The Holy Perfection of God
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”—Matthew 5:48
God is perfect. There is no error in God, there is no imperfection, fault, blemish, blind spot, mistake, failing, shortcoming, weakness, limitation, fault, or deficiency in Him. He is God, the beauty of perfection, the ultimate standard, the brightest light, the ultimate, best, and truly good. There is nothing greater than He, no power higher, no idea or thought more lofty than Almighty God. There is no greater knowledge, aspiration, goal, ambition, or aim than knowing Him. He is God. He creates, loves, forgives, and pardons perfectly. There is nothing that He has done where fault could be found. If there could ever be fault or imperfection discovered in Him, then He would cease to be God. In order for God to be whatever or whoever He is, He must be perfect. He is perfect in His attributes, attitudes, and actions within Himself and in His dealings with the children of men.
This attribute of the Holy Perfection of God is seen most clearly in the giving of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ came to live a perfect life—clearly showing what it meant to live a life entirely devoted and surrendered to God. He loved God perfectly, and He loved man perfectly. He never sinned: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”—Hebrews 4:15. Jesus never sinned, not once in His life. Not as a youth, with His parents, or with His brothers and sisters. Even when enduring the last several hours of humiliation and excruciating pain He didn’t sin. “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly”—1 Peter 2:22-23.
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of how we are to live and how we are to continually do battle with sin. We can also see that He was perfect in loving others. Our passage for today is the conclusion of Jesus’ teaching on loving our enemies. The perfection of God that we are to emulate is found not only in our keeping ourselves from sin, but in loving others—even those who hate us. As we are seeking to live our lives the way Christ lived and taught, we are pursuing the perfection of God—i.e., the perfect fulfillment of God’s law, personified in Christ, and seen in our love for God and for others. And while we seek this perfection, we will never be able to attain it completely in this life—it is not until we are glorified (going to heaven when we will be fully like Christ—1 John 3:2) that we will be completely perfected.
Even though we will never fully attain perfection in this life, we do seek it because we seek Christ, and when we seek to know Christ and make Him known, we are at the same time seeking the perfection of God. We seek to love and live like Jesus did because we know that in loving and living like Christ we are experiencing joy and satisfaction in Him. We are tangibly demonstrating His importance in our life, and through that He receives glory. May we truly seek to be perfect, not for any self-righteous reason, but for the sheer fact that through pursuing perfection, we are pursuing Him who is our heart’s desire and ultimate joy—God Himself. Amen.
God is perfect. There is no error in God, there is no imperfection, fault, blemish, blind spot, mistake, failing, shortcoming, weakness, limitation, fault, or deficiency in Him. He is God, the beauty of perfection, the ultimate standard, the brightest light, the ultimate, best, and truly good. There is nothing greater than He, no power higher, no idea or thought more lofty than Almighty God. There is no greater knowledge, aspiration, goal, ambition, or aim than knowing Him. He is God. He creates, loves, forgives, and pardons perfectly. There is nothing that He has done where fault could be found. If there could ever be fault or imperfection discovered in Him, then He would cease to be God. In order for God to be whatever or whoever He is, He must be perfect. He is perfect in His attributes, attitudes, and actions within Himself and in His dealings with the children of men.
This attribute of the Holy Perfection of God is seen most clearly in the giving of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ came to live a perfect life—clearly showing what it meant to live a life entirely devoted and surrendered to God. He loved God perfectly, and He loved man perfectly. He never sinned: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”—Hebrews 4:15. Jesus never sinned, not once in His life. Not as a youth, with His parents, or with His brothers and sisters. Even when enduring the last several hours of humiliation and excruciating pain He didn’t sin. “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly”—1 Peter 2:22-23.
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of how we are to live and how we are to continually do battle with sin. We can also see that He was perfect in loving others. Our passage for today is the conclusion of Jesus’ teaching on loving our enemies. The perfection of God that we are to emulate is found not only in our keeping ourselves from sin, but in loving others—even those who hate us. As we are seeking to live our lives the way Christ lived and taught, we are pursuing the perfection of God—i.e., the perfect fulfillment of God’s law, personified in Christ, and seen in our love for God and for others. And while we seek this perfection, we will never be able to attain it completely in this life—it is not until we are glorified (going to heaven when we will be fully like Christ—1 John 3:2) that we will be completely perfected.
Even though we will never fully attain perfection in this life, we do seek it because we seek Christ, and when we seek to know Christ and make Him known, we are at the same time seeking the perfection of God. We seek to love and live like Jesus did because we know that in loving and living like Christ we are experiencing joy and satisfaction in Him. We are tangibly demonstrating His importance in our life, and through that He receives glory. May we truly seek to be perfect, not for any self-righteous reason, but for the sheer fact that through pursuing perfection, we are pursuing Him who is our heart’s desire and ultimate joy—God Himself. Amen.
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