Fear of the Lord & Lordship Of Christ
Devotion 16 - Fear of the Lord & Lordship of Christ
Gen.22:12 – “And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do
anything to him; for now, I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Obedience
is closely linked to and is in fact a tangible expression of our fear of God. Abraham obeyed God’s command to
sacrifice Isaac because he feared God.
Matt.28:19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
The end result of
the Great Commission is to lead people ultimately to the authority of Christ,
to fear Him and to walk in His commandment. The fundamental characteristic of a
person who fears God is the commitment to live all of his life under God’s
authority. To live under Christ’s authority means to live under the authority
of His Word and to let His Word mould our opinions and values.
We fear the Lord
by acknowledging His lordship over our lives and obeying him. The measure of
our obedience is an exact measure of our reverence for Him. If the fear of the
Lord is the root in our lives, then obedience will be our fruit.
Deut.6:1-2 - “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you
may observe them in
the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes
and His commandments which I command you,
you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that
your days may be prolonged.
We are expected to
tremble at His Word and Presence
Isa.66:2
- “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word”.
Jer.5:21-22 -
“Listen, you foolish and senseless people-who have eyes but do not see who have
ears but do not hear. Do you not fear
Me? Why do you not tremble in my presence?”
To tremble at His
Word and presence is to obey what He has commanded us through His word and
Spirit. Fear of God means giving Him the place of glory, honour, reverence,
thanksgiving and praise He deserves. We hate what He hates and love what He
loves, trembling in His presence and at His Word.
Foundation
“He will be
your sure foundation, providing a
rich store of salvation, wisdom, and
knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the
key to this treasure”
What is foundation? Many
equate foundations with knowledge of the Bible. But what is Jesus’ definition
of foundation?
Matt.7:24-27 - “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and
does them, I will liken him to a
wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on
the rock. “But everyone who hears these
sayings of Mine, and does not do them,
will be like
a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
In this passage, Jesus
was making His conclusion on the Sermon on the Mount where he taught on the
Kingdom of God from Matthew chapters 5-7. Here, He gave the illustration of two
groups of people to teach on the importance of having a right foundation.
These two groups of
people have the:
-
Same
desire - to build a house (to attain spiritual maturity)
-
Same
competence – know how to build (can understand the Word) unlike the multitude
and the disciples.
-
Same
resources – same material (same quality
of God’s Word)
However, they have
different results - One stood tall in times of tribulation while the other one
fell from being a testimony. Why? – Foundation!
True foundation is
found in obedience. Our knowledge and understanding of the Bible are not our
spiritual foundation – obedience is! For
that reason, many aspire but few attain to true spirituality.
Lk.6:46-49 - “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the
things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does
them, I will show you whom he is
like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and
laid the foundation on the rock. And
when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could
not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and
immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
We need time and
knowledge to grow, however, our growth is not measured by time or knowledge but
by life transformation which is through obedience – the Lordship of Christ over
our lives!
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