THE FEAR OF GOD

SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2022

The fear of God is the longing to always do the will of God which is deeply rooted in every soul who finds their fulfilment and true satisfaction in God. By our personal union with Christ Jesus through faith, our individual perfection, both in sense of maturity and that of coming to the realisation of the full knowledge of truth, is actualised from start to finish, by observing the fear of God in our lives.

Reference: Psalm 111:10 New International Version (NIV) "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise."

The referent fear for the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who act on God's precepts grow wise. The reverent fear and worship of the Lord, being the beginning of wisdom, suggests that it is preceding and the first essential, as well as the prerequisite to a good understanding for all those who love and do the will of the Lord.

Those who fear God are those that conduct their life's affairs with godly regard and this fear of God is a lifetime of obedient response to God that leads to endless peace of mind and godly fulfilment. More so, lets consider the reason we must fear the Lord: this God we are talking about is the Awesome, Holy and Almighty who manufactures truth, righteousness and justice. All His truth and divine products are glorious and eternally guaranteed. They are never obsolete; they are rust-proof and never out-of-date. All that He makes and does is honest and true. This is why we must fear and acknowledge Him in all our ways.

Having the fear of God is not a blind possession, but an active faith engagement associated with knowledge. What knowledge? A specific knowledge about this fear being the manifestation of a dimension of God's Spirit in us. In the book of Isaiah, the Bible talks about the establishment of an eternal priest and King, who is the Messiah. Isaiah 11:1-3 says, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord..." Did you notice the phrase, "and he will delight in the fear of the Lord"? With this in mind, we can acknowledge from these Scriptures that the Spirit of God is responsible for empowering us to walk in Godly fear. All we need to do is to specifically engage and delight in Him for such manifestation.

According to Isaiah chapter Eleven, the Spirit of the Knowledge and fear of the Lord manifest pari passu. This is because the more you know and understand God, the more you fear Him. Basically, our faith develops more by His knowledge than of mere belief (see Romans 10:17 NLT). In actual fact, it reads, "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ." If what you feed on or hear is the right knowledge about Christ, it will grow your faith in the process, since the foundation of your trust in God is based on full divine knowledge. Once our faith in the Son of God is based on accurate knowledge of His Person, His finished work, and our active fellowship with Him and our heavenly Father, the fear of God becomes actively present in us as the main force, having and exerting control or governing influence over our lives. As we continually participate in this fear, Christ is constantly formed in us and developed to grow up to full age in our lives (see Galatians 4:18-19 NLT).

To bring all the elect to the realm of sincere fear of God is the main purpose of God and a vital function of the Holy Spirit. When we are all brought to the fullness of this fear by doing and abiding in God's will, the body of Christ will be complete, and most of the challenges we encounter as Christians will cease. Why? Its because this very "fear of God" hates evil, sin and every other thing which God hates (Proverbs 8:13) and it brings us to the standard of a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The consummation of this "fear of God" is geared toward the complete holiness for the whole body of Christ and at the same time, it involves the maturity of every born again Christian as an individual, who is a constituent part of the body. Simply put, the manifest expression of the true fear of God is the measure or sign of maturity, both for the individual Christian and for the whole body of Christ.

The final point is this: "Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God" (2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT). Shalom!

Scripture Reading - 2 Chronicles 19:7; Psalm 25:14; Proverbs 2:1-5; Job 28:28; Proverbs 9:10; Luke 1:50.

Guided Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, your reverent fear is the tree of greatness bearing the right fruits in me. By observing it in my life, I advance in piety and knowledge, becoming wholly like you. Trusting in you and in your perfect plan for my life require that I passionately fear you and depart from evil because you hate sin, wickedness and injustice. Thank you Lord for the awe-inspiring finished work of Christ which brought me permanent victory over the nature of sin and equips me to live for your glory in Jesus' Name, Amen!