Gresham Machen in facing the liberal theologians and Christian attack to the point that he left Princeton theological seminary and started Westminster theological seminary in the 1900s.
When facing all these he started a radio broadcast like in the 1930, and he knew the mocking by the liberals and he went personal to said that “I am a flawed sinful man, I need no moral exhortations to be right with God and be accepted by him, because I can’t do it! I am a flawed sinful man. I need the gospel of what God has done for me. Do you have any good news for me?”
He is exactly right . People need the Lord to repent and come back to God. We can’t repent without God first moved our heart. Jesus said no one can come to me unless my Father draws him to me.
We can either preach moralism like a religion or we preach the gospel of grace of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Humans can never be right before God on their own because as in Eph:
Ephesians 2:As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
We were dead in our sons. We were after all the works of disobedience, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and flowing its desires and thoughts, we were by nature deserving wrath, or children of wrath. You see we were dead in our sins, and dead people can’t respond to the call of God, the love of God, dead people can’t decide to accept Christ. We were children of wrath facing the judgement of God in the end time, but God in his mercy showered us with his grace and mercy through the dying of his Son Jesus Christ. That gift of love from the cross would not be possibly be received by dead people. There is no chance by our own will conscience, we will choose Christ while dead spiritually, by nature children of wrath. We were gratifying our flesh cravings like everyone else; we were not longing for God. We only respond when we see with our spiritual eyes how beautiful the love of God in Jesus, and that requires an opening of our spiritual eyes, and that’s a sovereign act of God.
Folks, we don’t need moralism argument exhortations, what we need is the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
His Face shone like the sun
No one can ever look into the sun, as the billions of light rays can blind your eyes immediately in a second! And Jesus’s face shone like the sun, and I can just see Peter, James and John had to raise their hands to cover their eyes while talking to Jesus for that moment. I am sure it lasted may be for a few minutes. Then Moses and Elijah appeared to him talking to him. This is so angelic, so heavenly to be seen by mere mortals humans Peter, James and John.
For a moment, Jesus flashed his eternal glory in front of the eyes of Peter, James & John! Jesus revealed his glory and it was a blazing sun rays on his face. I thought they would have fallen to the ground and worshipped him, but they didn’t.
A Voice from the Cloud spoke to them about Jesus
The voice came from the cloud said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”Then, and only then, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. We need to see some supernatural happenings to have that awe and fear. But apparently the sun blasting from Jesus face wasn’t enough. Though that voice form the cloud shook them.
The thing that really got me is that on the way down form the mountain Jesus told them not to tell anyone what they have seen, until he has been raised from the dead,
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Jesus calmly told them to keep it secret his transfiguration
While walking down form the mountain, Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone what they have seen, until he has been raised from the dead. He said it as a matter of fact manner, and guess what the response of the disciples? This: 10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
I was kind of shocked. After seeing the most spectacular transfiguration of a man into God, they asked question about Elijah?? What’s wrong with them? They saw with their eyes, this man, Jesus, whom they had been following, actually transformed into divine glory like a sun blazing into their eyes. Theological term is transfiguration. How did they not bow down to worship and be empowered with such encounter physically with the living God? Jesus, walking as a man, though having performed miracles like walking on water, raised the dead, was nothing like this one, because his entire body transfigured into the glory of God.
Again what really shook me is that Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone, until he has been raised form the dead. He is talking like his death and resurrection is a foregone conclusion, foregone reality that will happen and must happen. And of course it exactly happened like he said. Isn’t he God?
Why did Jesus want it to be kept a secret until his resurrection?
The revelation of Jesus as God for a moment, should have shaken the world. But it was kept secret, until the gospels were published. But why did Jesus keep it as a secret? Better still, won’t it be cool if he transfigured before the 5000? Or even better, transfigured before Pontius’s Pilate and the legions of Roman soldiers and the Pharisees who couldn’t wait for his death? Wouldn’t that have shaken the Roman world and the pharisee world, if Jesus transfigured before them, and displayed his divine glory like a sun blazing into the eyes of Pilate and the Romans and Pharisees and his own twelve disciples and the women Mary? Wonder if history would have been re-written? But what will that achieve, the Romans began to flee for their lives? The Pharisees fuming and fleeing in fear? The disciples rising up and clapping their hands and worshipped the Lord Jesus? And then what? Jesus must be crucified and died for our sins, and that must happen. Of course the transfiguration won’t happen at the trial of Jesus. That doesn’t serve God’s purpose. What served God’s purpose is that short moment displayed for Peter James and John the three top disciples of Christ and be recorded in Bible for us to read and worship. I love it. The self-control displayed by Jesus is astonishingly impressive, while having all the power in the world to strike Pilate and the Pharisees, he held his peace while being slapped by the soldier, spit at by the Romans, whipped till bloody by the romans soldiers. He endured! Hebrews 12: For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
That is Good Friday. Three days later, He became legend. Jesus was resurrected from the dead by His Father, and he walked through the stone. Yes, the legend has risen. The God Man has finally returned to his God divinity. Seated on his throne in heaven now, still praying for us, his beloved people.
Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus lived a perfect life, completely obedient life to God, and then died as a perfect man to justify us. I call it almost like a double justification, because most times Christians think Jesus redeemed us by his death on the cross, which is true, but hardly mentioned the perfect life he lived before the cross. Seriously without the perfect life he lived , there wouldn’t be any meaning on the cross! First Jesus proved himself himself to be the qualified person to go to the cross as a perfect sacrifice redemption for us, then, and only then, he could proceed to suffer the death on the cross.
So Jesus lived the prefect life to comply with the laws of God, the 10 commandments of God, and then he died as a substitute for us.
That’s what Jesus meant when he said I came not to remove the laws but to fulfill the laws. And he did. How? He obeyed every commandment of God the Father! And not only that, he proceeded as a completely obedient man, to be condemned on our behalf on the cross, so that whoever put their faith in him, is justified and therefore comply with the laws of God. That’s why we are justified and saved by God for eternal life as if we had lived a perfectly obedient life who never broke the commandments of God. Because we take on the righteousness of Jesus!! Hallelujah!! What a blessing and what a debt we owe to Jesus, that’s why at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord! Because he is truest worthy!!
Implications:
1. We are so in debt of Jesus and there is no way to live our lives as our own boss any more. He Jesus deserves everything from me and worthy is the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.
2. Therefore we should never look down on others no matter what economic ethnic or educational background they come from, because we ourselves were never justified by God but already doomed eternal condemnation looming, until we met Jesus who showered his love into our hearts and called us brothers and sisters and brought us into his family with God the Father. Glory and glory Jesus Christ the Lord of all and all. Amen.
I have heard sermon that says, don’t love the Lord for what he can bless you, but love him for who is he. That sounds pious, but it doesn’t make sense. How can you know who God is, until he answers your prayers? Until he blesses you? Disciplines you? Until he pursues you.
How do you fall in love with your wife or husband when you were dating him or her? Do you just love him for who he is, and hence married him? Yes and no. You only loved him for what kind of person he is, after he has done things for you, how he treats you, and what he says, his attitude, and how he clicks with you. Correct? My point is you can never fall in love with a person without knowing him personally. But knowing a personally, is only possible through his actions, and love, compassion, commitment, etc. as you observe him.
Same thing with God, to say to love God for who is only, is superficial. You would need to know him personally through your experience of him. That’s why Jesus appeared to Paul and struck him blind, and revealed his great love and calling to him. That’s why Jesus called Peter from the boat, and ion fact for an entire year or more, the twelve apostles couldn’t fully believe in Jesus even after Jesus walked on water, raised the dead, opened the eyes of the blind, and so forth, so much so, it came to a point, Jesus asked them who do you say I am? Only one person got it, Peter ! He said you are the Son of God. So how did peter get there? He has observed listened to every miracle Jesus did, and his powerful anointed teachings. Peter didn’t love Jesus for who he is only, but that is only possible after what Jesus has done for him, and for others, and what Jesus has taught. That’s the reality. And of course the Spirit of God revealed to Peter ultimately. We love Jesus for who he is, but that means what he can do for us as well, that’s all part of the package.
Psalm 116: 1-2 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 116 says I love the Lord for he heard my voice, he heard my cry for mercy, because he turned his ear to me I will call on him as long as I live.
Did you see the word “for”, that is “because”. Psalm 116 is saying I love the Lord , for or because he (the Lord) heard my voice. There you go, only then you know what kind of God he is. Only then you can love the Lord. Then its true you love the Lord for what he can do for us too!
Some sermons says this says that you got to love the Lord not for what he can do for you but for who he is. But I would dispute that because who God is, is only reflected in what he does for us and for the world. Without that how do we know who he is? Therefore to teach the word of God that says to love the Lord for who he is but not for what he can do or bless you is not according to the Bible, it’s not biblical. Because he says clearly that I love the Lord for he heard my voice , in other words I would not love the Lord if he did not hear my voice.
Doesn’t sound fair? It is very fair because if God doesn’t hear my voice, I don’t even know he exists. In verse 2 because he turns his ear to me I will call on him as long as I live. That is precisely why I called upon God because he turned his ear to me. If he didn’t turn his ear to me, I would not know that he loves me and therefore I cannot love him.
You know Westminster’s confession also says that we love and not in fact Jesus said in the in the scripture, we love because he first loved us. That’s very important.
