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What the Bible says about Awesomeness of God
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Proverbs 1:7

The biblical fear of God runs the gamut from a mild respect through a deep, abiding, and reverential awe to sheer terror—a terror that causes the skin to crawl, the hair to stand on end, the throat to release a scream, the bowels to move, or the body to faint or collapse, groveling on the ground in a vain attempt to disappear, as Isaiah did (Isaiah 6:5). Fear can be an extremely effective motivator. Many of us have experienced something so fearsome that the "fight or flight" response kicked in. Our terror moved us to take immediate steps to defend ourselves physically or seek protection by running from the danger.

However, fear can be a two-edged sword. Though it undoubtedly motivates, it can also paralyze us into doing nothing but rolling ourselves into a fetal position. In relation to God, a most subtle and deceptive problem is that, because we cannot literally see Him, we do not feel that responding to Him is of immediate concern. In this way, fearing God is not like what our reaction would be to a lion suddenly jumping out of the jungle and confronting us on the path.

The result, though, can be just as deadly! The major difference is timing. Because of God's patience, the end comes more slowly if our reaction is not correct and no repentance occurs. Nonetheless, our relationship with God may die because not having the proper fear invites apathy and procrastination. Our fear must have enough of an "edge" that it motivates us to act correctly—but not so much that it paralyzes us into inaction. That "edge" grows as true knowledge of Him increases.

Some may think God does not require of us this level of fear. However, for "trembles" in Isaiah 66:2, the Septuagint uses a Greek word that describes reverential awe with an "edge." God will "look on" a person who has this kind of fear. Without the proper fear of God in us, there will be precious little reciprocation of His love shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5).

Romans 12:1 asserts that overcoming in this way of life requires sacrifice—a living sacrifice. We all know how costly sacrifice can be. Our apprehension of making sacrifices required to submit to God's will stops us on occasion, motivating us to draw back from obeying. Here, the problem is fearing the wrong thing! Sometimes, the degree of the fear of God we need approaches sheer terror because we are often so difficult to convince!

However, what is necessary as a matter of course is an abiding, reverential awe.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Elements of Motivation (Part One): Fear

Isaiah 57:15

This verse—wonderful, grandly mysterious, and full of import—exceeds our comprehension because it is something beyond human experience. What does it mean to inhabit eternity? No human can adequately explain it, and we are humbled to realize from verses like this how insignificant we are beside the awesome grandeur of our God.

We can say that eternity sums up all of time—past, present, and future; it stretches endlessly in each direction from when we find ourselves living. But God inhabits, lives in, all of time! In contrast, we are aware of only a tiny fraction of the past and virtually ignorant of the future.

God knows beginning and end. In fact, since He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), He is in control of the entire timeline; otherwise, He could not know how things will end. In comparison, we know by experience that we are in control of so little. Events frequently do not work out as we hoped. What a difference there is between God and us!

Eternity, according to Webster's, means "time or existence without beginning or end." We have applied this term to endless time so we can "measure" and grasp it to a limited extent. We do this because time, to almost everyone, is very important. To us of all people, time should be extremely important. We need not be frantic about it, but we should be concerned about its proper use. Why? Because how we use it will determine whether we will join God in His eternal Kingdom.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Simplify Your Life!

Related Topics: Awesomeness of God | Eternity | Time


 

Daniel 10:7

They did not see what Daniel saw, but the hair on the back of their necks stood up, they felt creepy and crawly all over, and they wanted to get out of there. They did not know why, but something of awesome power was close to them. Maybe the spirit of man within them was aware that something was near them, and they fled.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Satan (Part 1)


 




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