Day 4: 1 Peter 1:17-19 - Our Greatest Fear

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The Christian is called to a different set of fears than what frightens the world. Those without Christ fear anything that threatens their self-interest, Christians fear the one who works for their best interest. This seems like a strange contradiction – how should we fear someone who loves us best?

Do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. Isaiah 8:12-13

Peter expounds by exhorting us to remember the ransom paid by Jesus, particularly His spilled blood more precious than gold, to be the basis of our fear.

Imagine you were taken captive by ISIS terrorists, held at gunpoint, and staring at the blinking red light of the camera recording your execution. Then at the last moment, the lights go out. You think it’s the end. There is a lot of commotion but you cannot tell what is going on. Finally, the flashlights flood on, all pointing to you. And you hear the excitement in the Navy Seal’s voice as he exclaims, “We got him!”

Now consider that you find out that during the rescue, one of the team members did not survive. After your full recovery, you find your way to his parent’s house. You knock on the door and they answer it. In that moment, you would be careful to not bring any dirt or mud into their house much less offend them in any way. What would be their reaction if you instead murdered their daughter? What would the Seal team do to you when they find out?

Fearing the one who loves us is a fear of offending the way he chose to love us. The Father promises vengeance by judging impartially all who spit on his Son. If we disgrace our protector in the end, it will be as if the fetters holding back hell’s demons and evils were let loose. Only then we will know how tame the fears of this world were.

 

Posted by Andrew Kim on 6/23/2016

Comments

I think these three verses have much power. If you don't value the amount of sins that you were saved from, you will not value the blood that was shed to pay the price of your sins. If you don't value the blood that was shed, you will not value Jesus Christ who was sent down and what His mission was. Then, ultimately, you will not value God who cared enough to make all this possible. I think it's easy to just live the Christian life forgetting the value that is behind the essence of our faith. There is nothing we can/must do to bring honor to God; He does it all Himself. God wants us to enjoy His goodness and get to know Him.....that's it!

When we fear God, I think it's a different typs of fear. A fear built on the amount of value we have for His name and His character and the urging desire to bring joy to a Father who's given so much. It's almost like a child's desire to make His father proud. Trying your very best. Our God is able to cover our failures, yes, but it's the desire to give just a little something to bring God honor not offense.

Diana Lim on 6/23/2016 at 8:03 AM

There's this really good album called "The Fear Of God" by Eshon Burgundy. You all should gI've it a listen ;)

I think the fear of offending God is one aspect of fearing God certainly. Jesus' death on the cross makes us come into the reality of the judgment and justice of God. We can see he is not kidding around.

But this display of pure, unadulterated justice also makes us fear God in a different way. We are put in awe of his holiness. We see he is nothing like us. We see that he is a God perfectly just for the sake of his glory. We see the kind of faithfulness to his own attributes that are impossible for any human.

This is the same kind of awe that all humans are responsible for when they look at the majesty of creation and how meticulously it was engineered. Creation bears witness to God and everyone is held accountable to that according to Romans 1. That God could create all of this by mere speaking should make us both tremble and be amazed.

When Peter says to conduct themselves with fear, I think a good way to understand it is to look at the opposite. What is it like to conduct oneself without fear? Romans 3:

10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Chris Moon on 6/23/2016 at 10:34 PM

Good moving analogy!

Robert Han on 6/24/2016 at 7:46 AM