Reverence and Awe

22 But you have come to … 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Notice that our God IS a consuming fire,

not that he WAS a consuming fire

that he was firey at mount Sinai

(and somehow thereafter ceased to be a consuming fire).

Our God is a consuming fire!

Always was and always will be.

There is something frightening about fire!

And that’s the point!

It can hurt, it can get out of control, it can cause great damage – in short, it consumes

Think for a moment about the fires that raged this summer around the world

CNN: Greece is facing a "natural disaster of unprecedented proportions," as 586 wildfires burn in "all corners" of the country, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

CDP: Turkey: Nearly 225 fires in 47 provinces consumed the country, leading to mass evacuations and major destruction. More than 135,000 acres (55,000 hectares) were burned, destroying forests, homes, agricultural land and livestock

Similar stories from Italy, the USA, Bolivia, Siberia, Algeria

Fire is dangerous, destructive

And yet, our God presents himself to us as a consuming fire!

and because he is a consuming fire, we are exhorted to worship him acceptably, with reverence and awe

word studies

· reverence n. — a feeling of profound respect for a deity.

· awe (reverence) n. — an overwhelming feeling of fearful wonder for a deity.

Perhaps you prefer statements about God that are less threatening, such as

· God is love[1]

· God is light[2]

You may be more familiar with these, and happily quote them

there are other similar statements, such as

· God is merciful[3]

· God is gracious[4]

· God is faithful. [5]

these are more immediately comforting and encouraging

these are more quotable in modern society!

but how are we to respond when God presents himself to us as a consuming fire?

So what do you do with passages of Scripture that are challenging?

Let me tell you about a chap who was born in the second half of the first century

· a native of Pontus (now northern Turkey)

Probably a young lad when John received the Revelation on Patmos, also part of modern Turkey

· Marcion (c. 80–c. 160)

· his father was reported to have been a bishop and himself a wealthy ship-builder.

· He was active as a teacher in Asia Minor,

· perhaps as early as the opening decades of the 2nd century.

· Marcion arrived in Rome around ad 140

o and joined a Christian community,

o to which he made a significant financial contribution of some 200,000 sesterces.

o During this time, Marcion likely undertook the task of restoring scriptural texts he thought to be corrupted.

· Believing that later interpolations had corrupted the Scriptures,

o Marcion set out to restore them

§ to what he argued was their authentic and original form.

· “Ultimately, Marcion accepted the authority of only two New Testament “texts”:

o The Apostolikon (a 10-letter edition of the Pauline corpus:

§ Galatians, Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, 1–2 Thessalonians, Ephesians—known to Marcion as Laodiceans, Philippians, Philemon, and Colossians; Marcion’s Pauline corpus does not contain the Pastoral Letters of 1–2 Timothy and Titus)

o The Euangelion (a version of the Gospel of Luke)

o He rejected the OT as a Christian book

o In his view, the god of Jesus had put an end to the law,

§ but false prophets attempted to reinstate it by inserting (into the Christian Scriptures) Judaizing words, phrases, and entire passages that would connect the law of the creator-god with the gospel of Jesus.

o As a result, any material that was Jewish in nature had to go.

· Even within Marcion’s approved scriptures,

o he removed a large amount of content that he believed was erroneous, including:

§ passages in which Paul comments favorably about the law or quotes Jewish Scripture;

§ the first two chapters of Luke;

§ Luke’s references to Jesus fulfilling prophecies in the Jewish Scriptures.[6]

§ Marcion omitted the birth narratives from the gospel (of Luke!!)

· Marcion was convinced that Paul was the only true apostle and that the original twelve, by ‘Judaizing’, became false apostles.

o Galatians was placed first in his collection of Paul’s letters.

o collected the earliest known Christian canon,

§ and ten edited Pauline epistles (lacking the Pastorals).

· From Paul, Marcion deduced an exaggerated contrast between law and gospel.

o concluding that there are two Gods:

§ the God of the OT, the creator, who is a God of law and justice and who predicted the Jewish Messiah;

§ and the previously unknown God of the NT, the Father of Jesus Christ, who is a God of mercy and salvation.

§ Jesus Christ revealed the Father in the 15th year of the emperor Tiberius,

· In ad144, Marcion presented this “restored” version of scripture to the presbyters of his Roman church and expounded his distinct theology.

· Rejected

· Left the church to start his own movement

· Given his money back!

· the most infamous heretic in early Christianity.

· Very successful mission:

o planted congregations throughout the Mediterranean.

·

· Marcion’s views about God, Christ, the canon of Scripture, and the relation between Judaism and Christianity prompted the early church fathers to clarify their positions on these issues.[7]

[1] American Standard Version. (1995). (1 Jn 4:8). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [2] American Standard Version. (1995). (1 Jn 1:5). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [3] American Standard Version. (1995). (Dt 4:31). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [4] American Standard Version. (1995). (2 Ch 30:9). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [5] American Standard Version. (1995). (2 Co 1:18). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [6]Schmidt, C. J. (2016). Marcion. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. [7]Schmidt, C. J. (2016). Marcion. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.