Day 77 "To Fear God Will Prevent Intimacy With Him"

Should we or should we not fear God?

The Old Testament is pretty clear about fearing the Lord, almost in a reactionary way: if we fear the Lord we will be blessed and if we do not fear the Lord and choose to go our own ways, judgement and condemnation will befall us. That pathway sure sounds like performancism and legalism to me. Both give inference that our state of position with God is determined by how we act and respond to God and follow his ways.

"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" Deuteronomy 10:12

If on the other hand, fearing God is meant to imply that we keep him in reverence as our creator and the one who created the whole universe, then I can understand the desire and need to revere God and to magnify his holy name above all other names.

But what is the true motivations behind fear? Why would God desire for us to fear him? Looking at the definition below, we might glean some reasons.

What does it mean, to fear? Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines fear as:

fear verb

feared; fearing; fears

Definition of fear (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb 1: to be afraid of : expect with alarm fear the worst 2: to have a reverential awe of fear God 3: archaic : FRIGHTEN 4: archaic : to feel fear in (oneself)

intransitive verb : to be afraid or apprehensive

feared for their lives

feared to go out at night

There are two points that readily stand out in the definition of fear. One, is to be afraid of something. The other is to have a reverence, a deep respect, for something. Looking at both definitions here, and I am probably going way out on the limb here to many people reading this but hear me out first before wanting to tie me up to the stake, I find it difficult to believe that the our creator would want us to fear him in either case.

The first case: To be afraid of him. Why?

Let's put this on a human plane first to search for understanding. Picture in your mind the following event taking place.

As the three year old child neared the hot stove, his mother shouted, "Stop!" from across the kitchen. Quickly she ran across the room and scooped up the frozen child into her protective arms. "No, no," she implored, "We mustn't touch the hot stove. It will hurt you!" A week later, the child again approaches the hot stove, again, and almost touches it this time with his hand when suddenly his mother quickly grabs the child's hand back away from the stove, giving the back of the hand a quick slap and sternly affirming "No! We do not touch the stove!"

A mother's healthy attempt to instill an element of fear into her child's mind and behavior in order to prevent a greater hardship taking place in the life of her son. Who would ever want to witness their child's hand getting burned on a hot stove, in what could turn out to be a permanent lifetime injury? None of us who love our children would ever desire such a thing to happen. So like guardians over precious treasure, we hold vigilance over our children for years until they grow up and are able to make wise choices and discern healthy things from unhealthy things. Imagine, now, many years later, the mother is visiting her son at his own house. You can imagine the foolishness and absurdity if the mother suddenly cries out, "No, no, you mustn't touch the hot stove!" as her 27 year old son approaches the stove. There is a point, humanly, that the parent steps back and lets the child act for himself. As parents, we hope to raise our children to become healthy, independent, caring adults one day.

The other day I asked my wife, Robyn, this question, "Does your mom still punish you for anything?" She replied, "No." At some point, Robyn's mom had taken a step back from the immediate day to day protection of her daughter and allowed her to start making life decisions for herself. "Do you fear your mom? I asked her. To which Robyn responded, "No, I don't fear her, but I respect her and love her. So, I wouldn't want to disappoint her." It seems that in Robyn's life, fear had a purpose for a certain time period- but it wasn't the ultimate purpose within the relationship. There would be something better that would come along that would take the place of fear, to guide and constrain us, but do so in a much more positive manner. It is called love. Fear keeps us from something. Love draws us towards something.

Now, let's place this back on a spiritual plane with God.

As our creator, one who has given us free will, why would God choose us to fear him? I believe it is God's steering mechanism by which he aims to guide our actions, preventing us from making poor choices that can harm ourselves or harm others. Given that God has given us free will, I believe he wants us to have the freedom to make our own choices, otherwise, he could have made us without freewill, reacting like robots, automatically responding in certain ways favorable to him that has already been programmed in us. But what kind a relationship would that look like? If you were a creator looking to make something out of nothing, and you desired to have an ongoing relationship with that creation, how would you want your creation to be able to respond to you? Out of freewill or constrained to do only your bidding? I contend that it is only in an atmosphere of freewill can you allow your creation the freedom to respond by what is truly in their hearts. No parent desires for their child to do something that they have to do. The ultimate goal is to have them do it because they want to do it- like spending time together. Imagine the feeling as a parent having your child come to visit you because they feel they have to. Their thoughts are elsewhere. Their demeanor is resistant to being there. Intuitively you sense your child would like to be anywhere else at that moment than with you. It would be a horrible, sickening feeling. On the other hand, a child who wants to be with their parent, to be in their presence, to want to share who they are with their parent gives off a totally different aroma: "No place need be, no place rather be than being here with you." Wow, can you imagine the deep satisfaction and joy in the parent's heart? This is why I believe God gave us free will to choose. But I don't believe the end aim was for us to fear God, but to ultimately be able to approach God without fear. Fear inhibits intimacy.

It was love and intimacy that flowed in the relationship with Jesus and our heavenly Father.

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.

"I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

John 17:26

It is love and intimacy that God desires to have with us.

