The Fear, Glory, and Worship of God

Notes

Ans.—The word "fear" in its primary sense expresses terror, apprehension, dread. When enjoined as a duty or Christian grace, it refers to reverence; it is awe and love combined. If we know God, we will have some sense of His wondrous, dreadful, and ineffable glory and of our own utter insignificance. In the light of His glory will we see our shame; in the light of His holiness, our sin; in the light of His purity, our corruption; and when we see that all these perfections are given in love through Christ to save us, it creates love within our hearts, and fear and love combine in reverence. These views of self and God will lead us to choose God's will and way in preference to our own. It is this wisdom which leads to the keeping of the commandments of God. He who chooses his own way, or the way of men, in preference to that of God, has not the fear of God before his face.

Notes

Ans.—God's glory is His goodness, His character. When Moses asked God, "Show me Thy glory," the Lord answered, "I will make all My goodness pass before thee." Ex. 33:18, 19. This the Lord did, as recorded in Ex. 34:5-7.

Notes

Ans.—(a) That, as God's glory is His character, that character is manifest in His holy law, the rule of his government. (b) That to render this glory to Him is to obey that law, or to submit to let that law work out in us God's character. In other words, fearing God and giving glory to Him is equivalent to fearing God and keeping His commandments. This is emphasized by the fact that the law of God is the great rule of judgment.

Notes

1. Jehovah is the true God. There are no other gods save Him. This is evident from the further fact that He is the living God. He not only has life, but He is the source of life, having all power, not only to create, but to uncreate and re-create. He, therefore, is an everlasting King. This is what He desires to be to all in His creative power manifest in the gospel. He is not merely a Creator of ages ago. He is a Creator now, the great living, present I AM, a present Helper, Saviour, Redeemer, Sanctifier. Faith in the creative power of God is ever and always its present application through the gospel to our souls' need. Of this present work of saving, re-creating man, the Sabbath—God's creative memorial—is a sign. It ever reminds us that the God of the Sabbath is the living God.

2. Worship Him.—We truly worship that which we truly serve. Service, or obedience, is the test of love and worship. The text also shows that the great world, to whom the message is addressed, is fearing, giving glory to, and worshiping some other power than the Creator. The gospel is given in its purity to call them to the worship of the living God, the Creator of the heavens and earth, the sign of whose power the Sabbath is.