Why The Lack Of Fear Of God In The Body Of Christ

Devotion 13 - Why the Lack of Fear of God in the Body of Christ

Some Christians might laugh and mock at the teaching on the fear of the Lord, for their only concept of God is a gracious and loving heavenly Father, and Jesus as their saviour and friend.  To them, God is love and mighty in power to help and deliver, while Jesus is their best friend who helps and guides them as they confide in him. While this is a healthy and awesome impression of God, but this is not the complete image of the Trinity. God is our good Father, saviour and friend, but He is also our mighty creator, master, lord and ultimately the righteous judge whom we will face in eternity. The apostle Peter talks about Christians having a “Father who judges each man’s work impartially”, and as a result, are “living our lives as strangers here in reverent fear” (1 Pet.1:17).

The Bible also tells us plainly that we need to have a deep hunger to understand the fear of the Lord and truly find the knowledge of God.

Prov.2:1-5 – “My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you,  So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the
Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

The fear of the Lord is such an in-depth response to the magnificence of God that it is difficult to give an exact definition. However, as we get to know God more and more, we will deeply understand and stand in awe of His majesty. It will make us want to be forever committed in our hearts to His standard of righteousness and justice, and to refuse any impurity or contamination from the world into our heart. We will be humbled completely and awed by His holy presence that brings us to our knees before Him. We will also recognize that He is the Creator and we are the creatures. He is the Master and we are the servants.  

One in four times where the term “fear the Lord” is used in the Bible, it is connected with our obedience. Deut.10:12 links fear, love and obedience together. Moses says to the Israelites: “What does the Lord ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul?” He brings those three terms—to fear God, to walk in obedience and to love God all together in the one passage. And the way the terms are used, it’s almost as though they are interchangeable expressions.

For example, a child fears the pain of discipline when he is disobedient, but overriding that fear is the knowledge that his disobedience hurts his parents, and the child will not disobey because he loves and respects his parents and do not want to hurt them.  This is the right fear Christians should have. To put it simply, the fear of the Lord is a deep-seated reverence for God that causes men to want to please Him at all costs.

The fear of the Lord promotes holy living. The person who truly reverences and respects the Lord as he should will not do anything that brings disgrace, dishonour or pain to the heart of the Lord. People who genuinely fear the Lord will flee from evil.

 Lack of the revelation of God

Rev.1:12-17 – “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.”

John had lived with Jesus for more than three years and even had the privilege to lean his head on Jesus’ chest and referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. Yet when he saw Jesus in the unveiled glory of His deity, he was awestruck in the most profound way and fell at His feet as if dead. But interestingly, this was not the first time that he saw Jesus in His glory. Jesus had transfigured and revealed His glory before, together with Moses and Elijah.

Matt.17:1-3 – “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”

But in Revelation, when Jesus revealed His glory to John again, his reverence was highly intensified. Why?

The reason is simple. The greater the revelation we have and the more we get to know God in His awesomeness and majesty, the more humbled we are before him and the more we tremble before him. Sometimes our knowledge of God is so shallow that we tend to be overly familiar with God and fail to show the reverential awe and holy fear that is due to Him.