By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

Isaiah 11:2-3 “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. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; “

The concept of “the fear of God” is often misunderstood. It’s not about feeling dread or terror but rather about having deep respect for God. Reverence for God means honoring Him as the Almighty. This reverence is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit; we can’t do it on our own. The fear of God is not about being self-righteous or seeking approval from others. Instead, it’s about seeking God’s approval in everything we do or say. Naturally, we lack genuine reverence for God, but those who are born again and have Christ living in them can practice it by living a life of faith in Christ. The new life in Christ allows us to have a deep reverence for God when we “put on” Christ or adopt the new man, who is created to be like God in true holiness and righteousness. This new man, infused with the life of Christ, can live in a way that allows Jesus to work through them.

Let us review these words from our Lord Jesus in John 5:41-44: “I do not seek honor from men, but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in My Father’s name, yet you do not receive Me; if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?”

In this passage, Jesus is highlighting a critical point: these individuals were more concerned with receiving honor from people than with truly loving and honoring God. They were essentially self-righteous, showing little genuine love for God. To deeply honor God, we must believe and uphold His Word. Faith is essential to please and honor Him. Doubting God’s Word, in practical terms, amounts to calling Him a liar. This is far from showing Him honor. When we fail to walk in faith according to His Word, we are essentially accusing God of being untruthful

1 John 5:10 “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.”

 Another way of showing disrespect to God is through insincere worship. When we merely offer lip service in worship without genuine devotion from the heart, it reflects a lack of true knowledge and belief in God’s divinity.

 Matt 15:8 “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Giving offerings and tithes to God that fall short of what He deserves is, in fact, a form of disrespect. God expects us to honor Him with our gifts, as emphasized in these verses:

Proverbs 3:9 teaches us to “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your increase.”

Malachi 1:7-8 condemns the practice of offering defiled sacrifices on God’s altar. Those who do so show contempt for God, and it is akin to disrespecting the sanctity of the altar. This is illustrated by the analogy of offering blind, crippled, or diseased animals as sacrifices, which is considered wrong. The message is clear: if we wouldn’t present such subpar gifts to a governor, we should also honor God with our best offerings.

Blatant disobedience to God’s instructions, characterized by willful sin, means deliberately choosing to go against God’s commands, regardless of what He has said. Such actions have severe and disastrous consequences.

In 1 Samuel 15:22-23, Samuel emphasizes the importance of obedience over mere sacrifices and offerings. He likens rebellion to the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness to idolatry. Because King Saul rejected God’s word, God also rejected him from being king. Disregarding God brings about severe consequences, and God’s law about honoring Him remains relevant today, as it aligns with the teachings of our Lord Jesus:

Galatians 6:7 warns that we reap what we sow, emphasizing that God cannot be mocked. (KJV)

Matthew 7:12 encapsulates this law, stating that we should treat others as we want to be treated, summing up the Law and the Prophets.

God has a law regarding how He honors those who honor Him: 1 Samuel 2:30 explains that God honors those who honor Him and lightly esteems those who despise Him. Our Lord Jesus set an example by demonstrating deep reverence and honor for His Father during His earthly life. Hebrews 5:7-8 says that Jesus, while on earth, prayed fervently to God with deep reverence, and God heard His prayers. Even though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through suffering.

Our Lord Jesus consistently honored the Father, regardless of the circumstances. Even when facing suffering and agony, such as in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:41-44), He surrendered completely to the Father’s will, even to the point where His sweat resembled drops of blood. He continued to honor the Father even when He would soon bear the sins of humanity and be forsaken.

Jesus never acted independently but always depended on and fully submitted to the Father (John 5:30). He set aside His divine glory, becoming a man, and humbled Himself to obey the Father, giving all honor to Him (Philippians 2:6-8). Our Lord’s life reveals the secret of consistently honoring God: it was the Father working through Him by the Spirit of God (John 14:10-12). We, too, can live a life of deep reverence and honor by walking in faith in Him.

This emphasizes that the key to this life is faith in Jesus Christ, who is God and can be omnipresent, just like the Father. The Spirit of God, also known as the Spirit of Christ, is referred to as “the Spirit of the fear of God.” It is through this Spirit that people can receive God’s presence and walk in a life of deep reverence and honor.

In summary, our Lord Jesus exemplified a life of unwavering honor to God, even in the face of suffering and obedience unto death. He accomplished this by relying on the Father and allowing the Spirit of God to work through Him. Likewise, through faith in Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit of the fear of God, believers can live lives marked by deep reverence and honor for God.

We cannot live a life of deep reverence for God by our own efforts. Our fallen nature does not naturally honor God. Typically, we may resemble Pharisees, showing honor to God only in church or when it’s convenient for us.

However, it’s only through the new man, one who possesses eternal life and in whom Christ dwells, that a person can live a life akin to the one Christ lived because Christ’s life is within them. This eternal life is found in Christ, and through Him, we can experience it (1 John 4:9).

Living through someone else means enjoying their experiences and achievements instead of relying solely on our own. In this context, it means having faith in the Lord Jesus, whose experiences and achievements we share and enjoy. It’s not an extension of our own goodness or efforts; it’s a wholly new reality that goes beyond self-improvement.

Our natural life produces negative results, as sinful desires are at work within us (Romans 7:5). However, in Christ Jesus, we produce good fruits, including honoring God, not by obeying laws but by living the new spiritual life through faith (Romans 7:6). In Christ, we have a new life that is God’s own life in us, not our human life. Only Christ Jesus can manifest this life as we trust in Him (Galatians 2:20). This life operates by faith, just as our Lord Jesus trusted entirely in His Father.

Paul’s example demonstrates living by faith, with Christ living in him, allowing God to work through him (Galatians 2:20). Our Lord Jesus also trusted His Father entirely, acknowledging that He could do nothing on His own. When we live by the same faith, we give Jesus the opportunity to work through us, and we can say that it’s Christ living in us who performs these works. We can then replicate the works He did because we have allowed the Spirit of the fear of God to control our lives. This way of living involves the Spirit of Christ in us teaching us the fear of God and manifesting it through us, even when our feelings may not align because faith disregards feelings. Our only hope of experiencing the glorious life and works of the Holy Spirit is Christ living within us. There is no other way to witness His glory except by believing in Christ who lives in us (Colossians 1:27).

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor of Fountain Of The Living Word Church, New Jersey.