Understanding a Crucial Element of God
Our Life Group was discussing knowing God and how the relationship changes over time. Someone mentioned a quote by Brother Lawrence, “The more we know Him, the more we will desire to know Him. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Him. We will learn to love Him equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.” Then another asked, “Have you ever felt that better knowing God makes you fear him more or less?”
I said the more I know God and about him (two very different subjects which should go hand in glove), the more I grasp the otherness of God. He’s not like us. We can’t judge him by human terms. His being and nature exceed ours: All knowing. All loving. All present. All powerful. All divine. Infinite. We are often ignorant. We don’t always love. We’re limited in time and space. We’re weak. We’re human, and quite finite. Yes, he created us in his image, but an image doesn’t contain all of the original.
Experts call this transcendence: in his full state, he intimidates us. Even the angels intimidate. When one appeared to Mary to announce her coming pregnancy, his first words were, “Don’t fear.” Why? The majesty of his appearance brought fear. Angels respond to the Father much like we respond to them, as Isaiah experienced, “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying” (Isaiah 6:1-2). Not even the angels could look directly at the Father. That’s intimidation.
We also call that the fear of the Lord. We sometimes minimize that, but the original words in both the Old and New Testaments for fear literally mean fear. Not awe, but fear. Not fear of punishment, but a sense of being overwhelmed, of being outclassed, of being out of our league. Having that sense of God determines the caliber of how we follow him.
Fearing God, as we’ve described it, opens the door to experiencing the fullness of God. Eight passages link fearing God to wisdom, including, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10. Read also Job 28:28, Psalm 110:10, Proverbs 1:7, 15:33, Isaiah 11:2, 33:6, Micah 6:9).
So, if fearing God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and understanding, without that fear we’re up a creek without a paddle. We’ll remain spiritual toddlers, unable to fully know and experience God.
(Note: the New Testament supports this, please read Luke 18:4; Luke 23:40; Acts 7:32, 10:4; Romans 3:18: 2 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Peter 2:17; Revelation 14:7, 19:5)
Kick Starting the Application
Do you have that sense of transcendence, awe, and fear of God? Why or why not? Does yours match what we’ve read? How can you make a change in this area?