New Testament Church of Massena

Last week concluded a mini-series on being “Rooted & Grounded In Love,” with a message on how we are to express the Love of God as a spiritual community. At the conclusion of the message two immensely important scriptural reasons for becoming a community that authentically loves one another and does life together was shared. They were;

1. So that we will be prepared for the second coming of Christ, because according to 1 Thes. 3, preparation (“…so He may establish your hearts blameless…”) for the 2nd Coming requires increasing and abounding in the Love of God toward one another and people in general. This is impossible apart from community. The second reason for authentic community is,
2. For the world to truly believe and know that Jesus was sent by the Father, they must see people living out Christianity in community, expressing true koinenia, or the intentional sharing of their lives.

Though the price is sometimes a little high, there is truly no other more fulfilling way to live life on this earth.

The subject being tackled during the month of March is a subject that I have never spoken directly about for a series of talks. It's a little embarrassing to say that since it is one of the most important overall themes in all the Bible. The reason is because I don’t fully understand it. I have heard people on both sides of the fence on this one, and am fairly convinced that the truth is somewhere in the middle. The topic is the Biblical theme, “The Fear of The Lord.” On the one hand we are supposed to rest in the absolute profound Love & Mercy of God, and on the other hand we are to live in the stark reality of the Fear of The Lord, that there is an ultimate judge, there is a day of reckoning. The bottom line of any discussion on truth is to disclose or reveal a little more of Who God Is, His Character, His Attributes, His Ways, His Nature…and then to respond accordingly.

The deepest truths are often a paradox, two conflicting ideas contained within the same reality. For example the Word says that "God is light," and as a physical phenomenon light is a paradox. It is both a wave and a particle at the same time. Sometimes it propagates as a wave, and at the same time it demonstrates characteristics of a particle, the exact opposite of a wave. Many truths have similar characteristics. When discussing "The Fear of The Lord," it is important that this reality be kept in tension with the reality that "God is Love."

The phrase, "The Fear of The Lord" is in found 27x's in the scriptures, 14x's in Proverbs. It is found in 7 of the 66 books of the Bible. It is found once in the New Testament in Acts 9:31. ("Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.") The church understood and walked in the balance of "the comfort of the Holy Spirit" and "walking in the fear of the Lord." At Calvary we are able to see a perfect balance of two extreme truths, the Love of God and the Wrath of God. Love toward humanity, and wrath toward sin.

In Hebrews 12 the writer contrasts the two mountains, Sinai & Zion. One reveals God as an ominous law giver to be feared, and Zion reveals God as loving and accepting. Two conflicting truths contained in the same reality. What this means for us. as Hebrews tells us, is that we have "not come" to mount Sinai, but "we have come" to mount Zion. Though the law is still necessary as a guide, we are to live under the new covenant based upon grace and not law.

Here is a modern day picture of Mt. Sinai. Even it's natural appearance depicts an ominousness.


Here is a modern day picture of Mt. Zion. It appears inviting and accepting.



What does this mean for us?
We are under grace and not under the law, however, the standard is not lower under grace it is actually higher. According to Hebrews 12 the conclusion of contrasting Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion is that we are to "...have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." We need to be rooted and grounded in love, understanding that we also must live in the reality of the "Fear of The Lord." That there will be a day of reckoning, a final day of judgement where all men's hearts will be laid bear before the Lord.

We will continue tracking deeper into the reality of living in the Fear of the Lord in the next few weeks.