“Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness” (Psalm 30:4). Defining the holiness of God is difficult, but I can point you in the right direction to behold the manifestation of it in its purest form. Divine holiness is best seen in the cross death of Christ. Hell with all its horrors: the worm that does not die, the fire that cannot be quenched, the smoke of the torment of the wicked that rises forever and the unending cries of condemned souls all set forth impressive proofs of divine holiness. All of them together, however, fall short of fully manifesting the holiness of God. It is only the substitutionary agonies, sufferings and death of Christ Jesus our Savior that completely sets forth the undiluted holiness of God.

     The holiness of the Lord never appeared more glorious than when our Savior hung upon the cross of sin and shame and endured the wrath of God to pay the debt His people owed to the justice of God. If we ask, “Why did the Savior cry, ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me,’” the answer is not difficult to find. In the same passage we read, “but Thou art holy” (Psalm 22:1, 3). We often sing: “He took my sins and my sorrows and made them His very own; He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone!” That is why He died, because of our sins and our sorrows which were imputed to Him. Behold the Son of the everlasting Father as He endures infinite wrath to save His people. Christ was the “Just dying for the unjust to bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18), the Innocent giving His life for the guilty and the Righteous One expiring for the wicked. Divine justice, finding that the iniquities of the sheep had been laid upon Jehovah’s righteous Servant (Isaiah 53:6), poured upon Him all of the vengeance of a holy God which had been immeasurably aggravated and offended by the sins of His people. Infinite wrath lashed out against His holy soul and the sword of justice was plunged into His heart. “God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32) and here is the reason: “Thou art holy” (Psalm 22:3).