Broken Bread

Daily Devotions from the Daily Light
by Evan Hopkins




June 19

Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.--Heb. 12:14

Christ is made of God unto us not righteousness only, but also holiness, and without that holiness no man shall see the Lord. Holiness is not the same as righteousness. Righteousness is that which meets a just claim. Because of a man's transgression there was a righteous claim that had to be met, which man himself was utterly unable to meet. Christ was made of God unto us righteousness, and as such perfectly satisfies every righteous claim that the law has upon us. But in addition to this, because God is not only a righteous Judge, but a gracious and loving Father, there were requirements that came from His heart as well as from His law. God's heart needed to be satisfied. Nothing but a perfect response to the claims of His infinitely pure and holy nature could satisfy His heart. It was this that Christ, as the perfect Man--God's ideal--actually accomplished, and so was made unto us, became on our behalf, "holiness" as well as "righteousness." Without that holiness no man shall see the Lord.