Love, Honor and Fear

Love, Honor and Fear


Malachi 1:6b

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?  says Yahweh of Hosts to you priests, who despise My name.”

The immediate context of this passage is God declaring his love and faithfulness to Israel, and the priests return for this love and faithfulness is a lack of love and respect for Him.

Love

God makes it clear, and anyone that has read the Bible through knows, that the story of history is God setting his love upon His people. It began with the perfection of creation. Then in Gen. 3:15 with the promise of Christ. It continued with Noah and his family being graciously saved in the ark, which was Christ. It manifested itself clearly when God called Abraham from the land of Ur and covenanted with him, and he sat idly by as God walked through the cut up animal that represented the harm that would come to Christ in order to save Abraham. It was seen in Isaac who was redeemed by the blood of Christ in the foreshadowing of the Lamb of God, Christ. Jacob encountered God's love in Christ time and time again, in the vision of the ladder, and even in his wrestling with God. It showed itself in Joseph, who had the King of the universe on his side at all times. Then the culminated of it in deliverance from slavery in Egypt by Moses, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the house of bondage..." and the Passover lamb, showing Christ. It continued through Joshua, the conqueror who like Christ would conquer all his and our enemies. It was clear in the Judges, that no matter how much sin, God would forgive and be gracious. Then it showed itself clearly in David, the man after God's heart, the kind and powerful ruler who was in love with God, and who was the ancestor of the Messiah, to which he predicted. It continued through the prophets, peeked its head up in Elija and Elisha, showed itself in Isaiah and Jeremiah, then in Hezekiah and Josiah.

The witness of Christ's love to the priests in the time of Malachi, and the people was so great that there couldn't be any question. God had set his love upon his people. So much so that they could look and see that the TaNaK (Torah [law], Nebim [prophets], Ketubim [writings]), the entire Scriptures, testified of the Messiah, Christ (Luke 24:26). Yes, this plan was made before the world was (Acts 4:27-28). God's grand design of love.

Love! That love was set on you, on me, and on God's people. This love was so great that it did not just allow God's people to be subject or servants, which all are, but also called them as sons!

So the heart of the Father was so loving towards His people, that they were part of the grand design of His Son dying on a cross.

But this love wasn't motivating enough for the priests to give God the very best in their sacrifices? This love, that Christ, God's Son, would be sent and pinned up on a cross, which they should have seen (Num. 21:4-9), and sacrificed for the remission of sins (Ex. 12:1-39).

But even so, if they didn't love God because he was their Father...

Honor

At least honor Him because He was their maker. They had Genesis 1-2 which clearly shows to them that God made them, and as such, he can command obedience and respect. After all, they were made out of the ground. They were not descended from gods, or eternal beings that had self-existence. They were finite creatures whose very purpose was to exalt God.

How is it that creatures, whose life essence, and continual existence, won't acknowledge that he is in charge, and that they should approach him with honor and respect. If he says come to me with the best sacrifices, then, if not because he set his love on them in Christ, but because he is the boss, they should do it.

But if that wasn't enough, if they didn't obey him and approach him as he required because he was their Father, or because he was their master, then at least...

Fear

They should approach him as if he was their ultimate judge. God holds the very keys of heaven and hell in his hand. Relationship with Him predicates eternal state and relation with Him.

If this is the case, then you would think that they would fear him, that they would revere and be in awe of Him.

Nothing

Nothing. No love, no honor, no fear. They brazenly did whatever they wanted to do, and approached Him in whatever way they felt like it. This is the height of arrogance and pride. And this is no different than Geneses 3:1-7. The fall.

But what about me?

Am I really any different or better than they are? I have more clear revelation, the NT. I have more powerful gifts, the indwelling Spirit that was promised (Ezek. 36). Do I offer to God sacrifices that please Him and that are according to His word and will? There are several areas to ponder this in:

Am I giving God my best

1. Worship

Am I offering God the best worship that I can give? Am I coming to worship with a heart that is prepared for Him to move? Have I confessed my sins to Him throughout the week, and ran to the cross for forgiveness? Have I confessed particular sins particularly, or just a general, "forgive me for all my sins?"

Have I prepared for worship? Did I go to bed at a descent time, and thus am wide awake and ready to listen to Him? Did I prepare my heart in the morning of worship by meditation on Him, by reading His word and experiencing Christ? Am I coming with an attitude of wonder and delight?

And the ultimate question: Am I coming through Christ? Because all worship that is brought through me is defiled and empty.

Am I giving God my very best.

2. Family

Do I really care about my family? Am I sacrificing my life for them? Am I teaching them that they are to be followers of Christ? Can they see Christ in me?

Do they know that I am giving them the best of my time and effort? Do they know that salvation is not by works but through Christ? Yet, do they know that we are to work because of Christ?

Am I discipling them in love? Am I really trying to be a mentor and a teacher, and not an authoritarian?

Am I giving God my very best?

3. Work

Am I working as hard as I can at my job? Am I working as if Christ was over my shoulder? Am I working as unto him?

Am I doing the right thing? Is my vocation one that is exalting God? Am I exploiting my gifts for God? Am I being an agent of regeneration in a lost and dying world?

Am I giving God my very best?

4. Play

Is my recreation time honoring to God? Or, is it a time when I exercise practical atheism? Am I constantly living my life corum deo, before the face of God?

If someone saw my "free" time, would they see that I am still a son of God, and servant of Christ?

Am I giving God my very best?

Life under the sun

Life under the sun is meant to be life under God. It is meant to be life that is lived in utter love, honor and fear of God.

Christ has redeemed us and set us free. He has put the Spirit in our heart. We have been regenerated, and now have a righteousness that we didn't have before. We have been given faith, and have believed in Christ. We have been justified, proclaimed innocent and declared righteous. We have been adopted, proclaimed to be sons or daughters of God. We are being sanctified, made more like Christ day by day, putting sin to death in our mortal bodies.

This is what Christ has done, is doing and will do. Does this fact motivate us to give our very best?

Let us today give our very best to God in and through Christ.