God's Sanctification

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Scripture

All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You.
(Psalms 145:10 NASB)
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power;
(Psalms 145:11 NASB)
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
(Psalms 145:21 NASB)
“When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations.
(Ezekiel 39:27 NASB)

 

Observation


That title probably seems a bit odd because we all know that God is holy, it is his very nature, and he is not in need of sanctification. However, the world's perception of God comes through what they see in his people. God is not viewed as a holy God if his people are not viewed as a holy people. When God's people act and respond in ways which are not in line with God's character, the people of the world assume that this is God's character being revealed. The Israelites had long ago given up holy living and had given themselves over to so many foreign gods that no one even know who the true God was anymore. Now, God is speaking through his prophet that when they return home from exile, they will be worshipers of him alone -- and by doing this, God will again be seen as a holy God. He will be sanctified because they will lift him up as the God that he truly is. Through the praise of the people, through the blessing of his name, his nature is revealed to all the earth.

Application


This week our world has erupted into trouble and turmoil, much of it blamed on differing religious views. As followers of Jesus Christ I think we need to take time to stop and think about our response. Our response is not just a personal response, but is viewed as a religious response. If the world sees us as Christians, what about our response reveals the God whom we truly serve? Is God sanctified through our responses, or are we revealing some sort of a personal god to the world that in no way resembles the true holy God?

Too often it seems that we speak, or write, or post about things without taking the time to think about the consequences. We do not simply speak for ourselves, but if we carry a particular label -- be it Christian, Jew, Muslim, American, Arab, etc. we must recognize that others around us will connect us to the labels which we wear. Our actions and behaviors do have consequences and they are not just for us singularly but become a reflection of a society and the God whom we purport to be serving and representing.

In reality it is a huge responsibility to think that the reflection of God seen in us is the way that the world will perceive God. If God's people are not sanctified, will the world see God as being sanctified? I believe that as followers of Jesus Christ we have a responsibility to as genuinely reflect the true God to this world as possible. Therefore, we must allow God to sanctify us, to fill us with his Spirit, to allow his thoughts to become our thoughts and to seek him with all our hearts -- before we react. May our reactions only come from him so that the world may see the true God and that he may be a sanctified God through the actions of his people.

 

Prayer


Lord, we seek your mind, your wisdom and your leading for our world today. Amen.

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