06/06/2010
In a prayer service, earlier today, the subject of the fear of God came up. After discussing fear for a little while, the subject moved to God’s joy and His gladness. That is in the same order that Jesus discussed the fear of God. “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him” (Luke 12:5)! “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Do not fear that which cannot destroy your eternal life; fear the One Who can. Moving on, do not fear because you have value to God, and it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Move on from “fear” to “do not fear”; move on to the joy of God and the anointing of the oil of gladness.
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37). John wrote, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Fearing God was never enough, our walk requires a relationship with God and the relationship requires love. Fear is the beginning of wisdom; it is not in and of itself wisdom. Kindergarten is the beginning of a child’s education in our public school system, but we hope the child goes on to finish high school and maybe even four to eight years college. The great commandment is to love God; wisdom moves on from the beginning of fear to perfection in love.
We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). God planned, created, and chose to have a relationship with us, in that He loved us first. God chose the boundaries of the relationship to be love. The boundary is not New Testament or Old Testament; it is God’s way. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). There are many passages in the Old Testament scriptures addressing the fear of God; but Jesus chose none of them as the great commandment. When Jesus taught the fear of God, He went on to say “Do not fear.” The great commandment has always been “Love God.”
It is the progression (forward movement) of the Christian walk to move from the fear of God to love God. The perfect love of Jesus Christ on the cross casts out fear. The love of God sent Jesus into the world (see John 3:16). He loved us first. It was never enough just to fear God. It is love that leads to the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. We start at the beginning and move on from there. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). To have the power and love and sound mind, we need to move on into the spirit given to us by God; because He first loved us.
© 2010, Tim D. Coulter Sr.