Acts 2:43 - AND FEAR CAME UPON EVERY SOUL: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
When we think of fear we often immediately conjur up images from horror films in our mind. Fear is almost always considered a negative thing and rightfully so. I myself love to quote Paul's declaration, "The Lord has not given you the spirit of fear!" However, there may be more for us to learn from a Biblical stand-point on the subject of fear...
There is a fear that is liberating, because it is holy in its nature. The struggle with understanding it comes from our difference in the use of the word today versus the time in which the Bible was being written.
Solomon spoke of this fear, "The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of all wisdom and knowledge."
In definition, the fear of the Lord is: a reverential awe of the presence of the Lord.
Acts 2:43, describes a culture being shifted by the manifestation of the power and presence of God. As the apostles operated in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit with the demonstration of signs and wonders, FEAR CAME UPON EVERY SOUL.
Imagine the possibilities that could transpire if we, the Body of Christ, began to walk in the highways and hedges of our culture with the empowerment of the Spirit! The result would be the same as it was 2,000 years ago: Reverential awe would spread across the land.
Why is this important?
It is my belief that the greatest stumbling block to the acceptance of salvation on behalf of the unsaved is the their lack of reverence for God. They, as I once did, seem to think they are in charge of much more than they actually are.
There is a Sovereign God whose might is unfathomable and his throne is unattainable. Just read Job or Psalms to hear the magnificence of his capabilities described.
The reality is this: we have no wisdom or knowledge until it is founded upon the revelation that God is not to be approached casually or irreverently. The Heavenly Father, whose name is hallowed, is worthy to be feared in a way that produces reverential awe!
No comments:
Post a Comment