* The Fear (Reverence) of God

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.  
Psalms 111:10

Before creating mankind, God created Lucifer—one of the three cherubs or archangels, who originally surrounded His throne. In Latin, ‘Lucifer’ means light bringer or shining star of the dawn. Lucifer was originally created as a powerful, beautiful archangel with tremendous wisdom and capacity

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Ezekiel 28:11–15

In Isaiah, Lucifer is depicted as the fallen one:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  Isaiah 14:12–15

Biblical scholars recognize from this and other scriptures that Lucifer's ability and beauty led to a great deal of pride. This pride, in turn, led Lucifer to rebel against his Creator, and his name was later changed from light bringer to Satan—which literally means adversary in Hebrew. Lucifer became God's greatest enemy.

Throughout the entire bible, God shows us that He is determined not to allow any potential adversary to come into His Kingdom who is a potential Satan. We all should recognize how vitally important this is to God. He wants unity and peace in His Kingdom and in His Spirit-led family! He is the Author of love, joy and peace.

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.  1 Corinthians 14:33

Therefore, throughout the entire Bible, God reveals that He will make absolutely sure that any potential son of His will come to have the correct "fear" of God!

As God's word indicates, this fear is not "terror" or being "afraid" of something bad happening! Rather, it is a profound reverence, humility and willingness to obey our Creator and never to rebel against His laws and His righteous ways that always bring peace and joy.

One of the first tests that Abraham, who is known as the father of faith, had to pass is described in Genesis 22.   God tested Abraham  to see whether he would be totally submissive to Him even to the point of sacrificing his only son. At the very last minute—when Abraham had proved his total submission, God’s angel spoke to Him and said:

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.  Genesis 22:11-12

It was at this point of total submission that God gave Abraham the immense blessing that great physical wealth and power would come upon his descendants, as well as spiritual blessings through his seed:

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.  Genesis 22:  25-29

Abraham had to prove to God that he "feared" Him; that he reverenced Him, and that he was willing to totally surrender his own will—not just to "believe in" God but to do what God commanded! He was as described in n,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  Proverbs 9:10

 This tremendous awe and deep reverence before our Heavenly Father is indeed the very starting point of true knowledge and true wisdom.

It should be obvious that those in God's true church; the body of Christ, must learn to have this profound reverence and willingness to obey our Heavenly Father who was portrayed so well by Abraham, the father of faith. Members of the body of Christ will prove to themselves what God tells us about faith:   

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  Hebrews 11:6

If we’re to be real followers of Christ, we must totally believe in a real God—the God described in the Bible. And we must believe that, as the bible says, He is a "rewarder" of those who diligently seek Him—not of those who half-heartedly attend the church of their religious convenience rather or not it is bible based just as long as it is socially acceptable to the ‘mass’ and is trending well with the social media.  

True believers will prove to themselves the inspiration of the word of God! Jesus said:

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.  Luke 4:4

These believers surrender themselves to follow what Jesus said, and to do what God says in His inspired word. They understand that God "reveals" Himself through His word, not through our human ideologies and imagination. They understand and respond to God’s instruction and wisdom:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16–17

As God makes it abundantly clear, scripture is given not just for our encouragement but for reproof and for correction as well as instruction in righteousness.   True believers base their beliefs totally upon God's inspired word!  We accept Jesus Christ revealed in the Bible as both Savior and Lord; the one we must obey.  He is the only one that has the power to save us:

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  Acts 4:12

Those who fail to do so have come up with hundreds of different, competing denominations—each with different doctrines, practices and concepts of what God is like.  But God lets us know through his word: 

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism,  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  Ephesians 4:4-6

To everyone, particularly the called of Christ it bodes well with us to reverence our heavenly Father:

Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.  Psalms 33:8

 

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