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Fear of God

Should we fear God? Often we think of Him as a benign being, incapable of doing anything at all. Most of the time we think of God as some kind of concept and not consequential. In Bible School we were taught that we weren’t to fear God in the sense of dread type fear, but more like a fatherly figure.

It is the thought that God will not harm us that I am convinced has caused the most damage to both the church, and as an extension society itself. We now believe that we can do what ever we like and God will not touch us. Is this true? Is that evidenced by what we see around us? War, Crime, Disease, Injustice, Hurricanes, Fire.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…” What does it mean to fear the LORD? Why is fear of God the beginning of knowledge?

Jesus says in Matthew 10:28″And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” So Jesus is telling His disciples not to be afraid of men who are able to kill them, and want to kill them. Those men are only capable of killing the body, but can’t harm the soul. God on the other hand is able to destroy both the body and the soul in hell.

Jesus is instructing us to not fear even a murderous person seeking to take our lives. No instead God is much more to be feared, He, God, can destroy us for all eternity. God can and does take lives, He does destroy countries and cities. The bible is full of his deeds laid bare for us to understand and to learn from. There are six things that the Lord hates and seven that are an abomination Proverbs 6:16-19: 1. A proud look, 2. A lying tongue, 3. Hands that shed innocent blood, 4. a heart that devises evil plans, 5. Feet that are swift in running to evil, 6. A false witness who speaks lies, 7. And one who sows discord among brethren.

Hate is a strong word. Many times in the bible God is said to hate one thing or the other. This is where knowledge comes in. If we know what God hates, we don’t do those things. If we know what God likes us to do, we do those things.

We have allowed studious men and women to make serving God seem difficult to understand and do. To walk with God, to serve God is not difficult. He has given us a written record of what He expects of us.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. He will destroy those who do not fear him!

The book of Proverbs tells us that if we follow wisdom, God will protect us, proverbs tells us that if we follow knowledge we will have peace, proverbs tells us that if we follow knowledge God will provide for us.

All the opposite is true for those who do not follow knowledge. They are called simple ones, scoffers, foolish. These will be destroyed, both in this life and in eternity.

Proverbs tells us: Wisdom is the principal thing: Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her(wisdom), and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

So yes, to fear God means to have dread for Him. It is a dangerous thing to make light of Him or His commandments. He could destroy fools and scoffers in this life and he will destroy fools and scoffers in life after death.

Life As A New Christian

Likely Advice From Christians

You will likely directed to go to church and to read your bible. These are two really good pieces of advice. It is always positive to interact with other christians to learn from one another, to discuss what is being learned, and how God is working in our lives. Encouragement from other believers in hard times and good time cause growth and strength in our lives of faith. As far as reading the bible, God has very successfully protected the bible through the history of the world. It is both the most loved and hated book of all time. It is the most published book of all times. It is translated into more languages than any other book. He has protected it for you and I, that we can know him through studying it’s pages.

Pray, talk with God. He has given us direct access to Himself. Jesus teaches that we can speak with Him directly Just as Jesus can. Tell Him of your struggles. Thank Him for the blessing that He brings into your life. Ask Him to meet your needs.

There will be other advice that will come from well meaning christians but not really rooted in the truths passed on to us through the word of God. Dos and don’ts that are considered to be the way of the “good” Christian life, but can be a trap pulling us away from God. Beware of religious activity, the High Priests of Jesus’ day were highly moral men, following God’s law to the letter, but missing the spirit of God when He walked among them. The same danger exists for the God fearing person today, be spirit led! Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that the day will come that we worship God in Spirit… That day is now!

Likely Advice From Non-Christians

Believe it or not there will be many unbelievers who will be more than willing to lead you in the way that a christian should go. I found it very interesting as a new believer how many people that would not be caught dead in a church would very readily tell me that “hey christians can’t do that,” or, “a good christian person would always do…”

Unbelievers will be the most ready to offer opinions of where you can go, what you can do, and how you can act. Live in faith, in the Spirit. Listening to God as you read His word.

Important for the Christian

First the christian life is a living relationship with God himself. He said in the word of God that He will send the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us in all truth. I believe that He will make Himself known to us and guide our lives in the way that He wants us to live. I find that in our intellectual age, we tend to fear the spiritual world but to be a christian is to live in the spiritual world. The bible teaches us that the spirit of God indwells (Jn 16:13) believers, which means that we can be lead by the Spirit at all times. That makes the christian life a spiritual life. We can live in faith knowing that God will lead us, guiding our lives to be pleasing to Him.

There is no set of rules to live by to be pleasing to God. Jesus when asked which of the commandments was the greatest replied, “The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself.” These two thoughts sum up the way that God would have us to live. (Romans 1:17) There are well meaning people who will give you a set of standards to live by as a christian. Please know that the bible teaches that just as we are saved completely by faith so we can live only completely by faith. There is no recipe to live by but faith in God. The trick is to do what you do by faith and let God teach you and lead you. There will be people that God may put into your life to lead you along the way, but make sure that what they are telling you matches your understanding of the word of God. Faith is the beginning of our spiritual lives, and faith will take us trough to the end of this life.

The First Sin

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The first sin and the fall of mankind into a need for salvation from death came very soon after the new couple were placed in the perfect garden that He had made for them. What happened? What was the cause? Who did the sin?

I wonder how long it took for the disobedience to set in? I really think it was within the very first moments of their touring the Garden of Eden that this folly occurred. The reason I think this is, a perfect man and a perfect woman naked together in a perfect place would quickly lead to conception. But they would not conceive until after they have been removed from the garden. I don’t think they wasted any time in going to see this tree from which they were not supposed to eat from. This perfection was doomed before it even got started! But why?

I am convinced that the first disobedience toward God hinges from DISCONTENTMENT! They had it all, well almost, but they were not content with almost all. We find ourselves in the very same condition today. Nothing has changed, discontentment drives our lives. It causes us great misery each day, it causes us to sin each day. Just take a look around. We are not satisfied with the home we live in. The brother-in-law has a much bigger, newer place. His furniture is really nice, they never drive a car more than two years old. I’d like to do the same. The debt we carry says it all.

God had given Adam and Eve everything they could ever need. All the food they could eat, a perfect climate that never changed, companionship, face to face communication with God Himself. Wow! But, they weren’t content. We can see this when Eve was questioned by the serpent. He asked the question that was on her mind. Her answer to him was very interesting. “God has said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Did God say that? No, He said don’t eat of the tree in the middle of the garden. She had already embellished what God had said. Isn’t that what we do as well. As we work things over in our minds that we see and encounter with our friends and family we make situations much bigger than they are. You see things have not changed with mankind. We are still not content with the life and possession that God has so graciously given us.

Because of our discontentment we still risk it all. We get our minds working in overtime to get the things we desire, even it they are out of our reach. Our discontentment is what still tears our lives away from God. We are so caught up in discontentment that we forget that He is there. You see, God was there when they ate that forbidden fruit. He is everywhere! He is not surprised by anything. He knows it all. Just as discontentment drove Adam, Eve, and all the rest of us into the problems of sin and death, discontentment drives us into problems of sin, and death.

Discontentment has forever changed the earth and all it’s inhabitants. What are we to do with it?

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