This week, Michael writes how
Jesus Christ came to set the captives free. In John 8:31-32, He said to the Jews that believed on Him, "If you continue in my word, he shall
be my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free." The worst prisons are the prisons in our own
minds. Because of the sin nature that we inherited from Adam, we are held
captive by sin, fear, guilt and condemnation. However, according to 1
John 4, there is no fear in love
for perfect love casts out fear.
There was a man who thought
that he should be doing better in life. He was struggling with his
spiritual self image. When asked, "What do you think that God thinks
of you?", the guy's mind went blank and he couldn't think of a response to
the question. Everyone struggles with fear and guilt sometime. There
are two types of fear. One is the fear that is the opposite of faith. The
other is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is characterized by
reverence, awe, respect and honor. Walking in “the fear of the Lord” is to
love God to the point that we fear not honoring Him. Many people think
that they should fear and honor God, but they don't think that God loves
them. The devil's scheme is to get us to question the love of God. As
David said in Psalm 139:23,
"Search me O God and try me to see if there if there is any evil way in
me. Cleanse me and create in me a new heart O God.” The fear of
the Lord involves our ability to sense His presence and His love.
Men and women often feel
unworthy. In our own power we can never love enough, give enough, serve
enough or perform enough. Most people fear the handwriting on the wall that
said, "thou art weighed in the
balance and found wanting." You're never good enough, righteous enough
or rich enough, wise enough or strong enough. We all have a problem with
sin, of missing the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. However,
God made a way where there was no way. For
Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our
behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
American pastor, Bible
teacher, conference speaker and a prolific writer of Christian literature and
theological works - Warren Wiersbe said that the fear of God is a fear that
makes us want to serve Him from a heart of love. Serving God is not what we've
got to do but what we get to do. God knows our heart's desire to love Him above
all. According to 1 John, even though our heart condemns us, God is greater than
our heart and knows all things. As we come into the light of His holy Word
through his love, the darkness of sin fades into the background. According
to John
3:19-21, he that walks in
darkness hates the light neither come to the light lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that does truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest
that they are wrought of God.
Christians have two natures.
One is the carnal nature of the flesh, the sinful nature of sin and death that
we inherited from Adam. The other is the nature of the spirit of life in
Christ, the righteous nature that we inherited when we were born again of God's
Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:17, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and
these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that
you would. Romans 7:24
says, "What I want to do I don't do
and what I don't want to do, I do. O wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from this dead body?" Paul used this picture of
one of the worst forms of capital punishment to illustrate the war between our
spiritual nature and our carnal nature. As punishment for a terrible crime, the
executioner would strap a dead body to the convict who would rot to death with
the dead body on his back. Who shall deliver me from this dead
body? The answer is in Romans 8:1-2, Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I am made the
righteousness of God in him. There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus... For the law of the spirit of life in Christ
has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Let's continue Michael's message on the "Fear of the Lord" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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