The testimony of David Block (David Block has been a visiting research astronomer at Harvard University and the Australian National University) who writes: How I learned that the same God who numbered the stars knew and loved me personally.[1]
The idea of the universe being designed by a Master Artist continued to resonate with me, but I struggled to find evidence that this artist had any interest in knowing me personally. I shared further doubts: “Are we,” as Shakespeare said in Macbeth, “just a fleeting shadow that appears and then disappears? What is our reason for living? What is the purpose of life? Is it possible to have a personal encounter with the creator of the cosmos?” [2]
Did you see that? The God who numbered the stars knows me and loves me personally? Do you know how big is the universe? There are millions or billions of stars in the cosmos, and many of them are like thousands of times larger than the earth we live in, and God numbers them, God puts them there. He is such a big God, and yet intimate enough to stoop down to care for each an everyone of us. That’s the breaking good news! That’s what every human being longs for.
That is a beautiful experience and testimony of David Block. The tension between the almighty God who created the universe and the personal God is what every Jewish and every one indeed needs to know that it’s all resolved and fulfilled in the God Man Jesus Christ.
Between the Universe Transcendent God and a Personal God, which would you choose? I would choose personal God anytime. However, merely being personal God is not good enough, because we do need a transcendent universal God who is mighty and awesome. So we need a transcendent Almighty God first and foremost, before we delve into the personal God. Just being transcendent and universal may sound awesome, and great, however, what’s that got to do with me? Many may ask. The most important part of it, is the personal God.
If we just have a very personal God, but not the cosmos power of holding the universe together and putting them in place, we will not be bothered with such a god. In Jesus we have both! He sustains and create the whole world and then he also lived among us, and became like one of us!!
Hebrews 1: 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. The Son of God sustains all things in this universe, and who is that Son? He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory, and he is the exact representation of God’s being. In other words He is God.
John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
All things in this universe were made through him. The Word was God. He is God! And what happened to this Word?
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
v14 says the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. Who can that be? Jesus Christ! The Word became flesh, and flesh means human. And he lived among us. We know that Jesus the Son of God, incarnated into this world 2000 years ago and became flesh and lived in Nazareth. So that’s how God becomes intimate with us, cares about us, by him becoming like one of us, and yet maintained his divinity as God. So he was both God and man. He was the transcendent God, but not intimately close to us before the incarnation. And after that happened 2000 years ago, Jesus truly became intimate with us, walked with us, eaten with us, and he performed loads of miracles like changing water into wine at a wedding, raised the death, Lazarus from the tomb after 3 days, raised the crippled, cleansed the leper, opened the eyes of the blind, cast out many demons, fed 5000 men from 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, the miracles that he did, goes on and on, and the bible says in Acts that if they were to record everything Jesus did, there is not enough room in this world to write that!
So by doing that, Jesus becomes the God who is able to love us personally. No god in this world can do that, because he is not like one of us.
Hebrews 4 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 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.—
Jesus is able to empathize with our weaknesses, because he has been tempted in every way (as a man) just as we are, yet he did not sin. That’s the power, he has been tempted in every way like us in the world. Which god in this world did that? No god of any religion actually walk the earth and lived among us, and being tempted like we are and yet without sin, therefore they cannot love us personally. But Jesus can, because he empathizes with us fully and lived a perfect life to save us. He qualifies to be sacrificed as a perfect lamb of God as an atonement for the sins of mankind to redeem us, to bring salvation for us for an eternal life that awaits all of us who puts our faith in him. Amen.
[1] David Block, What the Heavens Declared to a Young Astronomer, Christianity Today, Feb 2021
When we say God is transcendent, that means he is above the universe, independent of the universe, not bound by the universal laws, example gravity, needing sunshine or clouds to shied from excessive UV, and all the sicknesses and evil of this humanity.
Immanent means he is in the world with us, pervading our universe. The idea is that for a God that is transcendent to incarnate into this world, and became a man, so as to become a part of the race of Adam, to volunteer himself to be sacrificed and condemned on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, he became immanent in this world. And I will unpack that from Psalm 112 for what these 2 terms means to us. First let’s see some definitions and background:
What is Transcendence & Immanence?
The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheistic, pandeistic, or panentheistic faiths to suggest that the spiritual world permeates the mundane. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world.[1] Immanence means God is pervasive in our universe, manifested in our material world.
Major Faiths in the Worldon this Subject
Major faiths commonly devote significant philosophical efforts to explaining the relationship between immanence and transcendence but do so in different ways, such as: casting immanence as a characteristic of a transcendent God (common in Abrahamic religions),subsuming immanent personal gods in a greater transcendent being (such as with Brahman in Hinduism), or approaching the question of transcendence as something which can only be answered through an appraisal of immanence.[2]
Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Christianity
According to Christian theology, the transcendent God, who cannot be approached or seen in essence or being, becomes immanent primarily in the God-manJesus the Christ, who is the incarnate Second Person of the Trinity. In Catholic theology, Christ and the Holy Spirit immanently reveal themselves; God the Father only reveals himself immanently vicariously through the Son and Spirit, and the divine nature, the Godhead is wholly transcendent and unable to be comprehended.[3]
Transcendent God
Psalm 113: The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high,
This is the meaning of a transcendent God here. Did you see the Lord is exalted over all the nations. He is above, over all the universe. Psalmist is saying who is like the Lord our God, who is sits enthrone on high, and yet stoops down to look on the earth. That is the caring God. He is not so high and lofty that he is aloof from his creations, his subjects. The idea that our God is far and aloof, is foreign to the scriptures. Our God cares deeply. There are enough verses to show how intimately involved he is with this world. From Moses, Abraham, how God came down and entered into a covenant with Abraham in the trailing flame :
Genesis 15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ” God appeared to Abraham.
