Don’t You Fear God?

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Fear can be a powerful motivator. It’s one of the problems with our world today; we don’t fear God anymore.

God is a God of both love AND justice; both grace AND wrath, and sometimes I think we need to hear Him roar to remind us of His holiness. God said He would be a vengeful God. That’s hard to reconcile; love AND vengeance!

The Bible instructs us to fear the Lord over 100 times through scripture. After several plagues had already happened, Moses said to Pharaoh, “I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.” (Exodus 9:30) That was too bad for them because the death angel was on his way.

“Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate His rule with trembling.” (Psalm 2:11) “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him.” (Psalm 33:8)

Even during the crucifixion as one thief was taunting Jesus, the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God?” he said. (Luke 23:40) “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18)

Whenever God appeared to people in Bible times, the results were an overwhelming sense of terror and dismay, a terrible sensation of sinfulness and guilt. Today, we experience such a shocking disrespect for God that the idea of God being someone we should have a healthy fear of couldn’t be more foreign.

When the Bible talks about the fear of God, it’s talking about the fear that we feel at the Grand Canyon, in which there is a realistic danger. There are fences to remind us of the dangers of falling to one’s death. And in some places, there is nothing more than a sign, a written word, to warn us. And yet, the Grand Canyon is such a beautiful thing, such an awesome grandeur, that you are drawn to it.

The fear of God is not a fear that drives you away; it is a fear that draws you in. It is fear that causes us to bow and acknowledge He is Lord. If you are the Lord of your own life, look out! God is to be feared…no question.

I know the New Testament says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear…"(II Timothy 1:7) and it also says, “Perfect love cast out fear.”
(I John 4:18)

We’re told both of those passages are writ-ten to people who have a relationship with Christ. If you have Jesus in your life, you no longer have a reason to fear God. I’m not so sure of that. Fear can also mean respect, but on a much deeper level. It doesn’t matter how many times you visit the Grand Canyon or how well you may feel you know it, maintaining a healthy level of fear would still be wise.

Perhaps no one has captured the character of God better than C.S. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia, a series of 7 fantasy novels in which he portrays the Lord Jesus Christ as a lion, as John does in Revelation chapter 5.

"As the Lion passed by they were terribly afraid He would turn and look at them, yet in some odd way they wished He would." The question was asked to one who knew this Lion well, "Is He safe?" His reply was, "Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course He isn’t safe. But He’s good. He’s the King, I tell you."

We don’t like the fact that God can be scary sometimes, but the Bible pictures Jesus as both the Lamb and the Lion.

Join us as we look at Great Comebacks of the Bible. “Out-numbered” is a series of sermons looking at the seemingly unwinnable battles we find throughout scripture. They are there to inspire us. They are there to teach us about God. They are there to give us hope!

[Ron Otto, Preaching Minister, Lincoln Christian Church]

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