Hello and welcome back to our series What Child Is This? If you’ve been keeping up with the latest posts, we have been taking at look at the identity of the Child who was born of the Virgin Mary, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
In our last post, we looked at how Jesus Christ is the Word that became flesh. At the end of the post, we saw how in John writes in John 1:18:
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Nobody has ever seen God the Father, but Jesus Christ, the Word, who is God the Son, has made Him known. Therefore, to know who the Son is, we must understand who the Father is.
To do this let’s look at the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah!
Isaiah’s Vision
Isaiah 6:1-7
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the house was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is atoned for.”
The vision of Isaiah comes at a time when King Uzziah had died. The story of Uzziah is narrated in 2 Kings 15:1–7 and 2 Chronicles 26, where we learn that, for the most part, he was a good king.
2 Kings 15:3 And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
2 Chronicles 26:5 And he continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought Yahweh, God made him succeed.
He was very successful politically and militarily, with God giving him victory over the Philistines and the Arabs. His fame grew throughout the land, and pride grew in him until it became his downfall. 2 Chronicles 26:16–22 explains that when he became excessively prideful, he entered the temple of Yahweh to burn incense on the altar of incense. It was not for Uzziah to burn incense, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
When the priests told Uzziah to stop, he became enraged, and Yahweh struck him with leprosy. He spent the remaining years of his life in exile and isolation, and his son ruled in his stead.
It was at the time of Uzziah’s death that Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.
Regardless of who governs the nations of the earth, God is seated on His throne.
God’s throne is not merely a simple throne. It is a mighty throne that is high. This gives the picture of a judge whose seat is always above anyone in the courtroom. It is not only high, but it is lifted up. His throne is above every authority, and one must lift their head to behold the one true Judge.
God is Holy, Holy, Holy!
Isaiah 6:2-4
2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke.
I once heard a minister explain this portion of the text by stating that:
God is not just holy.
God is not just holy holy.
God is holy, holy, holy!
This attribute of God is heavily emphasized in Scripture, and is perhaps the one attribute that distinguishes Him from everything else!
Holiness is so important to God that in Leviticus 19:2 and 1 Peter 1:15-17 Scripture says, "but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.""
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus Christ himself said, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
There is additional context to these passages which we will not go into in this particular discussion. But the call of God is for all of His people to be Holy. It is so important because without holiness, none shall see the Lord.
The cry of “holy, holy, holy” is also seen in Revelation 4:8 and 4:11, where the four living creatures (similar to what Isaiah saw) cry out day and night, forever and ever:
8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within, and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
God’s Holiness is what causes Isaiah to tremble in fear for his life after seeing God in this vision.
Isaiah 6:5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.”
No man shall see God and live. Though he talked with Him face to face, Moses could not look upon God. The prophet Isaiah could not look upon God. Isaiah here sees God on the throne in a vision, and immediately recognizes he is not more than a dead man. For nobody can stand before God and still believe that they are righteous and deserving of anything.
If even men like Moses and Isaiah, though greatly used by God, were overwhelmed by His holiness, what makes us think we are worthy to stand before Him on our own merit?
Sins Atoned For
Isaiah 6:6-7
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.”
Isaiah, just like every human that walks, and has ever walked, this earth, needed to be cleansed of his sins. But Isaiah knew there was nothing he could do of himself to atone for his sins, which is why he previously cries “I am ruined” (some translations say “I am a dead man”).
However, there is One who does the atoning for us, and that is God, through the redemptive work of Christ.
This God that Isaiah saw high and lifted up is the God of whom the Bible says, “The Word became flesh.” God became flesh through the person of Jesus Christ.
John 12:41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him
And it is only through this child that was born, who lived, who died, and who was resurrected, that we can be saved by repentance and faith in Him.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
The fullness of God, the fullness of the Deity, was in this child that was born from the virgin Mary (Colossians 2:9).
A Closing Word
Isaiah’s vision reminds us that the God who is holy, holy, holy is not distant or unconcerned with sinful man. The Lord whom Isaiah saw high and lifted up is the same Lord who provides cleansing, removes guilt, and makes atonement for sin. Isaiah was undone by what he saw, yet he was not destroyed. Instead, God acted in mercy.
This same holy God has made Himself known in Jesus Christ. The One whose glory caused the foundations to shake is the One who took on flesh, lived among sinners, bore their guilt and shame, died for those very sins, and resurrected to give new life to those who believe in Him!
The God before whom no man can stand is the God who makes a way for sinners to stand justified through faith.
Isaiah's vision helps us to be humble. It strips us of any sense of self-worth or righteousness, and leads us to worship Christ with reverence to His Holiness and gratitude for what He alone has done for us.
Apart from Him we are undone, but in Him our sin is atoned for, and our guilt is taken away! Trust in Him today and be saved!
For Reflection
If Isaiah was undone by the holiness of God, how should that same holiness shape our view of sin, grace, and our need for Christ today?
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