Awe

Hi people, I am back with another topic, which God is helping me figure out. You see I was reading the Old Testament & I came across this verse.

Psalms 130:4

But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you.

I have checked the meaning of “awe” in an online dictionary and this is what I got…..

an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God;

Now what was God talking about when he said that we would stand in awe of him when he would forgive us? For us to stand in awe it would mean that God would do something so drastic/radical that we would be left stunned and speechless & he would do that just to forgive our own sins.

Now to try and make sense of the above piece of scripture I will make use of what I have learned from my Bible. I know that our God is a God who is just, loving & merciful. Check out some Old Testament scripture.

Psalms 33:5

The Lord loves what is righteous and just; his constant love fills the earth.

Psalms 145:8

The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love.

I also know that he forgives because of his Grace (because of how good he is and not how good we are). You see sin is a very serious issue for God & as our God is just, he deals with sin with justice. Now in the times of the Old Testament the wages of sin was living in separation from God, which was as good as death, I have quoted some supporting scripture showing God abandoning Israel at a point of time when Israel was lead into sin by its King Jeroboam.

1Kings 14:16

The Lord will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin.”

Some more scripture below on Gods dealing with sin,

Isaiah 57:17

I was angry with them because of their sin and greed, and so I punished them and abandoned them. But they were stubborn and kept on going their own way.

In the light of the above scripture I would like to add that just as God is just he also loves us immensely, he knows we are all sinners & will not survive to pay price of our sins which is eternal death. I have mentioned some scripture from the Old Testament to show as to how much God loves us.

Isaiah 49:15

So the Lord answers, “Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.

So you see just as God is just in dealing with sin (the punishment for sin cannot be escaped) & as said before God knows we will not survive his punishment & so because of his great love he sent his own Son to the world as a man to be that pure sacrifice that would take that punishment for sin which was to come upon us. As it is stated in my New Testament,

John 3:16

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

I would like to continue from Psalm 130:4 in my Old Testament and show you its complete fulfillment in the New Testament through Jesus.

Psalms 130:5-8

5 I wait eagerly for the Lord’s help,

and in his word I trust.

6 I wait for the Lord

more eagerly than watchmen wait for the dawn —

than watchmen wait for the dawn.

7 Israel, trust in the Lord,

because his love is constant

and he is always willing to save.

8 He will save his people Israel

from all their sins.

Now I would like to quote a verse from my New Testament where an angel of God speaks to Joseph, who was to marry Mary & tells him of Jesus’ purpose of coming to this world.

Matthew 1:20-23

20 While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. 21 She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus — because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 Now all this happened in order to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, 23 “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel” (which means, “God is with us”).

Now that I have shown you Jesus’ purpose, I would like to tell you that Matthew 1:21 from my New Testament is God’s promise that was spoken of to his people from Psalms 130:8 from the Old Testament.

As for verses 5 & 6 from Psalm 130 of my Old Testament, which shows God’s people eagerly awaiting their salvation from God, the same is spoken of in my New Testament showing people being saved and awaiting their salvation (Hebrews 9:28) because they trusted in the ultimate sacrifice that was from God for once and for all and for all sins of all times.

Hebrews 9:25-28

25 The Jewish High Priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

So as I said in my previous mails I will say it again all we have to do is believe in what Jesus has done for us. However I would also like to say that in order to accept forgiveness that comes from Jesus’ sacrifice we must first accept that we are sinners. It’s like you can only accept correction when you accept that what you have done is wrong. As it is stated in my Old Testament,

Lev 5:5

When a person is guilty, he must confess the sin,

Like the case of the 2 criminals who were crucified with Jesus, one of whom accepted his own punishment as just & recognized Jesus’ sacrifice, for Jesus’ death was through no fault of his (Jesus’) own & for that Jesus rewarded him with eternal life

Luke 23:32-43

32 Two other men, both of them criminals, were also led out to be put to death with Jesus. 33 When they came to the place called “The Skull”, they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing.”

They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice. 35 The people stood there watching while the Jewish leaders jeered at him: “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah whom God has chosen!”

36 The soldiers also mocked him: they came up to him and offered him cheap wine,

37 and said, “Save yourself if you are the king of the Jews!”

38 Above him were written these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, “Don’t you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. 41 Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” 42 And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!”

43 Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”

Note:

1. Even though Jesus was suffering to the point of death he was not furious or hurl insults at his persecutors but he showed his Godhead (a chip of the old block) by showing his mercy (Psalms 145:8) towards his persecutors & asking his Father to forgive them (Luke 23:34).
2. Jesus does not force himself on us, he knocks on the door of our hearts & leaves it to us to open that door and welcome him in. This is the sharp contrast between the 2 criminals that were put to death with Jesus, both of them knew he was the Messiah (Savior of the world) but only one accepted him.

So I hope you understand this very radical message & this is how (through Jesus’ sacrifice) that we stand in awe of God when he saves us.