Isai 33:6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.
Jesus Christ is the sure foundation for ALL times, a rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. But where there is little or no “fear of the Lord,” this treasure remains locked away, hidden from view. Isn’t this the case in OUR time, where the “fear of offending others” often prevents the gospel from being proclaimed in the public arena? The “fear of God” is the key to unlock the treasure of Jesus Christ in the 21st century, but the “fear of man” holds our culture captive.
Edward T. Welch in his book “When People are Big and God is Small,” gives a succinct summary of the problem of our time as follows: “We replace God with people. Instead of a biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others.” (p.14). When we are more afraid of what other people think of us, and what they can do to us or for us, than what God thinks and can do, we make people BIG and God small.
The Bible’s remedy for this fear of man is to grow in the fear of God, a fear that starts with awe and moves to faith. It’s the kind of fear Jesus’ disciples expressed when Jesus was out in a boat with them and a furious storm came up. Jesus quieted the sea by speaking to it: “Quiet! Be still!” He said, and the sea became like glass. The disciples were terrified and exclaimed, “Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?” These were men who knew that God spoke the world into existence. Were they beginning to move from mere amazement at what Jesus could do to faith in Who He was? Certainly a centurion who stood at the foot of the cross watching Jesus die, the perfectly just for the unjust, made that movement to faith when he exclaimed, ”Surely this man was the Son of God!”
