Fear God.
That simple command is plastered all over the Bible and it is hard teaching.
As with other things that are repeated over and over……it must be important……….terribly important.
And yet, we tend to ignore it. We dismiss it. We tone it down. One writer whom I really respect says that it really means to respect or revere God.
But that is not what it says……..the Bible clearly says “fear God”………over and over.
And we really don’t like that…….in fact, we don’t approve.
We don’t approve because we want God to be the kind, loving, soft focus guy who comforts us, blesses us, and protects us.
We don’t approve because we don’t want God to be the stern disciplinarian who punishes us when we mess up. We love the carrot……..but we hate the stick.
The thing is………that God is both. He created paradise……….but he also created hell.
God can invite you into paradise for eternity……..but he can also damn you to hell……..for eternity.
We don’t approve because we don’t want to be punished when we mess up. So…….we ignore hell……..we gloss over hell………many Christians even deny its existence completely. It is a whole lot more comfortable living however you please when there is no consequence for your misbehavior.
So…….we pick through the Bible and memorize and quote the parts that make us feel safe and loved. My favorite is the 23rd psalm………”and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”. But, how often do you hear a Christian quote this……..”fear God”?
Here are the cold hard facts:
God created you.
God loves you more than you can know.
God blesses you…….every day.
God wants you to spend eternity with him in paradise.
But
He will send you to a burning eternal hell if he has to.
How do we reconcile this?
More to the point……..how does God reconcile this?
Enter Jesus.
Jesus is God’s “GET OUT OF HELL FREE CARD”.
The result of Jesus’s ministry is this simple point.
God does send people to hell…….he can send you to hell……or me…….and we should fear that…..we should fear him.
BUT
God will only send you to hell if you consciously decide to reject Jesus and his “get out of hell free card”.
God will only send you to hell…….if you consciously choose to go there.
This changes the landscape completely.
Yes…….God will send you to hell……you can count on it……..but only if you decide to go there by rejecting him……by denying him. And ignoring hell, refusing to “fear God” is…..by default…..a decision to go there.
Ironically………the result of Jesus’s ministry is this:
You really are “the master of your fate……..the captain of your soul”.
Fearing God is like the being the captain of a ship…..he fears the rock……but whether he wrecks on it is entirely his decision.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus, Henley
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.
Jesus, ESV
For most of my life I have misunderstood this verse. I always thought that it was about Satan. But Satan, while he wants you in hell…….while he will lure you into hell…….does not have the authority or the power to send you to hell. If he did……we would all be in big trouble. Only God has the power and authority to send you to hell. This verse is a warning that God may send you to a burning eternal hell……..BUT………only if you are determined to go there.
So…….it is entirely appropriate to fear God……..to fear him enough to accept his grace……..his gift of forgiveness……..his parental love.