Fear Of God

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[Mike]

The cornerstone of my atheism for a long time was the fear of God and it never made sense to me because we're supposed to fear and love God at the same time which seemed a bit nuts but as I began to delve into the Bible I began to realize that we don't actually fear God Himself but fear God's judgment. Am I right or totally off? I was thinking about this today and figured I'd get you're feedback. Thanks everyone

[looneytombs]

I think it makes sense that we would fear God. Imagine you are scuba diving in the ocean and turn around to find a blue whale staring at you from five feet away. Even though you know the whale is not carnivorous and is not going to eat you, tell me you wouldn't really have a wet suit!

How much more terrified would we be confronting the Creator of the universe. This is why no one can see the face of God and live -- our hearts and minds can't absorb such an awesome power.

This is why Jesus is so critical for our faith. Jesus is God making himself attainable to us. Going back to the whale analogy, it's like we turned around and saw only a porpoise smiling at us. We might be startled but we wouldn't be so terrified that we had a heart attack. We might then interact with the porpoise.

Jesus allows us to interact with God on a level we can comprehend. He entered our comfort zone and by this very act demonstrated that God, despite His awesome, terrifying power, is gentle and loving. We will always have a natural fear of His might, but through Christ we are able to focus more on His mercy and love -- His grace.

Fear can be a good thing, when it prevents us from harming ourselves. It is good to fear fire. But God does not invite us to love out of fear. That would be conditional love and it is unconditional love we are called to kindle.

We are in an ocean and while we are aware of the whale's presence, it is the call of the porpoise we can comfortably follow. Call it the Porpoise Driven Life. (sorry couldn't resist).

[Riverrat]

For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer's fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, 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.’” This reverence and awe is exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.

[holyrokker]

The "fear of God" is an awe-filled reverence. It includes the concept of yielding to His authority.

It is similar to a solder's relationship to his commanding officer. He is not "afraid" of the officer, but yields him respect and trust.

[revbej]

BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO FEARS THE LORD! Psalm 112:1
This was part of my Father’s Day sermon this year. The Hebrew word for fear in this case is interpreted as “afraid.” Here is part of my outline:

•   The righteous man will fear the Lord.
1.   Hb: root word “afraid”
2.   A healthy fear, God does not need us, He is perfect in Himself
3.   We exist because of His will and grace!
4.   You have to respect that kind of power and perfection!
•   Morally, we are to reverence Him, stand in awe of Him.
1.   Our sin sets us apart (we are imperfect-He is perfect), we feel guilty
2.   Yet His grace restores our relationship to Him
3.   Ill. Charles Spurgeon said: “[God] is so great that he is to be feared and had in reverence of all them that are round about him, and he is at the same time so infinitely good that the fear is sweetened into filial love, and becomes a delightful emotion.” The “filial” love that Spurgeon is talking about is the love or feelings of a child for his parent! It is a love that expresses respect and obedience.
4.   Other verses on the fear of the Lord:
a.   Oh, fear the Lord you His saints for to those who fear Him there is no want. (Psa. 34:9)
b.   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7)
c.   By humility and the fear of the Lord is honor, riches and life. (Prov. 22:4)
d.   Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways. (Psa. 128:1)
e.   He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. (Psa. 145:19)

Blessings,

Rev. J

[Mike]

Thanks guys, I knew I was on the right course just wanted to be sure.

[dgibson777]

We need to remember to always to have a reverence to our Holy God.  He is a Holy God and a Just God.  There needs to be trembling in the presence of our God.  Remember, the demons believe and tremble.

[jaynewt40]

Amen well said

[Mike]

  I did a study of this and even found out why it's important to truly fear God. We fear God and cling to his commandments why? Because it leads to wisdom. Not earthly wisdom but spiritual wisdom. That reverence is all about respecting God and fearing his judgment. The Bible tells us if you truly love me you'll keep my commandments and the fear that we have is more of an awe than an actual fear because we are already gaining that wisdom, and as we lead our daily lives we are immersed in a world that doesn't truly follow or desire the will of God so it makes it harder to follow his commandments but we do because we have felt the love of God and have experienced the joy that comes from worshiping and praising him.