“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”
(2 Cor 5:11).
Many times growing up in the faith, I used to view God as a Terror. The above verse of Paul’s epistle to the Church of Corinth held me in so much trepidation towards the Lord God.
Little did I know that I actually interpreted this verse in error, and hence my drift into fear and self-preservation mode each time I tried to commune with our Father.
God has been mis-understood for ages, and there are several scriptures in the Old testament that are culprits of this flaw.
The true nature of God was obscured by man’s selfish reasoning, which inturn blinded their hearts from seeing God’s nature, up until Christ came to reveal Him.
The above verse of epistle can be truly understood if you were to remove the word ‘terror’ and replace it with “awesomeness “.
I had to do a deeper study of that verse by comparing scriptures with scriptures, and word for word.
Where else was the word terror used to describe God, and what meaning did it convey? Indeed what context?
The first is Genesis 35:5 -:
“And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.”
Here we see a true picture of the meaning of the phrase ‘terror of God’. It means ‘shekinah glory’, or ‘awesome power’ of God’s presence.
It’s the same glory that Prophet Balaam interpreted as ‘shout of the King’ when he couldn’t curse the Israelites.
He said to Balaak:
” God has not observed the iniquity of Jacob, and the “shout of the King” is amongst them.(Num 23:21).
That is talking about the palpable glorious presence of God in the camp of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness.
King David saw this awesome power and exclaimed in Psalm 19:1-3
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”
The awesomeness of God is so mighty and thick on earth that you could literally cut a piece from it with a knife.
Apostle Paul describes it in Romans 1:20
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
So, in essence what Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthian church is that he and those with him had already become acquainted with God’s awesome power, and do therefore persuade them to do same. To reverence the Lord and refrain from ungodliness and evil. He never meant that God was a Terror and ready to deal.
No one truly understood God or appreciated his true personality. None, not even Moses, David, or Elijah, not until Christ.
The Prophets only caught a vague glimpse of God and prophesied in their limited knowledge and concept of God.
I don’t care how mighty or accurate their prophecies turned out to be, when it came to God, and his true nature, they were but ignorant men.
Hebrews 1:1 tells us that God finally revealed his nature through his true representative, Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1:1-3
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
So, what testimony did Christ give of God?
First he chided the people for their ignorance of God’s true person.
“Jesus answered and said unto them,
Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”
(Matthew 22:29).
No man has ever seen God at anytime he said.(Jn 1:18).
This excludes Adam who operated in the God – class before the Fall, but includes everyone thereafter: Job, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah et al.
And no one truly knew God amongst these folks. Why?
Because they didn’t have the privilege we have today. They never met the glorified Christ.
Jesus said concerning this truth:
Luke 10:22
“All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”
GOD’S TRUE NATURE.
To understand the nature of God, you will first understand the true definition of Love, for God is love. (1 John 4:8).
And you can’t know the meaning of love except you first understand Sin. Especially what God did about sin.
Let’s define love and bring out a meaning from it.
1 John 4:10
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
This is the only authentic definition of love. Everything outside of this is man’s wilful effort at loving, which will always and has always come short.
Man is incapable of loving, for that is not his nature. The un-regenerated man is by nature a selfish being. No matter how much he pledges to love God or his fellow, he will always come short.
We saw that in David, we saw that in Peter.
I also saw that in Me. All my efforts at loving God failed, up until I met Christ and received his love.
Jesus said:
“All that came before me are thieves and robbers….”.
Any teaching or injunction delivered to you to love people without first receiving God’s love in Christ is a false religious doctrine.
At best, it’s a bodily exercise which profits little.
“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”
(1 Timothy 4:8).
‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and all thine soul’ is from the Law of Moses.
It was not meant to be kept; because God himself knew that Man could not in any way meet up.
But in Christ, it’s a new day.
Love takes a new meaning after we have received Christ.
And there is a wonderful fall out: we become sons.
Gal 4:6
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
And a new hope indwells us.
Romans 5:5
“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
BY NICH MBAEZUE-DANIEL
(TO BE CONTINUED )