Holy Holy Holy
On Wendesday nights, our church has a praise and worship service. The music at this service is livelier and the sermons more personal than on Sunday mornings. This past Wednesday, they sang a song that was not familiar to me, so I focused on the words displayed on the overhead screen.
During the bridge or the chorus - I do not know the difference - the overhead screen was filled with the word "holy" repeated over and over. I thought, "What a strange looking word - Holy."
Still, now as I type the word, it appears strange to me. That strangeness prompted me to research the word during the next few days.
My Oxford Dictionary defines the word as I expected, "morally or spiritually excellent or perfect. belonging to God; consecrated." Not satisfied, I turned to a biblical dictionary. "To set apart." Still, I wanted more. Where did the word "holy" come from? Where did it originate?
I enjoy etymology - the study of word origins - so I turned to www.etymonline.com. The word holy comes from the Old English word "halig" or the Goth word "hailags" during the years 450-1100. However, some scholars speculate that the original word probably pre-dates Christianity and the original meaning was probably, "that must be preserved whole or intact - good health." Now I felt that I was on the right track. So now in its raw form, holy means something that is whole and in good health.
Now, how does this definition pertain to God. What makes God holy? What is it about God that is whole and intact; the Trinity - the triune God. I remembered that in Genesis God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." Genesis 1:26 RSV Although there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, they are whole, intact and healthy.
When God said "Let us make man in our image.", he was not kidding. We were created as a triune being as well. Every man, woman and child consists of a body, soul and spirit. Our body belongs to the world and will return to world. Our spirit belongs to God and will return to God for judgement based on our decisions. The soul is the battleground - it is the place were we think and feel. It is the place where are memories are stored. It is the place where we feel love, anger, joy, pain, happiness, turmoil and peace. The soul is the place where we decide.
So, if Jesus represents the body of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit is the spirit of the Godhead, then God the Father must represent the soul. When we say that God is holy, we are saying that the three parts of God are whole, intact and healthy.
So are we ever holy? Yes - when our soul decides to extend an invitation to the triune of God, his body, soul and spirit unites with our body, soul and spirit to create a whole, intact and healthy Christian.
During the bridge or the chorus - I do not know the difference - the overhead screen was filled with the word "holy" repeated over and over. I thought, "What a strange looking word - Holy."
Still, now as I type the word, it appears strange to me. That strangeness prompted me to research the word during the next few days.
My Oxford Dictionary defines the word as I expected, "morally or spiritually excellent or perfect. belonging to God; consecrated." Not satisfied, I turned to a biblical dictionary. "To set apart." Still, I wanted more. Where did the word "holy" come from? Where did it originate?
I enjoy etymology - the study of word origins - so I turned to www.etymonline.com. The word holy comes from the Old English word "halig" or the Goth word "hailags" during the years 450-1100. However, some scholars speculate that the original word probably pre-dates Christianity and the original meaning was probably, "that must be preserved whole or intact - good health." Now I felt that I was on the right track. So now in its raw form, holy means something that is whole and in good health.
Now, how does this definition pertain to God. What makes God holy? What is it about God that is whole and intact; the Trinity - the triune God. I remembered that in Genesis God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." Genesis 1:26 RSV Although there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, they are whole, intact and healthy.
When God said "Let us make man in our image.", he was not kidding. We were created as a triune being as well. Every man, woman and child consists of a body, soul and spirit. Our body belongs to the world and will return to world. Our spirit belongs to God and will return to God for judgement based on our decisions. The soul is the battleground - it is the place were we think and feel. It is the place where are memories are stored. It is the place where we feel love, anger, joy, pain, happiness, turmoil and peace. The soul is the place where we decide.
So, if Jesus represents the body of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit is the spirit of the Godhead, then God the Father must represent the soul. When we say that God is holy, we are saying that the three parts of God are whole, intact and healthy.
So are we ever holy? Yes - when our soul decides to extend an invitation to the triune of God, his body, soul and spirit unites with our body, soul and spirit to create a whole, intact and healthy Christian.
posted by Hepzibah The Watchman | 8:21 AM
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