SCRIPTURE
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”[1]
“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’”[2]
CALVIN: BOOK 1, CHAPTER 1
“Hence that dread and amazement with which as Scripture uniformly relates, holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God. When we see those who previously stood firm and secure so quaking with terror, that the fear of death takes hold of them, no, they are, in a manner, swallowed up and annihilated, the inference to be drawn is that men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”[3]
REFLECTION
Nothing under the sun dismantles the human heart quite like ruin. Job had it all. He had a wife and ten-children to delight in. He ran a successful farm, owning thousands of animals. He was a righteous and respected man among his people. Job demonstrated a faith in God which enraged the heart of the underworld, per se. So much so, Satan mocks Job before God and His angels, namely, God’s protective and sustaining grace and kindness to keep Job from the evil intent of his hand. Then, suddenly, Job finds himself in sackcloth and ashes; his children laid waste by fire; his livestock plundered in the wake of traumatic bereavement; stricken with boils from head to toe; scoffed at and deserted by his wife; Job lost everything! Eyes once beaming with light now dim from grief. And to top it all off his friends condemn him for mourning, insisting Job must have incurred the wrath of God by sinning. Sitting in the wake of plunder and ruin, probably annoyed by the incessant rambling of friends, the Lord descends upon him: “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you will make it known to me.’”[4] Job was sinless, he feared God and kept His commandments. Nevertheless, even the pursuit of a righteous person, to walk blamelessly and to keep all God’s commandments-this is not what makes him righteous. Rather, it is God, and in our case, Jesus Christ who makes hearts dead in sin, alive by Christ by His gift of righteousness. Job is not an example for the notion: why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? To follow Christ is a war with the reality that you are not your own, you are God’s.[5] Bad things happening to good people is an anomaly when there are, in fact, no good people.[6] However, Job’s misery is not the end of the story. In the end, he is blessed again beyond measure. Here entails a much-neglected motivation; namely, for all the pain and suffering Christ’ disciple’s experience in this age of darkness, there is an immeasurable eternal reward for those who are preserved in Christ.
The author of the book of Hebrews puts it this way: “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”[7] False grace teaching insists of a once saved always saved teaching at the expense of Christ’ wrath-bearing sacrifice for sinners. Meaning, God’s gift of righteousness is not a license to sin. God’s gracious gift goes to war against our deliberate desire to sin. Teaching us to hate sin. Therefore, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”[8] Here, the words of Jonathan Edwards are understandable and applicable, who wrote, saying, “-That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.”[9] Concluding, our bodies are not our own. We are, in fact, vessels for God to dwell in by the mystery of Christ in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our aim is not one which pacifies fearing God, delving only into the goodness of God, as if the mystery of His’ indwelling was not at war with our sin. Subsequently, Jesus died to absorb the wrath of God, the debt we owed. Therefore, whether one is outside of Christ, or Christ be in them, there is always reason to fear the living God, who will judge the quick and the dead. King Solomon is right in his wisdom to say, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” And, with the prophet Isaiah, to behold God in Christ is not without the terrible recognition of uncleanliness abiding within the sinner. Alas, nothing restores and satisfies the human heart like the God of the universe ruining our passionate desire to sin, transplanting that rotten organ with a new heart, a new mind, and new desires. What a grand exchange in Christ we have.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for the divine capacity to rightly fear you. To look into your eyes with flames of fire, to behold your holiness in the face of corrupt human nature. The fear of the Lord truly is the beginning of wisdom. And your grace which causes human hearts to fear God, rather than fear the world, what a gracious mercy for which produces love and affection beyond what thought possible. Your Word is sweet to my tattered condition, yet it goes down bitter as it conforms my corruption by your incorruptible holy fire. You love so freely the human heart is undone with lovesickness. The construct of sinful human flesh loses grip in the wake of the Everlasting mysteriously dwelling in the human frame. Thereby, praying the words of Jude, as bondservants of Christ, “who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Contend for the faith.”[10] Father of glory would you reveal Jesus Christ to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Transform human infatuation with sinful passion and graciously endue us with your Spirit. Thank you for your perfect leadership. Lord, sanctify and preserve me. Let the dread of my imperfections guide me to your mercy, peace and love. Father of glory, thank you for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of righteousness by grace through faith in your son Jesus Christ. And Lord, may such grace not be withheld from my own hand; rather, by the working of Christ in us, grant power to our ordinary and mundane lives, namely, to be witnesses and demonstrators of your merciful Gospel towards all people, who, like me, live in this dark and treacherous age. You give and take away; yet your mercy endures forever. Maranatha. Amen.
[1]ESV. English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2001. Ecclesiastes 12:13. Print.
[2]Ibid., ESV. Isaiah 6:4-5.
[3]John Calvin, Translated by Henry Beveridge. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, LLC, 2008. P. 5. Print.
[4]Ibid., ESV. Job 38:1-3.
[5]Ibid., ESV. 1 Corinthians 6:19.
[6]Ibid., ESV. Romans 3:10.
[7]Ibid., ESV. Hebrews 10:26, 31.
[8]Ibid., ESV. Philippians 2:12-13.
[9]Jonathan Edwards. Revised and corrected by Edward Hickman. The Works of Jonathan Edwards: Volume Two. East Peoria, Ill: Versa Press, Inc., 2017. P. 9. Print.
[10]NKJV. New King James Version. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994. Jude 1,2. Print.