Published by Many people will not fear God for several reasons but it is my hope that this perspectives may change after considering the following arguments concerning his nature, attributes, characteristics, and several relevant historical and current issues.
God is a spirit, an eternal being that cannot die, make mistakes, or sin, is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. When he made man’s body from the dust of the earth he breathed into him giving him a part of his eternal spirit and a soul, thereby making him a triune being.
The body of man from the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden has subjected to death but the spirit and soul lives for ever in hell or in heaven based on deeds in his lifetime. This is because all men are given a set time to live their lives in honor or dishonor.
God should be feared by all as he is the only one who can destroy body, soul and spirit at the same time. Jesus warned his disciples that they should only fear him that can destroy both body and soul, and this is because he is the maker of them and has the final authority to determine their final destination.
This similar to an auto maker who may decide to destroy a brand product at the end of its life cycle rather than and sending it back to the market.
Despite the threat of hell and death, God is also merciful, loving and kind and will relentlessly pursue man to get him to turn from his evil ways and serve him, and will only give up when that time has elapsed.
King Hezekiah’s life is an example of this nature of God in that he sent the prophet Isaiah to tell him that he should set his house in order for he shall die and not live.
The King upon hearing this grim message turned his face to the wall and cried to God who instantly heard his prayer and sent back the prophet to tell him that fifteen more has been added to his life.
Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 on the other hand exemplified the other side of God when they lied concerning the value of the land they sold while in discussion with the apostle Peter.
The spirit of God operating through Peter demonstrated God’s omniscience, omnipotent, and finality of judgment by asking them separately how much they sold the land for, and when they both lied they died instantly and was carried to their grave bringing great fear upon all the people.
God’s ability to be everywhere at the same time and also to know all things (that is his omnipresence and omniscience), was at work in 2nd Kings 6v8. He revealed Syria’s war plans several times to the prophet Elisha who in turn relayed the message to the king of Israel who in turn changed his army routes and avoided the ambushes on all occasions.
The king of Syria thought he had a spy among them because the plan were made in his bedroom, but was correctly told that it was the prophet of God that was making the plans known. This shows God should be feared by all because he knows the secrets of every heart and can use it to save and destroy base on his judgment.
A beautiful young lady was espoused to be married in the West Indies in the 1970’s when her fiancé decided that she should have sex with him before the wedding; so that he can decide whether she will be a good wife in bed. She decided to go with him but with on the condition that he must take here somewhere where God will not be able to see her. The wedding was called off because God’s omnipresence defeated the plan of this young man.
The omniscient power of God should also appeal and drive us to fear him especially with regards to the case concerning Nathaniel and Jesus in St. John 1v46-49, when the Lord told him that he saw him when he was under the fig tree.
Nathaniel knew several days ago that he was under a fig tree and only God could know that as well as his name without being physically in the same location with him, therefore he worshipped him. As a result of his attitude he was blessed with a prophetic word regarding what he will be able to see in the future.
God is to be feared because he can use our past life and experiences and speak to us in the present to determine our future successes or failures.
In the book of Daniel 9v27 the prophet spoke saying,” Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase”. Daniel could not know without God that we would have a population of approximately 7 billion people today, or be in a Information Age where millions of data can be stored on a single disc almost invisible to the naked eye, or the development of the supersonic jets that can take thousands of people across the world in less than a hour.
God is to be feared because of his infallible nature in relation to man and his future. Jesus Christ who is God manifest in the flesh according to St. Matthew 1v23, 1ST Timothy 6v16 and Isaiah 9v6 and is the same yesterday, today and forever according to Hebrews 13 v8, is to be feared by all since his characteristics and nature will not diminish by the passage of time.
King Solomon rightly said the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom in Psalm 53 and He can promote or demote anyone that will or will not conform to his plans for their lives and bring glory to his name.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, when he rose up in pride and declared how he had built Babylon to house his kingdom by his own power and might, and for the honor of his majesty; was driven out into the field and grew into a beastly character with long claws, before being restored by God who brought him back to his senses after 7 years.
If King Nebuchadnezzar, who gave a powerful proclamation and exaltation of the greatness of God on his return, could occupy the Babylonian building that the BBC has now digitally recreated in consultation with Google, could speak to us again live, he most likely would tell us to fear God.
The omnipotent power of God was shown when God came down in the Arab/Israeli war in the 1970’s, to defeat the entire Arabian Army including Egypt and Syria, using stones similar to how he operated against the Egyptians in the time of Moses. Despite numerical superiority and weaponry, the Arabs were defeated because God came down to protect his chosen nation from the time of Abraham.
If it was possible Nadab and Abihu in Lev.10v1-6 to come back from their fiery destructions and commune with us today, they may definitely say that we should fear God and do not offer false fires when worshipping him.
Quite appropriately Hebrews 12v29 tells us that our God is a consuming fire as demonstrated by the above example, but there is another aspect of God that should drive us to fear him. This was the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown in a fiery furnace in Babylon for refusing to give worship to an earthly king.
The Lord came down and neutralized the fire which was made seven times hotter and slew the preparers in the process, by the king of Babylon and saved the three boys who were then promoted in the kingdom.
In another incident during the 1960’s a minister from Canada was in the church praying while on missionary duty in another country when a man who had backslidden came back for his tithes , and stood over him with a knife in his hand. The pastor did not know he had an intruder until he rose up from his knees to find the man frozen in his tracks and standing over him.
How can one not fear God when the evidence of judgmental dispersion of tongues that began at the Tower of Babel, the finding of Noah’s ark in Turkey, the sulphur rich ashes, and damaged gold coins from the Sodom and Gomorrah destruction are substantive, and undeniable evidence that has been unearth by archaeologists for us all to see ?
These are critical information demonstrating the awesome power of a God that cannot and will not be changed by any other external force or circumstances, and it was hoped that the standing of readers may be challenged by this article going forward.
