The Fear of the Creator

There are many reasons why your faith in the accuracy and reality of the Biblical account of creation, as well as the obedience demanded by that faith, are essential to the Kingdom purpose of the LORD Jesus in the earth. In this article, I want to mention just a few of those reasons.

The Kingdom purpose of our Lord is inseparably associated with His redemptive purpose, and that has been, since Adam’s fall, the restoring of the earth (and every thing in it) to His loving will and design. This means that the ultimate removal of sin and it’s cause along with the physical restoration of the earth and our bodies will be accomplished by His sovereign power and in His appointed time. In deed and in truth, the time is coming (and I don’t think it’s to far in the future) when the knowledge of the glory of the LORD will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. Now, however, this same Kingdom purpose is associated with His grace and mercy bringing justification and sanctification to the hearts and minds of men so that they will be a fit temple in which our sovereign Creator and Lord can dwell and rule.

The degree to which God’s authority is reflected from the life of any believer is indivisibly connected to the control of our life and thought by what Solomon called the "fear of God." And as I shall show in this article, one’s fear of God can be no stronger than his faith in, and obedience to, God’s creationship.

As I travel across America conducting seminars, I find an overwhelming ignorance on the part of a great many believers regarding the importance of Biblical creation in the total scheme of God’s will for man, especially as it relates to the to the restoration of God’s kingdom on earth. Many even wonder why a ministry such as Creation Truth Foundation, Inc., is important at all! A case in point, recently one church member was overheard saying, "If Dr. Sharp would just preach the gospel and forget all this Creation "stuff," he would do much better."

Why do you suppose Solomon said that we should "...remember our Creator in the days of our youth..." (Ecclesiastes 12:1)? Because he knew the effectiveness of any Biblical aspect of our life is directly determined by the strength of our piety in this one matter. How else can you arrive at the conclusion of the whole matter? Which is: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

I have asked thousands of people, from all walks of life, ages, backgrounds, and from varied parts of the United States, if they believe the greatest problem in America to be a wholesale loss of the fear of God in the hearts and minds of our citizens. In every case, the answer is unanimously YES! I too think this to be our greatest problem.

"But," you ask, "How could this be our greatest problem?" It would obviously seem that our greatest problem in this country is associated with abortion, homosexuality, divorce, drugs, AIDS, etc., etc... (the list could go on and on), and the misery and hurt caused by these ills.

It is true these are tremendous problems. But their total solution does not lie with the offense, rather with its cause! This is why Solomon spoke so firmly that we should remember our Creator in our youth. Only as you remember (i.e. keep in memory or meditate upon) that God is your Creator and owner, can you develop an awesome reverence of His Godhood and a worshipful obedience of His word – this simply stated is the "fear of God!" Herein, according to Solomon, is knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), hatred of evil (Proverbs 8:13), long life (Proverbs 14:27;19:23), riches and honor (Proverbs 22:4) and contentment (Proverb15:16).

As you can see, the "fear of God" provides all of the godly qualities necessary to keep us from all delusion and moral breakdown. It should also be clear that a proper development of this godly attitude is totally founded upon the strength of one’s faith and complete acknowledgment of God as our Creator. Any weakness in our faith regarding the creatorship of our Lord Jesus instantly provides vacancy in our hearts for "strongholds" that always resist the total Lordship of our Savior. Thus surrendering the divine intent of the present Kingdom purpose – "...being conformed to the image of His Son..." (Romans 8:29).

G. Thomas Sharp Ph.D.