Immanent God
6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;8 he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.9 He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.
This is how beautify it is with our God. He stoops down onto the earth and he raises the poor from the dust, he lifts the needy from the ash heap. He is helping the poor, lifting up those of us needy. That’s why we need to help the poor financially. God not only lifts up the needy, but he also seats them with princes, a metaphoric .
That’s why we need a transcendent God to become an immanent God. In other words, we need a savior who is himself sinless, perfect, and that will be divine, supernatural, and therefore transcendent, but if he’s only a transcendent God, divine and perfect, he can’t save us because he is not one of us. He needs to be come flesh and blood like us, like Adam. First Adam failed, the second Adam triumphed, and that’s why we need the incarnation of God himself into this world to become flesh or man, and live among us to totally be one of us, to save us. God cannot save humans, God needs a human to save human, and human cannot save humans, the chasm is bridged by God Man, Jesus Christ, the transcendent and immanent God finally solved the problem, and God will bring the huma race back to himself! Glory to the highest! Amen!
Transcendent God take on Immanence
The Lord Intervenes in Creation to Accomplish a great Reversal in the Life of the lowliest and most Humble
Intervene is a good work. It means break the normal and create a new thing that was impossible before. Like Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, that’s divine intervention. Jesus raised the dead, cleansed the leper, opened the eyes of the blind, cast out demons, and Paul and Peter also healed the crippled, and cast out demons by Paul, all these are divine intervention, all these are supernatural intervention by a transcendent God into an immanent action. SO how did that happen?
2. Christ the Son of God took the form of human
John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind…..14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
That’s how it happened. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God! And what happens to that Word?
V14—The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Who can that be? Only one person in all humanity history ever done that, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word, in John 1. And He was with God the Father, and He is God. And Jesus became flesh, means He became a man, and dwelled among us, and that happened 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, Judea, and finally Jerusalem. In AD 33 , he the Word, was crucified by the Roman soldiers and the Jewish Pharisees, God was crucified, and He fulfilled the prophecies about the Son of God became the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
So now we have the immanent God with us, through the Holy Spirit. I want you to know that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Results of Transcendence & Immanence
We are in the realm of the Spirit because Holy Spirit lives in us. He lives in us.
We are especial, the only creation in this world who has the Spirit of God living in us. I hope this will really encourage us and strengthen us.
Romans 8: 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
2. We are led by the Spirit of God because we are children of God
We call out Abba Father because the Spirit we received brought our adoption into sonship
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 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.”
3. Finally, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ if we share in his sufferings so we may share in his glory
The fruit of heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ is that we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
4. No Sufferings No Glory
This is clear I hope. All people of faith in Christ, must understand that, God has called us into this world to live godly lives, and living that we will be persecuted by the world, and the devil. No big deal at all, because that plays into God’s path for us to eventually also share in Christ’s glory, as Christ has suffered, and now glorified.
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
5. We will Never be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The fear of the Lord has brought promises of God’s blessings to the sky and beyond in the Old Testament especially in Psalm and Proverbs. It almost sounds too simplistic and question goes how? How does ‘fear’ of God bring so many blessings? The problem is our understanding of the word ‘fear’.
Where does the fear of the Lord come from ? And in what context? Why does God emphasize so much of being fearful of him is what he desires from us? I mean an earthly father will not want his children to fear him per se, perhaps in older Eastern culture of Asia or Middle Eastern, fathers are to be feared, meaning deeply respected for fear of offending, it means obedience without many questions.
Blessings of the Fear of the Lord
Psalm 112: Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.
2 Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
Those who fear the Lord are those who find great delight in his commands. Does it sound like fearing God is a negative thing which would have been impossible to use the word ‘delight’ in God’s commands? If you fear God, then you obey him only because you fear punishment or retribution from him for disobedience, which is what our legal system does. But no! Psalm 112 clearly says those who fear the Lord are those who find great delight in God’s word or commands or law. Why? How? God’s way is counterintuitive. His way is delight. So fear God here in the bible cannot mean ‘fearing’ as in the context of negative way, meaning afraid.
What is the Fear of the Lord?
Properly recognizing the Lord’s nature and character
The words “Fear of the Lord” in Psalm 112 means : “Properly recognizing the Lord’s nature and character.” [1] This is so apt, fear of the Lord means recognizing God’s nature and character, essentially meaning who God is, his character and nature. That means none of the blessings of God’s promises in fearing God will never materialize if we don’t know who he is! What’s he like? His nature, his character.