"The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry,“Abba,Father.” Romans 8:15

"Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out,“Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6

"Perfect love cast out all fear." 1 John 4:18

"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Ephesians 3:12

"Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

A parent doesn't ultimately want their child to fear him. A parent's heart desires and longs for their child to want to be with them, not out of the compulsion of fear but out of the freedom of love.

The second case: To hold God in reverence. Why?

Is this what God wants too? The creator of all things wants all of his subjects to prostrate themselves before him in deep adoration and worship to him. But, again, then why did God give us free will? If God wanted to have his creations bow down to him and always maintain a state of being in awe of him, why give us free will? Why give us the ability to reject him? He could have created us only with the capacity to worship him, and him alone.

But he didn't. He gave us the freedom to respond to him out of our hearts. We can either reject him and place ourselves upon the throne of our own independence or we can willingly come to God out of our own free will and submit ourselves under his will and control out of love. What is God's ultimate purpose and desire with man? Does he want us to see him as God, the creator, far above and superior to man, untouchable, unreachable, in fearful awe of his majesty and might? Or ultimately see him as our father, our provider, our protector, our lover, our confidant, our refuge and stronghold?

Let's consider a few examples where we might find insight to these questions.

God's relationship with Adam and Eve.

How does the bible describe this relationship between man and God? Is is one that states "Thou shalt worship me as your creator!" Or do you see one of a creator intimately tending after the needs of his creation, giving them the freedom of possibly rejecting his provisions and care only to turn to their own ways and live for themselves? Force and intended servitude was not intended here.

No one has seen God, so how can we know his mind?

"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." John 1:18

"If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14:6-7

Phillip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." John 14:8

Jesus answered; "Don't you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." John 14:9

Thus, if we see Jesus, and understand his spirit, then through Jesus we also understand God's heart and spirit.

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as their servant and taught his disciples what it means to love.

"You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." John 13:13-14

"As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34

"but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me." John 14:31

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you." John 15:9

"May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:23

"I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." John 17:26

When Jesus was asked by the religious leaders of his time what the greatest of the

commandments was, he didn't respond by saying worship God, serve God, be obedient to God, humble yourselves before God, seek understanding for the word of God. No, he addressed and directed them to the matter of the human heart.

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

And when Jesus restored his relationship with Peter, he didn't chastise him, he didn't scold him, didn't say "Told you so," didn't direct Peter to go back to scripture to review the religious laws and moral standards in order to correct his lifestyle so that he would do things better the next time. He didn't do any of these things. What Jesus did was ask Peter a question. A question that would go directly to the spiritual condition of Peter's heart.

"Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" John 21:15

Why is it that we think and believe that obedience will transform a heart into one that is loving? That was the problem with the first covenant between God and man. It could reveal to us our inability to live up to God's standards. It could repeatedly show us our failures. But what the law could not do was change our hearts. Strict obedience to something need not change the heart. One's motivation to obey may be governed by "fear" and not "love" thereby never making any inroads towards changing the heart. Loving, on the other hand, leads to obedience for what lies at the heart of love is trust. Love transforms our thinking and changes our hearts. It creates within us what I call the "Great Exchange," moving from the obligations of the "have to's" to embrace the desire of the "want to's" thereby setting us free to respond in freedom, in the absence of all fear.

"Perfect love casts out all fear." 1 john 4:18

So, we return to the original question: Should we fear God? I believe as long as our hearts need to be changed and there is a need in our spiritual condition to moving away from a self-centered, self-focused way of life, a fear of God is needed to help govern and herd us to move towards a more healthy and protective environment for ourselves and for others. But there comes a time in our spiritual journey, when love begins to reign in our lives. When that begins to happen, the need for fear begins to dissipate and dissolve away from being mentally present in our lives. A new way of living is being forged into our lives, a new covenant has been established redefining our relationship with God that will place God's law in our minds and write them on our hearts, a new spirit which cries "Abba, Father" assures us of our identity as God's child, and a hope of things coming that are eternal sets us free from the shackles of all things around us which are temporary in nature. As the apostle Paul would describe it so perfectly at the end of chapter 12 going into chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians:

"And now I will show you the most excellent way" 1 Corinthians 12:31

God gave us the ability to choose. We each have a choice to live life out of obedience or out of love. If I were to have created something, I would wish that it would love me out of free will and not fear me out of obedience. The Spirit within me says to me the same thing about God. Through Christ, I see God's desire for us is to love him and not to fear him.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent

his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10

"But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ." Romans 8:1

Love with ultimately bring a higher awareness of God into our lives and never diminish our reverence of God as our creator. It will only enhance and bring more color into the realization that the creator of the whole universe loves us so much that he sent his one and only Son to die for us, to reconcile with him a broken relationships that exists due to our sin and rebellion. God didn't demand our obedience. He wooed us through Jesus' loving heart upon the earth and the extent of his freely laying down his life for us upon the cross.

It was Jesus' love for the Father and for us that lead to his obedience at Calvary.

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Search your own heart. What motivates you greater: fear or love?

In his love, I'll see you tomorrow.

"Carpe Momentum in Love" (Seize the moment in love)