While warrior cultures like that of the Vikings sought a heroic death, today death is feared or ignored. Western medicine is given over to the pursuit of protracting life, even at the expense of its quality. For humankind, however, death was not and is not God’s intention but is the result of men and women’s rebellion.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…(James 1:2)
The Greek word translated here is χαρά chara (Strong’s 5479) and it means gladness, delight and extreme joyousness.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1)
The last post concerned why any Christian should be God-fearing…this then is why, because through revelation, s/he realises the danger of being an ‘object of wrath’.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:36)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… (Proverbs 9:10)
Often in the modern church, ‘fear’ is said to be ‘respect’, ‘awe’ or ‘reverence’. Indeed, fear is thought to be incompatible with love. How could any fear a god which, through grace, offers salvation and eternal life? How could anyone keep the first commandment to love God, and yet fear Him at the same time? The answer lies in the rest of the verse from Proverbs:
….and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
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So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:27-30 KJV)
God Breathed Words 