But in Psalm 19: 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
Fear of the Lord refers to holding God in proper reverence and awe
The word fear here as per Carson: “This rarely refers to actual fright or terror; Ps 76:7,8,11,12; 2 Chr 17:10 are instances of the meaning. Usually, the fear of the Lord refers to holding God in proper reverence and awe.”[2]
Fear God because He is angry
Psalm 76:7–12 7 It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? 8 From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet— 11 … let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. 12 He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.
This is fear. Who can stand before you when you are angry? He breaks the spirits of rulers.
2 Chronicles 17:10 The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.
That’s another instance of real fear in the sense we commonly understand. And there are instances like that for sure.
Fear of the Lord is a Source of life for God’s People
It is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (111:10, Prov 1:7, 9:10) and a source of life for God’s people (Prov 10:27, 14:27; 19:23) to be treasured (Prov 15:16, is 33:6), something to delight in (Is 11:3), and a source of rejoicing (Ps 40:3) . Humility is at its core. (Prov 22:4)[3]
Proverbs 10: 27 The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. Fear of the Lord adds length of life! Proverbs 14: 27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.
Fear of the Lord is a fountain of life! Fountain of life! You receive life itself from God by walking in the fear of the Lord. Powerful stuff that transforms. If you don’t have the fear of the Lord, your life dries up basically. It can only be experienced more intimately when one is going through some dry patch in life, going through some trials in life, and crying out to the Lord. And because we fear God, we reverence and hold him in great awe, He becomes a fountain of life to us.
That’s how important it is. We must examine and understand and learn the fear of the Lord.
Fear of the Lord is a Source of Rejoicing
Psalm 40: 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
Many will see how the Lord delivers David from the slimy pit, mud and mire, and how He set his feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand. God puts a new song in his mouth, a hymn of praise, many will see and there fear the Lord and put their trust in him. People fear God because they see how God delivers people who trust in him and cry out to him. That’s fear as a sense of awe, not afraid.
The Reason to Fear God comes from what God has done for us and continue to do
There is a basis or reason to fear God. God didn’t just call us to fer him from nowhere. No one can fear the Lord without a reason. Yu can’t preach at the congregation and tell everyone to fear the Lord because He is mighty and powerful and he will judge everyone that does not obey him. In some ways that’s correct, but that must be far more nuanced. You see God didn’t give a cheap order.
God brought Israel from the slavery and persecution by Egypt by plaguing Egypt hard
Joshua 24:2–15 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.
6 “ ‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. ……… 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’
He worked powerful signs and wonders to convince Israel that he’s the Lord overall. He turned the Nile into blood, He sent locusts to devour the harvest of Egypt; He sent frogs into every household of Egypt. He sent darkness into Egypt like they never seen ever, for to walk around in pitch darkness for days. And finally God sent an angel that killed all the first born of Egypt from the salve to Pharoah. The outcry from Egypt was full of fear, desperation, and despair so much that they gave Israel gold and silver and pleaded with them to leave. But Pharoah couldn’t give up on them, as God hardened his heart actually, and he brought chariots to chase after Israel and pressed them till in front of the Read Sea. And that’s when God sent a mighty east wind to cause the Red Sea to be dry for the 3 million Jews to walk across on dry land, and Egyptian army followed suit into the Red Sea only to be divided by the cloud of God, and as soon as Israel all came through out of Red Sea, God sent the mighty currents of Red Sea right back and drowned them all. This is the MIGHTY awesome God. AN dafter Israel seen the dead bodies of Egyptian army on seashore including Pharoah’s, they bowed down and worshipped Yahweh and said the Lord He is God. This fear of the Lord, reverence and awe, totally awed by the God of Israel.
Exodus 14: 29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
When Israel saw the dead Egyptian on the shore, and the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against Egypt, they feared the Lord and put their trust in him. Fear of the Lord goes together with trust ion the Lord. We don’t fear the Lord for being afraid of punished by Him, but rather we fear him in the sense of being awed by him, and putting our trust in someone who is so mighty and will protect and cover us. That’s the basis of fearing the Lord. You will never fear the Lord if you never experienced the mighty strength of the Lord. God set up the situation of Israel being pushed to some desperation facing the Red Sea, and using the most miraculous sign and wonder, God opened up the Red Sea for them to cross over, only to drown every one of their enemy. That’s set up by God. If they never had a crisis, they would never experience the power and glory of God like they never seen before, and hence will never be awed by God to such high level, and hence fear the Lord.
This is how we develop our fear and awe towards the Lord
No one will ever not fear the Lord after what they experienced! That’s how it should happen with us, being awed by God by the display of God’s power and deliverance. How many times have you struggled in your distress, hardship, trials in life, and you prayed and prayed a final God delivered you and put you on a large rick while sinking? How many times God has been tour rock and refuge? All these are precious memories and testimonials in your life, you should never forget. And that’s how we develop our fear , awe towards the Lord.
