We do not need a God like us, we need a God above us.

Exodus 33:19–22

And (GOD) said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’ . . . But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Glory -- “kabod,” heaviness

If you could use one word to describe God, what would it be? 

Isaiah 6:1–13

In the year that King Uzziah died . . .

Isaiah 6:1–4

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 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.

Holy — “qadosh”; set apart or distinct, commanding respect

Isaiah 6:5

“Woe (Lament) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Our sin must be known, if we are to truly know God. 

“As long as Isaiah could compare himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of his own character. The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard, he was destroyed—morally and spiritually annihilated. He was undone.”

-- R. C. Sproul

Isaiah 6:6-7

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

The holy God is also a forgiving God. 

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

From brokenness to mission is the pattern for humanity.

Hebrews 12:28–29

… since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

If it is more important to us to keep our sin than to allow God to purge us, the result is judgment. If we are willing to be purged, the end is redemptive.

Lay open your life before a holy God and repent.