Article for September 8, 2024
Isaiah 50:10 10Who 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.
Let us talk about fearing the Lord, He should be feared because He brought us into this world, and He could take us out even easier. Bill Cosby on one of his sitcoms said something like this to his TV son, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.” Fearing God is somewhat this way. We should realize that in a word God could take us out. You fear your parents in the same way you should fear God. Most would fear losing those whom they love, certainly you as a child would fear losing your parents and especially their love for you. We would not want to lose our parents’ love because we love them, and they provide for all their children. In the same way God loves us and provides for us even greater than our parents can. It would seem logical that you would not want to lose our Father Heaven’s love and care as you would not want to lose your parents’ love and care.
We also fear the punishment that our parents would give us if we do not obey them. Then why do we not fear the punishment that God will give us if we disobey Him? God’s punishment if received is far more detrimental to our well being then anything our parents have ever given us. Thankfully God withholds His punishment we deserve, but we will talk about that later.
If we ever have upset our parents and felt their disappointment over what we had done or not done it makes life around us dark and dreary. I know I walked in that darkness many times, but it is not the darkness this scripture is talking about. We walk in the darkness produced by our sin. If we feel the disappointment of our parents when we disobeyed them, what then do we feel when we have gained the attention of God’s disappointment?
Both our parents and God love us. It is through love that we fear disappointing Both our parents and God. We are not perfect children. We have not always lived up to our parents and God’s expectations. Though we may still walk in the darkness of disappointment, we should realize we have never lost the love of God or our parents. If it were not for knowing the law of God, we could remain ignorant to sin and never have to worry about disappointing anyone.
It is not the law that kills us, it is our sin that kills us. The dilemma we have with the law is that it rightly convicts us whether we think our sin is right or wrong, big or little, disastrous or menial. Wrong is wrong, sin is sin, and God’s law is God’s law. That it is God’s law and that it convicts what is sin is for our good. The law is our guide to live by.
We break the law, and the law demands punishment, and the punishment is a deterrent, which means punishment should be feared too. We truly should fear the punishment even when we receive God’s grace. For fearing the punishment, fearing God, fearing God’s law is the beginning of wisdom.
James 3:1–2 1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
We know we are not perfect, and this is the battleground we must live in, it is called our sinful nature vs. the nature of God. God’s nature along with our sinful nature lives in us. This battleground we carry like it or not is what we must persevere through. We can try to ignore God’s word or even discredit it to one another to justify our sin, but as a rose is a rose by any other name, sin is sin by the acclamation of God. This statement is true even if we try to justify our sin or diminish our sin’s wrongness.
I as your teacher of God’s word am judged more strictly so I must teach you and myself what God has declared as sin, and that its punishment is an eternal death of uncomforting pain and agony. I fear God more than you do because I am to be judged more strictly, and I cling to God’s grace and mercy more so because I am judged more strictly.
James 3:7–12 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
The world speaks of God as if He is something we can mold to our liking or bend to our will. God is the creator we are not! God is the one powerful and mighty, and though He does not force us to like Him, He always hopes that one-day we will. And it is good that we have a God who hopes, for His hopes He has made sure they will come about for all whom He has chosen to follow Him. That is, God has a plan that He has already put into motion.
God gave us a savior, one who knows of our struggles with sin. Jesus our savior was willing to suffer and die for our sins. We have a God who sees that we struggle through life each and every day and only asks that we believe. It is through believing that we fight the good fight, struggle against sin, try to do what is right, and ask for forgiveness when we have fallen. It is through Christ that even though our struggles do not save us we are saved through His grace and mercy.
It is grace and mercy that shows us we have a God who cares for us, loves us, and calls us. God’s love proves itself through the willingness of His obedient Son to die a gruesome death in our place so that we do not suffer an eternal death. It is God’s love that brings us out of a sinful world and places us in an eternal life and relationship of joy. As the man had said in Mark 9:24b, “I believe; help my unbelief!” God stands ready to do just that. Jesus Christ heals us from our illness of sin through the forgiveness of a God whose plan is to love us all through His mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis May
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