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
[1]D A Carson, NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible , Zondervan, 2018, Grand rapids, Michigan, USA
Heard some sermons along the line of Jesus facing the agony an anguish of condemnation and forsaking of him by the Father before the dark hour of crucifixion, Jesus went to pray and sweated blood while his disciples were fast asleep.
A moving and extremely touching narrative when the Son of God himself struggled to such anguish before the Cross
It was a moving and extremely touching narrative when the Son of God himself struggled to such anguish, quite powerfully demonstrating his humanity. However, I have heard enough sermons while preachers push the narrative of Christ’s mortal sufferings and his willingness to sacrifice himself, and even Jonathan Edwards had peached powerfully on Jesus viewing and looking down at the fiery furnace that awaits him and that shock and total darkness shook Jesus up and that such heaviness of darkness descended upon him, made him cried out to God his Father to spare him of the cup. The impression I got from such sermons is that its almost an end of the narrative of Jesus going to the cross that he struggled to such intensity that he sweated blood, and with that they exhort the audience how much Christ had suffered and willing to stare down the inferno of hell and willingly to suck it up for the sake of saving humanity and being obedient to the Father. I beg to differ here, as I think thats insufficient to stop there and I will explain below.
Jesus knew all the time from eternity that he would be sacrificed
Jesus knew all the time from eternity that he would be sacrificed as an atonement lamb of God to save mankind, but why does he struggle with such anguish with blood just before hours before the arrest by the Roman soldiers? Preachers have correctly pointed out that it’s not the death that punched him in the gut, but it’s the darkness and separation forsakenness that will happen on the cross that shook him up!
Its Jesus full Humanity that Cried out with Such Intensity before the Cross
I would argue its Jesus’s humanity that cried out for help and even shaken to the core that he was trying to bypass the cross? Isn’t that full humanity? Isn’t that what it means he has been tempted in all ways like us, and yet without sin? Isn’t that the absolute finality concrete way of Jesus passing the test before the biggest act of all humanity in all human history or even cosmic history? That single act on the cross, changed and saved mankind and even the entire cosmos forever. And that’s how big that is. Isn’t that a very illustrating point of the struggle of Jesus that we can all identify with?
Preaching so deep into the anguish and struggles of Christ to demonstrate the amazing love Christ has for us, does not do justice to the whole text.
But the real point here is I would argue that to preach a sermon that dwells so deep into the anguish and struggles of Christ to demonstrate the amazing love Christ has for us, does not do justice to the whole text.
Jesus didn’t fight flesh and blood on the wee hours before the cross. He fought spiritual principalities of the highest level, as seen, he was tempted thrice in the wilderness after a 40 days fast, weak and vulnerable, by Satan himself. Jesus was in the full blown spiritual warfare with the devil and powers of darkness, and that battle climaxed on the wee hours before he was crucified. That climax happened when he sweated blood in high loud cries and let the cup pass from him prayers to the Father to which he finally said “not my will but let your will be done”.
Like 22 39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him… 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.[c]
That final words of him not my will, but yours be done, is the epitome of whole Christianity put into a few words, and that brought joy to Zion, salvation to the gentiles, and the whole world rejoice by those words, selah. And a dealt a death blow to Satan.
For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
Remember in: Hebrews 12: 2 For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus didn’t sacrifice himself for an eternal darkness of oblivion and sufferings on the cross to save mankind. He walked into that furnace, after struggled with the Father with tears and loud cries and even blood in his sweat, however, knowing the blessed assurance that the Father will raise him up from the death, and walked triumphantly for eternity as the Savior, redeemer of the world by his atonement, propitiation penal substitution death for mankind. He earned the right to redeem us after that death, and resurrection.
He loved us enough to die for us, yes, but not remaining in death, but totally resurrected to RULE and REIGN for all eternity.
My point is preaching on the sufferings of Christ to magnify his love for us, is not enough. Because it sets us in a no man’s land, conundrum, and it’s not accurate contextually. We must co include his triumphant resurrection on Easter Sunday. That’s why he did it. He loved us enough to die for us, yes, but not remaining in death, but totally resurrected to RULE and REIGN for all eternity.
Amen, come Lord Jesus. For thine is the Kingdom, Power, Glory for ever and ever, Amen.
Jephthah Keeps the Vow but kills his daughter or break it to save? Judges 11
Read Judges 11 and it breaks my heart, especially so, since we just discussed the stupid vow taken by Jephthah and his refusal to break the vow. His keeping the vow to sacrifice a child, even his own daughter, in the name of keeping the so called vow before the Lord, does not make any theological or even rational grounds to justify that. In today’s Court, he will be convicted as murderer for sure.
