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Fear God Who Cares For You
Fear God Who Cares For You
As Jesus was preaching to the crowd, he stated: “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. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12:4-5).
While readers of the NT often ‘soften’ such concept of fear to the mean reverence, the basis of the concept is still plain old fear. Such fear of God has in this generation in our country been a difficult commodity to find! Yet, if you do even a cursory study of the wrath of God and the judgments of God, it should produce such fear. We read that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31), and such is indeed true - IF one is living as an enemy of God!
YET, Jesus immediately followed that warning with “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).
God does not WANT to deal with us in condemnation and judgment. Peter later wrote that “9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Thus we come face to face with the goodness and severity of God!
Truthfully, we don’t do all that well maintaining the balance between these two aspects of God. This dilemma is bound up in Jesus as our savior from the wrath of God. Only through Him. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
The wrath of God should cause us to repent and turn from our sinful ways, while the love of God as displayed in Jesus causes us to love Him with all of our heart and perfect holiness as we walk before him.
How is your balance?
Hugh DeLong
