God is Holy

Week of February 12th, 2012

Soul Training: Margin

As made popular by Dr. Richard Swenson in his book Margin, margin refers to the space on the edge of a page where there is no text. If the words stretched from top to bottom and to both edges there would be no margin. We add so much to our schedules that we have no “margin,” no space for leisure and rest and family and God and health. Margin restores balance and restores our soul, thus increasing our capacity for joy. Your spiritual, relational and physical health depends on it. Margin and holiness are related to one another in very deep ways. Here are some ideas for finding margins this week:

• Get up ten minutes earlier and create a space for silence before you begin your day
• Cut out unnecessary entertainment activities
• Explore scaling back some of your commitments by asking, “Is it essential?”
• If you do something often, consider reducing the frequency without cutting it out of your life completely

1) What, if anything, did you learn about God or yourself through the exercises?

2) As you created margin this week, describe what you did and how you felt about it.

3) What was most difficult about this experience? What was most rewarding?

Simply proclaiming the good news that God loves us no matter what we do is not the whole story. What must also be shared is that our loving God is also “a consuming fire.” (Exodus 24:17; Hebrews 12:28-29)

4) The focus of this topic, God is holy is that God is love and God is also holy. God’s wrath toward sin is an action that reflects that love and holiness. Has the wrath of God been hard for you to understand? In what ways?

5) “Integrating God’s love and his wrath is difficult. Most simply decide to go one way or the other. Jesus speaks of God as being both and both is what we need to have full understanding of God. Wrath is God’s attitude toward sin and evil. God’s wrath is a mindful, objective, rational response; it is actually an act of love. God is fiercely and forcefully opposed to the things that destroy his precious people… it is a sign of God’s love. Wrath is a necessary reaction of a loving and holy God, a good and beautiful God, to evil.” Does this statement clarify your understanding of God’s wrath? In what way? 

6) The essence of God is holiness. Holiness is a divine attribute. God is pure. There is no sin, evil or darkness in God. Wrath is not something that God is, but something that God does.  Again, wrath is the just act of a holy God toward sin. What does the difference mean to you that wrath is an action of God and not an attribute of God?

7) Read Hebrews 12:18-29  This passage contrasts the covenant made on Mount Sinai with the covenant made by Jesus’ blood. What images of God’s holiness do you see in this passage? How does it feel to know that while purification can be painful, it ultimately leads to deeper intimacy with God?

8) Reread verse 29 of the text, God’s holy love burns the dross of sin out of our lives. If God’s love were to “burn” something out of your life that is holding you back, what would it be?

9) God cares deeply about sin because it destroys his precious children. And God longs for holiness in us because it is the way to wholeness. If God were unconcerned about sin, how might that harm us?

10) Read Matthew 16:27. How does this verse help you to reflect on the topic God is holy?