The Fear of God: LIVE with Dr. Neil Anderson
Fear is the number one mental health problem of the world. Fear has to have an object. In order for it to be legitimate, it has to have two attributes: potent and imminent—or in other words, present and powerful. Fear itself is a God-given thing; anytime our physical or psychological safety is threatened, fear is what you should experience. Unfortunately, fear can become irrational with the wrong fear objects.
In the book of Isaiah it says, “For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ‘Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary…’”(Isaiah 8:11-14a). So what makes God the ultimate fear object? He’s omnipresent, and He’s omnipotent.
Most people relate to the fear of God mostly from what they understand out of the Old Testament—what was the fear of God like under the Law? And there’s no better place to go than in Exodus 19 where the whole context is the giving of the Law to Moses. And this is what happened, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, “Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.” When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.’ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman. On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled” (Exodus 19:10-16). Trust me, folks; there were no atheists there that day. And nobody had to teach them about the fear of the Lord.
Fear can be effective and keep people from crossing boundaries; however any kind of law is ineffective if there are no consequences. If the law isn’t carried out, then people just start abusing it. When you look at something like in the Old Testament, the image you have of God is probably not something that you naturally want to draw near to. But if you go back to the very beginning when God created Adam and Eve, you only have to get to Genesis 6 and read, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lordregretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (v 5-7). Thankfully, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Conservative scholars put the book of Job as occurring around the same time that Moses was alive. This book is all about a battle between Satan and God. Satan is asking God a question, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan claims that Job will certainly still fear God as long as Job keeps receiving blessings from God… but what if those blessings are removed? Would he still fear you? If you know the story of Job, you know that he lost everything he had during that time. It’s an important thing to realize that people in our day can still suffer—not because they have done something wrong—but because they are living a righteous life. This raises the age-old question: If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why does he allow bad things to happen to good people? I personally do not believe that you can come close to answering that question if the only two players in this equation are you and God. But it’s not just you and God… there is a god of this world, Satan, who is involved as well.
Toward the end of his life Job said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet inmy flesh I shall see God,” (v. 25-26). God not only made it right in the end, He returned Job to a better state than he was in prior to his misery.
A curious question to me is—If God is a righteous God, why hasn’t he returned yet? The truth of the matter is that tons of people have still never heard the gospel. Do you really want God to come back right now and shut out all of those people who don’t know the gospel? Of course not! So what does God have to say about this? Let’s look at 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 the Lord says, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God wishes no one to perish! By waiting, God allows more time for repentance.
There aren’t really human words that can fully grasp the greatness and the glory of God. What’s interesting about that is that in the hearts of those who fear Him, there is an unspoken language of faith—a bowing down with humility, before one who is infinitely greater and more magnificent than self. Ethan was a Psalmist, and he said in Psalm 89, “Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?” (v. 5-8). The sheer magnitude of His glory of God’s greatness does not diminish over time. There are angelic beings who have been with God since the beginning, and familiarity does not bring contempt for the Almighty. We read in Revelation 4:8, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” They just continued to worship God; it is a natural progression that comes out of living in the presence of God.
If you were suddenly ushered into the presence of God, you wouldn’t be concerned with anyone else other than yourself. You would be overwhelmed with your own condition; the only sin you would see at that moment is your own. Worshipping God is describing to Him His diving attributes—amazing, wonderful, glorious, almighty. It’s endless!
Drawing near to God is totally different thing under the New Covenant. In the Old Testament, He just wasn’t approachable; He was a consuming fire. That’s how people saw Him! Unfortunately, a lot of Christian’s look to good just waiting for the hammer to fall. They’re whole orientation to God is to avoid punishment. Know this, Christians—the hammer fell; it fell on Christ! He died once and for all. You are not a sinner in the hands of an angry God; you are a saint in the hands of a loving God who has called you to come before His presence with a confidence and boldness because you heart is now clean! If you knew that, you would go running to your Heavenly Father! Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know that.
Christians need not have fear of God in terms of punishment. We live under a new covenant, folks. You are not justified by works, you are justified by faith. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” The punishment that we deserve has already fallen on Christ. Fear isn’t to keep us from sinning; the fear that comes from God now is more of a sense of accountability that God uses in a special way in order for us to share in His holiness. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
As believers today, in one sense we have already been judged in terms of where our eternity is. God has already saved us from the flames of hell; we are children of God with our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But we will still give an account for our lives. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.” This helps us understand that God is going to discipline us, but it’s also a proof of His love. Judgement in the Old Testament was eye-for-eye, tit-for-tat. That is not discipline. Paul tells us that if we are not being disciplined by God, we are not legitimate children of God. All discipline seems hard at the time, but afterward it produces the spiritual fruit of righteousness. The purifying work of God should not drive us away from Him in fear but rather toward Him in faith. The love of God and the fear of God don’t exclude each other; they actually work together. Loving God and fearing God are not mutually exclusive.
Do you love someone who is always truthful? Do you love someone who is big enough to protect you from your enemies? Do you love someone who has the means and desire to supply all your needs? Do you love someone who forgives you when you sin, accepts you for who you are, and loves you unconditionally? Do you love someone who ensures that justice is done in the end? Do you love someone who volunteers to serve your sentence when you are found guilty? Do you love someone who cares enough to discipline you so that you don’t miss out on your rewards? Do you love someone who sets you free and enables you to become all that you were created to be? Do you love that person? That’s the love of God! Suppose that person is so holy, so majestic, that to be fully in his presence requires a resurrected body, and all who are privileged to see him can’t stop singing his praises. Psalm 103:11-13 says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. To me, this is the most powerful motivation in my life. I want to draw near to God with my heart sprinkled clean. I want to serve God in such a way that I would hear some day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I think we should all look forward to that day.
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.