Who Is the Lord that We Fear?
What I have come to realize is that people everywhere see God with their own set of glasses on. These “glasses” are formed through experiences in life, and especially by the father figure they had. In the middle of The Steps to Freedom in Christ is a section which compares a variety of inaccurate views of God with the truth we find in Scripture. Why should this be important to discuss in the middle of a reconciliation event? It may, at first, seem out of place. But it really is the main issue. With whom are we making reconciliation in The Steps to Freedom? It is to God. And our view of Him can really get in the way of our freedom.
So, it is critical to muse and meditate on who God really is. In my own personal experience, God seemed rational and reasonable but not intimate or deeply personal. There was much for me to unlearn and learn, to take off and put on. But I was fortunate. Many grow to hate God which really complicates life as a believer. How do we learn to love Someone we have begun to hate due to misconceptions?
In that light, we need to take a fresh look at the God presented in Psalm 33:4-6. “God’s word is upright” (as is God). God’s “work is done in faithfulness” (since God himself is faithful). God “loves righteousness and justice” (He himself is these as well). And God embedded His own steadfast love into the creation itself. This makes sense in light of the fact that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). We can know the artist by the work of art he/she creates because they put their own self into the art. That is why a long look at a Rembrandt painting evokes our emotions. We sense the artist’s own self in the work. So too, the artwork of God contains a sense of the artist, and in God’s creation we can sense his faithful, steady love.
Given that God simply breathed out the words and thereby made all of creation, we rightly give Him reverence, respect, and awe. But again, reverence and awe are within the context of His loyal, covenant, faithful, and long-suffering love for us. These are the glasses we are called to put on when we consider who God is.
For all of us, this is a learning curve. We don’t begin here. We grow into it as we let ourselves trust and eventually love God. It takes time. It takes experience. Moses had 40 years in the desert to think about it, and 40 years after that to live it out. Only after many years was Moses called the meekest man (Number 12:3). Joseph experienced slavery and jail time before he learned. Abraham, Jacob, David, all these people had to learn who God really was. So, it is OK that we don’t understand God. The critical point is merely that are we willing to let him teach us who He is.
When we better understand who God is, we are more able to embrace this “fear of the Lord.” Why? Because He is not only frightening and magnificent; He is also at the same time, and in all ways, love itself. He reaches out to us in love, even as we are right now.