Judges 1129 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
Jephthah in his zeal, or being manipulative, made a vow to God that if God gave him the victory in this battle, he would sacrifice whatever comes out of his house to meet him upon his return in triumph? Guess what?
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”
Selfish self centered father who is concerned about himself at the expense of others
His only daughter, only a child, came out dancing with tambourines to greet her dad from the house, and she became the victim of child sacrifice!! And he blamed his daughter! What an insidious and dark coward to proceed to sacrifice his daughter in the name of keeping his vow! I suggest he should sacrifice himself and pleaded for mercy and understanding for forgiveness of his foolish vow, rash and stupid. Some theologians have argued that it was not a rash vow, though it may be a foolish one, arguing from the fact that Jephthah does come across as someone who speaks with calculated words in the passage prior. Regardless, there is a clear lesson to learn.
Which is more precious and important in the sight of God, vow or life?
In the OT, very often, things are taken at the face value of vow for the Lord, without questioning the integrity, righteousness of the vow itself before the holy and righteous God. What annoys me is, how can anyone justify his vow of killing a totally innocent person, because of a vow before a holy & righteous God? Does he not think that God will not approve him to ‘keep’ the vow, albeit a really stupid nonsensical vow, in order to execute the life of some innocent child? My question is which is more precious and important in the sight of God, vow or life? How would God approve him to kill his daughter as a sacrifice just to keep his vow? These are moral contradictions in point. God will be complicit in such murder, if that’s the case, if God allows that or approves that. Throughout the whole process, what intrigues me, and upsets me , is the complete silence from God in the entire process. I mean why didn’t God stop that jerk? Or at least send a prophet to tell that ego maniac off?? Is life that cheap in the OT? The sovereignty of God is a mystery. We know He knows best.
Child sacrifice happened because someone made a foolish vow, and dare not break it, because it’s before the Lord. The better question is how does one ‘keep’ the vow before the Lord, when it involves killing a child?? I think Jephthah is heading straight to hell. Judges is just dark.
God desires a sacrifice of life-style and not physical child sacrifice
We should never use the excuse of ministering before the Lord to cause damage to our families, wives, children or anything. The Lord desires a complete sacrifice of lifestyle, and not sacrifice of physical life! And definitely not some macho showing off at the expense of others. I believe the alternative for Jephthah is to repent before the Lord and ask for forgiveness in breaking the vow which should never have been there on the first place. Just exactly how that vow can help him to win battle? Was he trying to manipulate God? Won’t work with God!
The reason a less deep teaching church movement can plant more churches than deep gospel centered church movement for the time being is due to the apostolic anointing and the constant emphasis of church planting in the movement, at a price of forgetting much important orthodoxy doctrines of God. Looking around church panting movements today, I can identify worship as the single most crucial anchor of such churches. Worship, the strength of which, being such a sweet aroma to the Lord, is probably the single most important reason for keeping the momentum going. Worship is the most paramount requirement and ingredient in our relationship with our Maker, our Creator, our God. This is our DNA. Apostolic leadership is a subject mostly found in charismatic churches, and usually have great worship that attracts people to a moving time of worshipping in the beautiful presence of God. Therefore worship is an absolute vital aspect in apostolic leadership type of churches. I will talk about post bible apostolic leadership and argue from the bible why they matter and they exist.
Imago Dei (Image of God)
To not worship God, is not being the creation of God, bearing the image of God (Imago Dei), as the very purpose intent of God creating us. This is very important.
Genesis 1:26–27 (NIV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
So from here, the main purpose of God created us in his image is to rule over the world, which we failed miserably through the terrible weak leadership of Adam and the vulnerability of self-idolizing of Eve, when they fell into the lies, half-truth, half lies temptations of the crafty old serpent. So God didn’t create us to enjoy Eden and watch its sunset and sunrise, like a permanently retired pleasure garden. No! He’s a job for us to do, to rule over the garden and all that’s in. You know that animals were all named by that genius Adam, like lion, tiger, snake, scorpion, monkeys, you name it, and all the flowers. But after the fall, everything has changed, deteriorated, and degenerated physically, spiritually, emotionally, and every sense of the world.
But ruling the world requires God’s image, in fact ruling or not, we have the image of God. That’s why racism is a sin against God himself by the way, for instance. We can’t rule the world without God’s image. God’s image carries God’s likeness, that means we have resemblance to God. In what way? In authority, power, glory, his love, kindness, holiness, forgiveness, anger….but the fall brought in the corruption of the flesh like selfish, idolizing self, greed, lust, darkness etc.
Therefore any real sense of church panting, is really to extend the Imago Dei of God to more people, more creations. To extend the rulership invested in us by God, we are mere ambassadors who do not have power within us, but only invested or delegated power from our creator, our God. To extend the image of God to all, we must worship God more and more, and frankly that’s where we are being true humans. To not to worship our God, is simply dehumanizing. We are broken down into despair and evil. That’s why you see if we don’t worship our Creator, we will lunge to worship something else. The connection of worship with Imago Dei is so strong and that’s what makes us humans. This probably the first account of worship by a human toward our God.
