The Fear of the Lord
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isaiah 11:1-2
We’ve spent a couple weeks looking at the love of God. We looked at it in terms of receiving the love God has for us, and in response to His love, loving others. When we obey the commandment to love one another, not just by our words, but also by our actions, God’s love becomes perfected. It’s brought to full maturity. That full and complete love benefits us, and it benefits others through us.
Just like the Lord Jesus, we’re agents of God’s love. Praise God, we don’t have to die for the world. We are required, however, to do His will. The degree of our love for God is matched by the degree of our obedience to Him. That’s how we show our love to the Him. Keeping the commandments of God is proof of our love to Him, just as it was with Jesus (John 15:10). It’s also evidence of the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord in the Bible refers to a reverential regard and respect for God. It’s giving Him honor above all. It’s considered piety or for some, religious devotion. There is an element fright and dread in the fear of God, but the Scriptures mostly show it as honor, reverence, and awe toward God. Jesus had the fear of the Lord.
It’s good to remind ourselves that Jesus was born a human being. He did the same natural things all humans do, except sin. He was able to do all the wonderful things seen in the gospels because the Spirit of the Lord was on Him. The same is true of those in the Old Testament who had God’s Spirit. Jesus fulfilled God’s perfect will, completely. The Prophet Isaiah said He would have the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
The Lord had a tremendous regard and reverence for God the Father. When the time came for Him to begin His public ministry, he went to John to be baptized. Jesus had no sin nature, because He had no natural, sinful father (the sin nature is passed through the male seed). His Father was God. Jesus didn’t need the baptism of repentance, but He said it was necessary to fulfill all righteousness. It was the right thing to do, and God was pleased. He openly declared His pleasure in the Son (Matthew 3:13-17).
It pleases God when we do His will. Isn’t it faith that pleases God? It certainly is, and obedience is a sign of one’s faith, trust, and confidence. God is also pleased by other things. One of them is in those who fear Him (Psalm 147:11). It pleased the Father when Jesus submitted to baptism. Jesus did it, along with His other deeds, because He loved, honored, and reverenced the Father. He had the fear of the Lord.