THE FEAR FACTOR: God Fear – Part 2
Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
THE CHAIN: Dominion (Your choice) → God (Truth as Source) → God Fear (The Multiplier) → His Word → Knowledge → Understanding → Wisdom → Identity → Authority → Decision → Outcome → Reality → Readjustment → Corrective Decision → Life
I. Truth Is the Only Thing That Actually Governs Human Behavior
John 18:37-38 – 37Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”
• You follow the voice of whatever you are OF.
• "What is truth?" is not a philosophical question for the unbeliever.
II. God Is Not Just Truthful – He is Truth Itself
John 17:17 – Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
• Jesus is not asking the Father to use truth – He is declaring that the Word IS truth.
• Truth is not a concept – It is a person.
John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Truth has a text.
John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 8:32 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
III. Truth Defines Who You Are before It Tells You What to Do
Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
• God deliberated over you before He designed you in His Image.
− "Let Us make" is God saying, "it is Our intention to do this."
• Your image comes before your assignment.
− "Let them have dominion" is a royal edict of delegated choice, God's decreed will spoken over you before you drew your first breath.
IV. God fear is what keeps the chain producing Life
Luke 10:19 – Behold, I give unto you POWER to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the POWER of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
• Jurisdiction is more powerful than Power
− Jesus gives you Jurisdiction; Authority – (exousia) delegated authority
− The enemy has Power – (dunamis) inherent power
Matthew 28:18 – And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
• You must be Under Authority for your Authority to Function.
Matthew 8:9 – “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
• God fear produces a powerful life
Proverbs 22:4 – By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life.
− RICHES – (osher) Not a prosperity promise. A comprehensive abundance. Substance that is real, that grows, that sustains.
− HONOR – (kavod) weight – actual substance, real significance, gravity
− LIFE – (chayyim) This word is plural. Not life – lives. Not bare existence, not biological continuation, but the full, multidimensional, abundant reality of a life operating exactly as God designed.
John 10:10 – I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
• This is what the end of the chain looks like in real life – on a Monday morning when it is hard.
Romans 14:7 – For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
Proverbs 3:5-6 – 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.