The Beauty of Holiness

February 16, 2016 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments
Tags: beauty, beauty of God, beauty of the Lord, Christian clothing, dressing for church, fear of the Lord, holiness, holiness of God, Psalm 96, worship

I know I’ll probably get called old-fashioned or even legalistic, but I do think Christians ought to consider what type of clothing is appropriate for a church service at the local Christian church to which they belong. Obviously, we know that we place a high importance on what we wear to “special occasions” or to meet earthly dignitaries, so it only makes sense to do the same when we are going to formally “meet with God,” or, better, to corporately worship Him while meeting with His people.

Having said that, though, as we worship, we need to place an even greater consideration on how God Himself is “attired.”

O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Psalm 96:9

We tend to think of “beauty” as something which attracts us, and, certainly, the Lord God is the God of beauty, and beauty is itself one of His immutable attributes. However, notice that His beauty is a beauty of “holiness.” It is a singular beauty, a one-of-a-kind, a unique beauty. There is, truly, none like Him. Even as His beauty attracts us, it is so foreign to us – so alien – so severe – that it forces us to bow down as we worship. It forces us, if we are rightly considering His majesty, supremacy, and might, to tremble with a reverent fear.

Has something gone missing from your worship? Perhaps you have never, in a worship service, felt the fear of the Lord in the first place. Let me encourage you to recover a sense of awe in the holiness of God. Formal worship is not a time for relaxation and calm introspection. It is a time when we, by His grace, challenge ourselves to receive by faith the love of God Whose unmediated brilliance and beauty would obliterate those who would approach Him frivolously.