Jesusluvsall's Blog

Sunday afternoon we had a good discussion about what it means to fear God. Does it mean we walk around in life worrying that we will be struck by a lightning bolt for messing up?

There is a balance in the bible about what it means to fear God. One meaning would be to be scared of him, dread being in his presence. The other meaning would be to revere or respect him as a father.

In Revelation 14 we read about God’s wrath which would be cause for anyone to be afraid of God.

 ^“A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.”

But that wrath is for those who reject God and worship the beast or anti-Christ.

The balance is that for those who embrace Jesus, embrace God, there is no wrath as we see in 1 John 4:

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love”

God’s desire is to be our heavenly father. Yes, we need to respect him as our father and as our creator. But the sense of dread is not something God wants us to live under as we see in Romans 8:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

God’s desire is to free us from being slaves to fear. He wants close relationships with us, but we need to respect and revere God which starts by realizing our need of forgiveness through Jesus.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.