"For God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power love and a sound mind" 2 Timothy 1:7NIV
The whole point of this scripture is moving God from his traditional view as judge to becoming a Father. Now, this gets very complicated I know. See because part of God's very nature is justice, God has the right to judgement at any given moment. Think of it in the same way your mom, or dad gets the "Because I said so rule." He is all wise, and all knowing, and therefore must surely be able to see farther out than we can. That can be a terrifying thought because that means God can judge sin. God is allowed to be angry with us when we fall short, when we fail, when we hurt others, or when we point blank stand against Him. None of us can be mad at that thought if in fact you believe that God is in deed the maker and creator of the world. As a matter of fact there is a principle in scripture floating around called "The fear of the Lord."
Which bring me to the point how can scripture both say God has not given us fear, yet we should fear He himself? If we have no Messiah this whole thing is a wash right? But, Jesus Christ took the Father's judgement on Himself. In essence the Holy mystery is this, God punished God's self in place of our judgment. I am not going to dig deep into this one because mystery means something we do not understand, or know. Let's just settle with God has forgone His own judgment on Himself through the person of Jesus of that you and I could be imputed into the fold of God. In other words we are allowed to walk into Heaven as equals with no interaction on our part. God's plan for salvation begins and ends with Jesus Christ, our role and responsibly is to accept that "Yes" God can love his creation that much to save it racially. What this verse is trying to peak out show us is that God's grace is radical. Its more than a gift, more than a favor, the heart of the divine is so passionate toward each and everyone of us that God being rightful judge slammed the gavel of guilt onto Jesus (The perfect Son) in order to set us free from the crimes we have committed against us (sin). Timothy is making a moving point here with us that if we understand the doctrine of Grace, if we know that Jesus has come in our place we are a part of the Heavenly family. God then becomes a Father figure to us. With that thought in mind we can play the "our dad is bigger than you dad" card. Christians were called, and still are called to have spiritual power, love, and a sound mind. Because God is on your side, because He moves in front of you, because your Heavenly Father clears the road for you and I we are able to look at life with a sense of recklessness for the mission of Christ. After all, how can you be afraid to fail the God who is on your side? How can you not feel the power given to you by God in the form of the Holy Spirit (God inside of us)?
Are you living today as if God is going to punish you, hurt you, judge you? Maybe you need to reconsider that if you believe in the sacrifice of the Cross of Christ, God is not your judge any longer, He alone is your Heavenly Father, and will make a way for you to fulfill the mission of Jesus Christ everywhere you walk. His grace goes before you! Live as if Heaven is today, love wildly, give grace to everyone. EVERYONE! Hate nothing, and no one. Most of all share this great news that Jesus is your savior, and Heaven is your home. God is not evil judge but the radically loving God who wants all creation to accept His gift to them.
Strive on my Friends, Strive On.
Richard Hiltibran-Lead Pastor
focusonthecross.org
