GOD’S POWER AND AUTHORITY

In the last post I addressed the importance of obedience in showing a healthy fear of the Lord. To command obedience one must be recognized as possessing the authority and power needed to enforce compliance. The first chapter of the Bible attests to the power and authority of Almighty God as the Creator of heaven and earth.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

His power and authority were in great evidence through the plagues directed against Egypt that forced Pharaoh to give the Jewish people their freedom. None was more spectacular than the parting of the waters of the Red Sea.

Deuteronomy 11:2–4 “And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;”

One of the primary reasons God chose to work such mighty miracles on behalf of the people of Israel was to instill a healthy “fear” of Him into His people and all the people on earth.

Joshua 4:24 “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”

In other scripture we are encouraged to fear the Lord based on the awesome evidence of His power and authority as shown in the creation.

Jeremiah 5:22 “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?”

Jesus wasn't very politically correct; He was very direct in declaring that we should fear God because of His authority and power regarding our eternal destiny.

Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Jesus worked miracles to prove His power and authority and to encourage people to accept Him as their Savior as evidenced by the words He spoke when He raised Lazarus from the dead.

John 11:41–43 “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”

This truth was also affirmed by the Apostle John.

John 20:30–31 “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

A healthy fear of the LORD is evidenced through our acknowledgment of and submission to His power and authority in our lives.