Holy Father, holy children

Read Hebrews 12:22-29

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So God is our heavenly Father who is welcoming and approachable when we come to him. How, then, does that fit with what we read here: “our God is a consuming fire” (12:29)? Both aspects are equally true of God’s nature, as the opening two lines of the Lord’s Prayer together indicate. Though we can – and should – approach God freely and confidently, at the same time we need to remember that he is holy.

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Our God is “majestic in holiness, awesome in glory” (Ex.15:11), a God who lives in “unapproachable light” (1 Tim.6:16). So in God’s revelation through Moses at Mount Sinai none could draw near (Heb.12:18-21). But the New Covenant which Jesus made through his death has totally altered that (Heb.12:22-24). Now a new and living way is open by which we can approach God’s throne of grace “with confidence” (Heb.4:16; 10:19-22).

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Therefore we worship God our Father with awe and wonder, and long for his holy name to be honoured in our lives. The grace which makes us holy (Heb.10:10) calls us to live holy and godly lives (Rom.12:1). We are to be holy because God is holy (1 Pet.1:14-16). This is our daily purpose, as the line “hallowed be your name” will always remind us when we pray.