A main point in a chapter I have been studying this week was also the main point in an amazing message I listened to delivered by Tim Conway of I’ll Be Honest Ministries. Interestingly, this main point is a crucial point throughout Scripture, yet we do not hear it preached often, if at all– the main point is, the FEAR OF GOD.
When you dig into God’s Word regarding the fear of God you will have a paradigm shift – you will see it differently given more, and new, information. Up to this point, many people think on the fear of God in a negative light, they don’t like the term, it makes them feel uncomfortable.
Consider the road in the image above. Imagine being the passenger in a car or bus on this road. There would be fear gripping you in one degree or another, you would want the driver to get as close to the mountain and as far away from the edge as possible. You would want the driver to have a certain degree of fear as well; after all, can you imagine a driver on this road laughing, joking, and looking away from the road without any fear. A driver that is not fearful to a certain extent on this road would be considered a mad man.
Jeremiah 32:40 says, “I will put the fear of Me in their hearts”. Why would God do that? Continuing in the verse it says, “that they may not turn from Me”. To turn from God would be worse than a mad man taking his eyes off this mountain road. Why? God warns us not to be deceived, those who continue in sin will remain under the Wrath of God forever. God’s love manifests itself in many ways, but be sure of this, it manifests itself in warning. All throughout Scripture we are warned to turn from sin and trust in Christ to save us from the Wrath to come.
The problem is, people like the “trust in Christ to save us from the Wrath to come” part; but they have been deceived by the wolves in sheep’s clothing that make little or nothing of forsaking sin. You can see why having a fear of God is a blessing from Him. The fear of God keeps you from the edge, it pulls you back before you fall into the path of His Wrath.
Psalm 33 tells us that God created everything by His Word. The same chapter also commands the world to stand in awe of Him, to fear Him; but the world doesn’t fear Him, why?
I could only come up with three possible reasons the world does not fear God:
1) They do not believe He exists
2) They do not think He is a God of Wrath and Justice
3) They do not believe their sins are a big deal
If you have a fear of God and it is amplified when you sin, that is a blessing, you should. If you do not fear God, you must know, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. He is Righteous and Just; He must punish all law-breakers. You only have two options, 1) continue in fearless rebellion and face God’s eternal Wrath when you die or 2) throw yourself on the Mercy of God. He sent His Son to bear your sin and be punished under the Wrath of God on your behalf. If you will trust in Jesus to save you, to redeem you from your sin, He will cause you to be born again, He will put His Spirit in you, He will cause you to walk in His ways, He will put the fear of Himself within you, He will grant you eternal Life. But, do not be deceived, if you are able to continue in sin without conviction or fear you should be very concerned. True fear of God causes a person to forsake that sin he once held so dear.