Word of Encouragement (12/07/2021)
“And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed’” (Rev. 15:3-4).
Having praised God for His almighty power and justice, the 144,000 move on to ask a rhetorical question: “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?” Fear is only a natural, appropriate response to God’s almighty power and justice, especially if one is a sinner. If God were only just without His almighty power to execute justice, no one needs to fear God. But God is not only just but also almighty. He will not just point out and condemn sins; He will also carry out the full punishment that the sinner deserves. How can a sinner not fear God? He should be terrified! So, when the seventh seal is broken and God’s judgment comes, the unrepentant sinners call out to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, or the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand” (Rev. 6:16-17)? Anything would be better than to face the wrath of God coming in judgment.
What a blessing it is to be spared from the wrath of God! Though we were once objects of divine wrath as sinners, Jesus’ blood and righteousness delivered us from the wrath of God. So, even on the last day, we will have no reason to fear. Even when “...the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend...,” we will be able to sing, “It is well with my soul!” Indeed, we will pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Come, Lord, quickly!”
This doesn’t mean that we don’t “fear” the Lord at all. After all, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7, 9:10). There are two different kinds of fear of the Lord: the fear of terror and the fear of reverence. The former is what sinners will experience on Judgment Day; the latter is what believers have. The former urges sinners to run away from God; the latter compels believers to draw near to the Lord. When they do, they do so with deep reverence because God’s justice and awesome power are not lost on them even though they are recipients of God’s saving grace. They cannot keep themselves away from the terrifying yet magnificent glory of God.
What is your posture before God? Is it inclined to run away from God or draw near to God? You know what it should be. Christ received the wrath of God in our place and set us free from the fear of terror so that we might approach God with reverence and desire. What a tragic waste of this wonderful privilege if we keep our distance from God when Christ sacrificed so much to draw us near to God! Christ emptied God’s heart of all divine wrath and anger against us. Now, only love and mercy are found in His heart when He looks on us. Why should we stay away from Him? What keeps you away? Your petty sins and spiritual laziness? Let us turn away from anything that causes us to turn away from God and start drawing near to the Fount of every blessing!