It's been a couple of days since we started a new Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW) Blog. I'm just now highlighting the project I posted there that featured our Scripture Word Art (free to download at the WAW site) and it comes from Isaiah 6:3b which tells us, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
Gotquestions.org explains to us who the "seraphim" are in the context of Isaiah 6. It says, "The seraphim (fiery, burning ones) are angelic beings associated with
the prophet Isaiah’s vision of God in the Temple when God called him to
his prophetic ministry (Isaiah 6:1-7). Isaiah 6:2-4
records, “Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings
they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two
they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the
sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple
was filled with smoke.” Seraphs are angels who worship God continually. Isaiah chapter 6 is the only place in the Bible that specifically
mentions the seraphim. Each seraph had six wings. They used two to fly,
two to cover their feet, and two to cover their faces (Isaiah 6:2).
The seraphim flew about the throne on which God was seated, singing His
praises as they called special attention to God’s glory and majesty.
These beings apparently also served as agents of purification for Isaiah
as he began his prophetic ministry. One placed a hot coal against
Isaiah’s lips with the words, “See, this has touched your lips; your
guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7).
Similar to the other types of holy angels, the seraphim are perfectly
obedient to God. Similar to the cherubim, the seraphim are particularly
focused on worshiping God."
God's Word tells us in James 1:7, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." Through this passage, we can understand that God is the Source of everything that is good and perfect in this world. Love, grace, compassion/mercy and forgiveness are just a few of God's attribute that we saw in action after the Fall of Man. Right after Adam's betrayal of God, He clothed them with animal skin (Genesis 3:21). He gave them hope by promising a Savior (Genesis 3:15). Burnt animal sacrifices were offered as temporary covering for iniquities till the promised Savior redeems mankind from Sin and Death, once and for all! Though it's for the Sin of all human kind, only those that would fully placed their faith (trust, depend, cling, believe) in the finished work of Jesus Christ at the Cross for the forgiveness of their sins (past, present and future) will enjoy its benefits which is to dwell in the presence of our Lord forever.
So, the next logical question that comes to mind would be, "Why would a loving and merciful God who already atoned for mankind's Sin through Christ cannot just forego of His wrath over humankind especially the rebellious, proud and idolatrous people who wanted to be left alone with their Sinful nature? Surely, he can impute mercy and forgiveness to save them from hell too," many would say. Even some well renowned Christian ministers have turned apostate by denying the existence of hell. Well, that is why so many are deceived and ignorant about God, His attributes and His Word! Many have followed false teachers who would literally pick and choose God's attributes that they could pervert and abuse to justify their rebellious attitude, their love for immorality, power, riches, and their desire to control their own lives. They have neglected the very fact that God is also true, just, righteous, all powerful and holy. That means His Word is absolute, His judgment unbiased, His righteousness proves He's always right, all powerful and without blemish. He that created us is without Sin and is therefore blameless!
Because God is holy, everyone who decides to follow Him desires holiness. This is not possible through our own human effort. Jesus had to die in order to show us how God and Sin could not co-exist and because He loved us so much that He provided a way for us to be free from Sin. His love cannot be used as an excuse to keep sinning. Rejecting Jesus' sacrifice at the Cross to their final breath is one's personal declaration where he/she would like to spend eternity--- that is with Satan in the Lake of Fire! People's darkened, selfish and idolatrous hearts caused them to be blind (lack of perception) regarding God's Kingdom (Born-again, John 3:3). You see, we have to spiritually die from our horrendous ties with Adam in order to be brought back to life in Christ. By accepting the redemptive work of Christ at the Cross, we begin to experience God's unmerited love, mercy and forgiveness. Jesus showed us the importance of holiness (for wages of Sin must be paid) and His selfless love for mankind (Jesus paid the price with His precious blood). Though God can forgive the sins of a "repentant" criminal under death row by coming to the saving knowledge of Christ, his earthly sentence may remain. But when he dies, He will enjoy the benefits of his faith in Jesus as he is welcomed in God's kingdom in the presence of Jesus Himself. That is God's promise to everyone who placed their trust in Him. However, this truth remains, everything that we do that deviates from God's holy ways is a sin---the by-product of Sin Nature. But as followers of Jesus Christ whose Sin was forgiven, though we may fall to temptation at times, we can come to Him and confess of our sins. He promised forgiveness and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). For at the Cross, we can always find mercy and grace!
Though I share several attributes of God in here, the highlight is on God's holy ways. I pray that His holiness will inspire all of us to steer clear of the filthy things of this world. As believers, we were bought with a price---the holy/precious blood of Jesus, our Savior! No man can achieve holiness on his/her own effort. It is only possible through the new birth where the Spirit of God lives inside of us and changes us from within. From then, we go through the process of sanctification (set apart) the rest of our earthly life till we see Jesus face to face. But here's the Good News---we may be far from perfect by human standards but in the eyes of our Father in heaven, we already are holy and righteous by being in Christ Jesus! So, let us join the seraphim in giving glory, honor, worship and adoration to the Holy One the sits on the throne.
For this Card, I used an image from Hero Arts Stamps called "Colored Layering Village" that I watercolored using Distress Inks. The base is a white CS, cut and score to make a 5.5 inches square. The DP came from My Mind's Eye, a black CS was used for matting and finished it up with regular stitching. I'm pretty happy with the result.
FULL OF HIS GLORY CARD
FULL OF HIS GLORY CARD CLOSE-UP
FULL OF HIS GLORY CARD INSIDE
FULL OF HIS GLORY CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX
This Card is entered into the following Challenges:
Make sure you join us at WAW Challenge. You can use the free Word Art
in your creation and link it to our Challenge but is not a
requirement. As long as it's family-friendly, uplifting and
inspirational, you can enter up to 5 times each week. Great prize to
be won from our wonderful sponsor---The Stamps for Life ($25 GC).
So excited to see what you come up with. Though we encounter negative news around the world daily, let us continue to honor and praise God. For true believers are no longer citizens of this world, we are citizens of heaven sent here with a mission. Stay faithful to our God and King!
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