To Fear Man is to Forget God

Another golden quote from John Bunyan:

"If this God be our God; or if our God be such a God...we should never be afraid of anything we shall meet with, or that shall assault us in this world. The great God, the former of all things, taketh part with them that fear him, and that engage themselves to walk in his ways of love and respect, they unto him; so that such may say boldly, 'The Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man can do to me (Hebrews 13:6). To fear man is to forget God."

John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling (1998), pg. 39. 

Reading this excerpt, the question that come to my mind is: Who (or what) do you fear? You see, the resulting action of fear is concession. If you are afraid or fear the power of something or someone, you will concede to their demands. If you fear something, you will necessarily bend your knee to that something. In other words, you  obey what you fear.

When Bunyan talks about fearing man, or being afraid of something, I don't think he is so much referring to walking home in a dark alley and being fearful a man may jump out and mug you. No, he is talking about a much deeper issue. The deeper issue is, what does your soul fear? What does your soul concede to? What do you bend your knee and give your life to? What or who do you obey? 

What Bunyan describes in this passage is the basic decision each human has in this life. The decision is what will you primarily obey? Will your primary obedience be to man or things of this world? Or, on the contrary, will your primary obedience be to God and His Kingdom? As Bunyan states, to fear man is to forget God. To ultimately fear what man can do is to forget that God is the one who is ultimately powerful. The establishments of man are but specs of dust compared to the eternal Creator. All things on heaven and earth are held together by God's hand. Their is not one molecule in the entire cosmos that is known and upheld by our Creator. God is the one who gives life and takes it away. Not man. 

When we stop the fathom the eternal power, sovereignty, and majesty of God, it makes perfect sense to live a life that is dependent and obedient to him. Why would we fear man or circumstances on this earth when the all powerful Creator of the universe offers us Himself?

To Be Fully Known and Truly Loved

Tim Keller strikes again. Came across this a couple days ago.

"To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.

To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. 

But to be fully known and truly loved, is, well, 

a lot like being loved by God. 

It is what we need more than anything. 

It liberates us from pretenses, 

humbles us out of our self-righteousness, 

and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us."

Tim Keller

True Community

"There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community."--M. Scott Peck

I like this quote because I think it captures one of the immanent desires of every human heart; the desire to know, and to be known. Or, in other words, to love and to be loved. As humans, we were created for community. We were made to be in communion with God, and we were made to be in communion with one another. As Peck states, ultimately, there is no life without community. 

But what holds us back from this community for which we were created? What holds us back from the peace and life we all long to experience and feel through this transparent community? It is the fear of being known fully. It is the fear that when we are vulnerable, and people see the real us, there will not be community, but there will be rejection. 

The gospel allows us to experience true community, with God and with others, because it frees us to openly recognize our hidden mess. It frees us to acknowledge our sin, our brokenness, our fears, our inadequacies. So, as Peck touches on, experiencing true community or "life", starts with taking the risk of being vulnerable. It starts with the recognition of our own need and our own longing to be known and loved amidst our hidden mess. It starts with coming to Jesus as we truly are, poor and needy sinners. Here, is where true life is experienced. This is where we experience grace, joy, and love the most. 

Facing Death For Our Sake

"The wonder of the love of Christ for his people is not that for their sake he faced death without fear, but that for their sake he faced it terrified. Terrified by what he knew, and terrified by what he did not know, he took damnation lovingly"

Donald MaCleod in "The Person of Christ"

Taste and See that the Lord is Good

Psalm 34 Promises

Vs. 4 "I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears."

Vs. 6 "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles."

Vs. 7 "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."

Vs. 18 "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit."

Vs. 19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

Vs. 22 "The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned."

....

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

He came to rescue the SCARED, the POOR, the TROUBLED, the HUMILIATED, the BROKENHEARTED, the CRUSHED, the AFFLICTED and those LOW IN STATURE.

Gospel promises are made manifest in the lives of repentant sinners. Sinners who claim nothing of their own, but simply claim Jesus Christ. He is the power and perfect fulfillment of every saving promise. Because of his life, death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God, we are united to Him by grace through faith, and are promised the gift of being raised from our lowly state to His TRIUMPHANT state in eternal glory. If that isn't freeing, I don't know what is.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8

Does God Get Upset When We Disobey?

A great video from David Powlison per Justin Taylor's blog.


Dr. David Powlison - Does God get upset when we disobey? Part 2 from CCEF on Vimeo.

Outline:
00:45 – Summary of what was said in part one.
02:08 – How is God different from earthly fathers?
05:15 – How can God be disappointed in us if He has complete foreknowledge?
07:46 – The importance of understanding our union with Christ.
09:45 – The comfort of forgiveness and redemption for those who are fearful.