Genesis 8:18–21 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
You see the effect of worship upon God here? Noah offered the first burnt offering of some clean animals and birds, and the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and guaranteed that he won’t destroy all humans again in spite of every inclination in the human heart is evil from childhood. That’s worship. Worship endears us to God.
Psalm 100: Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his, we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations.
What’s worship? Shout for joy to the Lord! Worship the Lord with gladness; joyful songs, Knowing that the Lord us God and he made us, we are his. Thanksgiving to him for the Lord is good and his love endures forever. This is the basis for worship the Lord.
That explains why charismatic church planting movement can keep church planting with the main thrust of two things, passionate worship, and the other one is close fellowship community. The word of God is far less God centered and orthodox, however, they managed to survive and keep on moving though slower.
This then becomes the bedrock of a church, will propel the church forward till Jesus returns.
The Apostolic Giftings
Ephesians 4: 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”….11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Jesus ascended to heaven and he gave gifts to his church and they are the grace expressed in the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These are the offices given by Christ at his ascension in order to equip his people for the work of service, so that the body of Christ (church) may be built up to reach unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the fullness of Christ. Clearly Paul talks about the idea of bringing the church to full unity of faith, meaning doctrinally in unity, and with that above all in our knowledge of the Son of God, who he is and what he does. Really dealing with God, as who he is and what he does. And from that, and only from that, we can proceed to be equipped for service, ministry, evangelism, discipleship, and becoming mature internally, and not just outward productively of achievements. Only then we can hope to reach the whole measure of fulness of Christ, which sounds impossible, but we trust in him. So the apostles are for today, but they are obviously different from the apostles of the New testament like Paul, Peter, John, James etc. The post bible apostles are real church leadership given by God to equip the church to serve God and bring the whole body to unity of faith and to fullness of maturity. So it’s this group of apostles in this end time that propel the church planting that I have seen with my eyes and in fact joined them for a decade and more in church planting round the world. Hope churches have been fueled by an incredible energy and vision to plant over 1,000 churches in about 15 years. I can see today that there are truly anointed teachers and leaders of the word of God in the reformed world, that influenced and equipped thousands and thousands of Christians round the world, but not given the title of apostles simply because of denominational and doctrinal teachings. But that doesn’t matter, whatever you may call them, as long as the fruit is there. But on the other hand, there are church leaders who somehow put the title of ‘Apostle’ next to their names, but hardly produced the kind of mantra and mantle of church planting of what I see in an apostolic church planting that I know of.
I just want to mention that in my own experience and observation, this kind of apostolic people don’t come often, but we see more of teachers, evangelists, pastors, prophets these days. But a lot of them have mixed functions, not just in one category. In any case, in my paper here, I would just want to say that apostolic office that fueled worldwide church planting has suffered a setback as the leader has stepped down. But you know, God is on the throne, and he has thousands of apostolic gifts around the world that do similar and different ways of bringing the body of Christ to full maturity and unity of our faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God.
Strong Preaching is Not Enough
On the other hands, we have the reformed teaching churches struggle to make headwind to plant churches. Why? Probably we need powerful worship, charismatic type that’s uplifting albeit less word centered, which we definitely already have the preaching that takes care of it. So the idea of combining of solid God centered God centered reformed reaching with charismatic lively David’s kind of praise and worship as appeared in Psalms.
Why do we need Strong Teaching?
The main focus is to produce the image of God in believers in our churches. Who reflect the image of God, the glory of God. That will be impossible without the deep stimulating teaching and preaching’s of the word of God together with all the reformed doctrines as the base. I feel in many churches, the same type of message has been recycled again and again in some movements, that’s major on evangelism, discipleship, and church plant. But what would be the substance for reproduction? Do we not want the best for our next generation?
The Struggle of Not Seeing Fruits
Similarly we struggle to see our own folks not walking with the Lord, or even departed from the Lord, or just plain back sliding. There is so much work to be done, and here I am still in the seminary studying for my Master, and more than that, I am still giving my 40m hours week to my work in the secular company. The waiting is real and trusting God will hand over a complete break through this year 2021, as I have been praying every year. Every one of us has struggles and prayers needs. That’s why we need community of support and prayers. Some of us have need to deepen our theological knowledge to know God and hence equip the church, some of us need a community to start up, some of us need a new vision of the Lord for 2021, whatever the case may be, it’s time to seek the Lord, for those who seek , shall find.
Matt 7 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
The Promise of God Able to do Immeasurably More than all we Ask or Imagine
Ephesians 3: 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.Ephesians 3:10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The church has a calling to proclaim the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. Because of that God will do more than we ask according to his power. The task at hand requires a deep solid gospel centered God centered and Spirit filled worship and loving fellowship churches to be planted all over. Amen.
Al Ngu sermons & devotion 