in. The farthest we have currently gone in this journey is 370 trillion miles out into space, where the Hubble Telescope recently photographed Planet HD 189733b, the most distant planet discovered in our solar system (so far!). But our holy God is, according to Scripture, beyond even that point. He is above it and outside it, having created it. In fact, He holds HD 189733b in the palm of His hand and turns it over in His fingers. But there’s more. Our Milky Way galaxy probably has 40 billion more planets like HD 189733b. He is beyond those too. But there’s more. If you go outside tonight and hold a soda straw up to your eye, just the small sliver of sky you would see contains 10,000 more galaxies just like ours, all with billions more planets of their own. He is beyond all that too. In fact, “He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names.” (Psalm 147:4) This is our holy God; exalted above all that He has created, supreme over it, separate from it, wholly other. On a level all His own. High and holy.

How does this understanding of His “high holiness” affect our spiritual lives? I can think of two ways:

1. Understanding the high holiness of God can expand my understanding of everything else I know about Him.

Let me put it this way: if God is on a level all His own in His holiness, doesn’t that mean that everything else about Him is on a supreme level too? Theologians have recognized this truth over all the ages of the church. God’s holiness means He is exalted beyond measure. Thus there is no limit to who He is and how perfect He is, morally or otherwise. And that must mean that every other one of His attributes has to be just as perfect, endless and exalted.

Puritan theologian Thomas Watson expressed it this way in 1665, “Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of God’s crown.” Looking at God’s attributes through the crown jewel of His holiness puts endless luster and greatness into our understanding of every other attribute of God. We might say today that His holiness amplifies all His attributes with meaning. If His holiness means He is like no other, then His love is like no other, as is His wisdom, His mercy, His righteousness, His compassion, His… well, you fill in the blank.

2. Understanding His high holiness can expand my experience as I worship Him.

We cannot worship a God this holy, this supreme, this exalted, this unimaginable, without being introduced to something all too foreign today in our worship services: awe.

Theologian J.I. Packer was asked recently what he laments most about modern day Christian worship “experiences.” He replied, “What’s often missing is any sense of awe. And you don’t begin to cultivate awe until you begin to see that God is very great and you are very small.” The anonymous author of the Epistle to the Hebrews put it this way: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Do those last words shake you up? Can you comfortably conceive of God as a consuming fire? Well, if you believe He is holy, you have to. Being wholly other, exalted, separate from His fallen creation, and on a level all His own, His moral standards would have to be exalted too. And of course, they are. But, amazingly, this wholly exalted and separate God made a way for us to come near to His high holiness through the sacrifice of His Son. “Since then we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession…let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14, 16)

The most amazing thing about the high holiness of God is the high price He asked His Son to pay that we might be welcomed into His perfect presence. High holiness. High sacrifice. Highly exalted Savior. Sing them all unto the highly holy God. And “ Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” (Psalm 96:9)