Today I’d like us to try to answer the question:
Fearing God means being afraid of Hm.
OT
These commands are not simply because God wanted to be terrifying, He had a use for them.
The Law?
NT
Fear of God or of His Wrath?
How many of us have heard someone say that they were baptized because they were afraid that they would go to hell? Is that fearing God?
Romans 1:18 - The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
Romans 2:8 - But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
Matt 10:28 - Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
God’s wrath is real!
What type of relationship does God want to have with us?
Close – Personal
What about “abba” (daddy). Isn’t that how God wants us to see him?
Romans 8:15 - For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Gal 4:4-6 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Confident
1 Tim 2:7 - For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
1 Thess 5:9 - For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How do we get to that relationship?
Mark 12:20-30 - One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
So are we to love God, not fear Him?
1 John 4:16-18 - And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Perfect love casts out fear.
Romans 5:8-9 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
He loved us enough to show us a way to become fearless!
Gospel of fear vs gospel of grace
Duet 6:5 - 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Ahab – Human love for one another
John 13:34 - A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Mark 12:20-30 - One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Agape – Willing to give our lives
1 John 4:18 - …perfect love drives out fear…
- What does it mean to “fear God?”
- Hebrew 3372 yare
- Be fearful, terrified 300
- Revere 5 – Translated “reverence”
- Lev 19:30 Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
- Be fearful, terrified 300
- Greek 5401 phobus - (think phobia)
- Be fearful, dread 43
- Misc 3
- Be fearful, dread 43
Fearing God means being afraid of Hm.
OT
- Lev 19:14 - Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
- Lev 25:17 - Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God.
- Lev 25:36 - Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.
- Lev 25:43-43 - Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
These commands are not simply because God wanted to be terrifying, He had a use for them.
- Prov 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- Ecc 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
The Law?
NT
Fear of God or of His Wrath?
How many of us have heard someone say that they were baptized because they were afraid that they would go to hell? Is that fearing God?
Romans 1:18 - The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
Romans 2:8 - But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
Matt 10:28 - Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
God’s wrath is real!
What type of relationship does God want to have with us?
Close – Personal
What about “abba” (daddy). Isn’t that how God wants us to see him?
Romans 8:15 - For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Gal 4:4-6 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Confident
1 Tim 2:7 - For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
1 Thess 5:9 - For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How do we get to that relationship?
Mark 12:20-30 - One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
So are we to love God, not fear Him?
1 John 4:16-18 - And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Perfect love casts out fear.
Romans 5:8-9 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
He loved us enough to show us a way to become fearless!
Gospel of fear vs gospel of grace
Duet 6:5 - 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Ahab – Human love for one another
John 13:34 - A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Mark 12:20-30 - One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Agape – Willing to give our lives
1 John 4:18 - …perfect love drives out fear…
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