This is the last post in this series on the fear of the Lord. In it I will look at what the Bible says about fearing God in relation to the Messiah, and the church.
The Messiah
Isaiah 11:1-3 (ESV) There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
Isaiah gave many prophecies about the Messiah. In this passage he lists several aspects of the Spirit of the Lord that will rest on Jesus - wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Of these aspects His delight will be the fear of the Lord.
Jesus always proclaimed the will of His Father, and in everything He did He surrendered to His Father’s will. This particularly brings to mind Matthew 4:10 where Satan tempted Jesus with all earthly authority and power, and Jesus rebuked him with “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”
Wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge - oh, if only I had these things, how great my life could be.
But wait, they are worth nothing without the fear of the Lord. Without the fear of the Lord those things would bury me under their burden, but with the fear of the Lord everything is bearable. Give me that and my life will be as great as it can possibly be. The fear of the Lord is truly delightful.
Isaiah 33:5-6 (ESV) The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
Zion is Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is the capital of Judah. This is one of the prophesies that would have led the Jews to believe that the Messiah was going to be a military and political leader. If you latch on to the words justice, righteousness, and stability it’s easy to interpret them as something tangible and desirable right now. But the point is really salvation, and the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 50:10 (ESV) Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.
We all walk in darkness. Nobody knows the perfect path through life. We all need God to guide us. The only thing we can ever truly rely on is God.
Fear the Lord and obey the voice of His servant.
Fearing God means following Jesus.
Luke 23:39-40 (ESV) One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
This passage is from the two thieves that were crucified beside Jesus.
When one of them questions Jesus the other rebukes him asking “Do you not fear God?”
Somehow this man who is condemned to die as a thief recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. He even asks Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom.
He could have said “Jesus, I believe in you so save my earthly life and give me peace now” - which is basically what the other guy was saying. He didn’t, though. Instead he knows that his earthly existence is ruined, and he asks Jesus to remember him in heaven.
I think that’s what our prayers should be more like. Not focused on our earthly life, but on our eternal life. Yes Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons, but that was not the point of His ministry. The point of His ministry was to save us from eternal damnation. If we want to pray for healing and deliverance, that’s fine, but that’s not what our faith hinges on. Our faith hinges on our belief in Jesus for eternal salvation!
The Church
Acts 9:31 (ESV) So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
This passage is from the story where Paul has returned to Jerusalem and the disciples are still afraid of him because they don’t believe that he really believes in Jesus.
The disciples eventually find out that he sincerely has converted, though, and that he is even preaching in a way that is making people want to kill him, so they send him on a trip to Tarsus.
With their main adversary now having converted into one of their main allies, the church in and around Israel is able to grow. But how did it grow? Was it because of a great marketing campaign? Or because of the fame and status of the disciples? No. It was because the disciples were walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Notice how this verse says the CHURCH throughout all Judea - not the churchES. There is only one church even though it is referenced across multiple geographic locations! IT multiplied!
Also, it doesn’t say the disciples stood in the fear of the Lord. It says they walked in the fear of the Lord. The church doesn’t grow by bringing people in to hear us. It grows by us going out and spreading God’s word to them.
How many churchES do we have today? And how often are churchES criticized for being tainted with culture. Trying to grow by mimicking what is going on in the world around them.
Is that how the church really grows, though?
If you put on a good show, attendance might grow, but are those same people who are filling the seats going to be in heaven, or are they just there for a good feeling?
The church - the real Bride of Christ - doesn’t grow by pandering to hardened hearts and putting butts in seats. It grows by opening eyes and ears and hearts to the fear of the Lord!
We who fear the Lord are the church. And the church grows by the fear of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:11 (ESV) Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
When Paul says “we” I think he is referring to himself and Titus. Up until chapter 2 he refers to himself as “I” and then he mentions looking for Titus and then he uses “we/us” everywhere after that. I had to check to make sure he was not using the “royal we.”
This verse is from a section where he is basically saying that he can’t wait to get to heaven, but he is devoted to pleasing God with his life for as long as he lives.
He says that Jesus died for all, therefore all have died. And since we all have died we no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us and was raised from the dead.
He fears God, and he’s preaching the gospel.
This life is meaningless apart from pleasing God. But God loves us and sent His son to die for us so that we can have eternal life with Him. It’s not a one way street where God takes pleasure from us but gives nothing in return. No. He takes pleasure in having a relationship with us, and gives us the pleasure of spending eternity with Him.
It probably seems a bit dramatic to the non-believer, but to those who fear the Lord it’s as intimate a relationship as we can have. God created us, knows us, loves us, gives us free will - even to the point of us turning our backs on Him, and then gives Himself up as the means of reconciliation in our broken relationship with Him, so that we can have eternal life with Him in His kingdom.
When God created the heavens and the earth they were covered in darkness. When He said “let there be light” Jesus started His work of redeeming God’s creation out of darkness and into the light of His glory. He created us, and we also got covered in the darkness of sin and rebellion, and Jesus redeemed us out of that darkness and into the light of God’s glory. And we, being full of His light are to continue that work of redemption by sharing the redeemer with others.
God knows you. He loves you. And He wants to have an eternal relationship with you. He offered His love to you by making the ultimate sacrifice and giving His life for you. He just wants you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He overcame death for you, and He offers you to join Him in His kingdom forever. Will you accept His offer? Just tell Him that you want to. And if you have any questions about how to grow in your relationship with Him, all you have to do is ask Him, and He’ll guide you.
με αγαπη,
BJ