289. God will be Sanctified
Ezekiel 20:41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, andI will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
God promises to accept us, bring us out and gather us out of the world. The Lord has done this and kept this promise many times; He continues to save us; and He will surely do so finally at the End of time. The World had us under captivity and slavery and held us under the sentence of death. On our own we would not be able to escape from the World (Egypt and Babylon); but the Lord intervened, worked miracles, and made a way of escape through the Cross and the Resurrection. The promise is finished.
Through God’s mighty deeds, especially in the Christ Event, the Lord will be sanctified before the world of unbelievers. What does that mean? How can God be sanctified, made holy? He is already perfectly holy. The original meaning of sanctify is “set apart,” or “set apart for a holy purpose.” The derivative meaning of sanctify then becomes “make holy.” For once something is set apart from sin and uncleanness it is holy unto the Lord. When we as people are set apart by the Gospel we are separated from Sin and Death and Satan and the World and Sinful Flesh. We are separated unto God by the Blood of Christ and so we must be holy, without spot, stain or blemish.
But that is for us sinners. What about for God? The Lord is revealed to be seen as set apart before the eyes of the unbelieving world. And what is more, He is sanctified, set apart, seen as special, in us. Our good works shine before men so that they may give glory to our Father who is in heaven. This is the promise. God’s life is living in us in such a way that others see the Lord in our life, and in this way He is sanctified before the unbelieving world. Whether we or other people actually see and recognize the Lord as sanctified in us is not the issue. God promises that it is so, and so it is. God promises to be sanctified in us, and we believe it to be true.