Sermon Recap: The Fear of God
At Golgotha, three crosses stood against the sky. On either side of Jesus hung two condemned criminals, suffering the exact same painful punishment. Yet, while their physical location was identical, their spiritual posture could not have been further apart.
One thief mocked Jesus, demanding a quick escape from his physical suffering. But the second thief turned, looked across at his companion, and uttered a question that cuts through centuries of self-righteousness:
"Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?" - Luke 23:40
In that final, agonizing hour, the penitent thief realized a truth that modern culture frequently forgets. It is not our personal goodness or earthly merit that saves us. It is maintaining a healthy, holy fear of the Lord. Simply put, we have to fear the Lord in order to truly love Him.
The Fear That Outweighs Earthly Terror
As the penitent thief hung there, he may very well have feared the Roman soldiers, the jeering mob, and the impending reality of death itself. He was human, facing a brutal end. Yet, in his final moments, a much larger reality gripped him. While the unrepentant thief stayed focused on earthly self-preservation, the penitent thief recognized the One who held his eternal soul. His earthly panic was eclipsed by the holy fear of God.
This contrast reveals the subtle danger of misplacing our fear. In the Old Testament, King Saul suffered the exact opposite shift in heart. Saul was Israel's first king, given to the people when they demanded an earthly ruler. While God anoints leadership offices, and we as believers have a civic responsibility to vote and put godly leadership in place, Saul showed what happens when a leader loses his reverence for God.
Saul did not start out proud. In 1 Samuel 15:17, Samuel reminds him of when he was "little in thine own sight." Saul even hid among the baggage at his own coronation. But as time went on, Saul let human pressures consume him. He began fearing Goliath, fearing David, and fearing the Philistines. Because he lacked the fear of God, he compromised on God's direct commands and played with sin. As Jeremiah 2:19 warns, his downfall came because "my fear is not in thee."
Like the unrepentant thief, King Saul became consumed by the earthly threats right in front of him, forgetting the God who reigned above them.
Two Sauls and the Choice on Calvary
This dynamic on Calvary mirrors a powerful contrast found between two men named Saul in Scripture:
- King Saul: Started with humility, but ended in ruin because he feared human opinions rather than God.
- Saul of Tarsus (The Apostle Paul): Started as a fierce enemy of God, approving the execution of Christian martyrs, but ended as a faithful servant.
What transformed the second Saul on the road to Damascus? Trembling. In Acts 9:6, when Saul encountered the resurrected Christ, awe and fear came first. Only after experiencing the fear of the Lord did he ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
Just as the thief on the cross turned from mockery to reverence, Paul learned that the fear of God inevitably leads us into the will of God. Paul knew Jesus' warning in Matthew 10:28 to fear the One who has power over both body and soul. Later in his life, Paul wrote about disciplining his own body (1 Corinthians 9:27) and standing before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).
The Heartbeat of Calvary
When we return to the cross, we see the ultimate expression of mercy met by reverence. The penitent thief brought no list of good deeds or personal status to bargain with. He had no earthly goodness to rely on. All he had was a sudden, profound realization of who God was, which led him to pray, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." In response to that fearful, reverent heart, Jesus offered immediate grace: "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
The love of God and the fear of God are not opposing forces. The love of God cannot outbalance the fear of God; they exist hand in hand. When we honor all people, fear God, and place Him in His rightful place of authority over our lives, His mercy meets us right where we are.
To dive deeper into this teaching and unpack more scripture on cultivating a holy reverence for God, listen to today's the message, The Fear of the Lord.
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