His Wind My Awe! Series

Video Transition: Reflection from sermoncentral.com

His Wind my Awe!

Question: Do you have an awe and wonder for God?

By Michael McCartney

Scripture:

Luke 7:16: They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” (NIV)

Luke 17:16: Everyone was frightened and praised God. They said, “A great prophet is here with us! God has come to his people.” (CEV)

Luke 17:16: Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” (NASB)

(Notice awe and fear are interchangeable!)

The primary Greek word for both fear and awe is f?ß?? (phobos), which denotes fear, terror, awe, and reverence. It often signifies a profound, trembling awe or respect, particularly in the presence of the divine or supernatural, as opposed to just fright or being afraid.

Thought: This fear of God should cause us to revere Him and Awe Him.

• A = Astonishment or Amazement of the Lord and His Creation

• W = Wonder of the Lord and His Creation

• E = This fear and reverence should cause us to Exalt the Lord of Creation!

So, what is you AWE factor for God? Rate yourself from 1-10. Be honest!

Greek Words and meaning for Awe:

• Phobos (f?ß??): Covers a spectrum from dread to respectful awe (used in the New Testament to describe the "fear of the Lord").

• Deos (d???): Refers specifically to awe, fear, or reverence.

• Phobeo (f?ß??): The verb form, used in contexts of being afraid, but also in awe.

• Eulabeia (e???ße?a): Means caution, reverence, or godly fear.

These terms, especially phobos, define a state of being overwhelmed by power or majesty, commonly used in the context of reverential fear.

So, what caused this “Awe – This Godly Fear” in our Scripture from Luke? – The answer is Jesus raised the widow Nain’s son from the dead during a funeral procession he ran into!

A Widow’s Son Luke 7:11-17 (NIV)

11Soon Jesus and his disciples were on their way to the town of Nain, and a big crowd was going along with them. 12As they came near the gate of the town, they saw people carrying out the body of a widow’s only son. Many people from the town were walking along with her. 13When the Lord saw the woman, he felt sorry for her and said, “Don’t cry!” 14Jesus went over and touched the stretcher on which the people were carrying the dead boy. They stopped, and Jesus said, “Young man, get up!” 15The boy sat up and began to speak. Jesus then gave him back to his mother. 16Everyone was frightened and praised God. They said, “A great prophet is here with us! God has come to his people.” 17News about Jesus spread all over Judea and everywhere else in that part of the country.

Wow – could you imagine witnessing this powerful – miraculous event? It struck fear and awe into the people who witnessed it! They concluded God is among us in Jesus – He has power to bring people back from the realm of the dead!

Background: Luke is writing his Gospel with the help of traveling ministry partner Paul – and he chooses to focus on how Jesus ministered to the outcast, outlaws, and outsiders of the day. People like women and sinners and Jewish enemies! He wanted to point out that God is no respecter of people!

Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This miracles of Jesus – really all his miracles – should wow us - this is why I love The Chosen because your experience it from the movie series more dramatically – When I watch them in In- The Chosen, they give me goosebumps and move me emotionally!

But not so with a lot of Christians today – you may ask “Why not?” Our problems is it’s too familiar to us – but it was not common back in those days to hear miracle stories – Jesus revealed His resurrection power – His power over death!

Scientists call this inattentional Blindness – We have a tendency to miss all the little miracles happening with in us and around us and above us every single day – we only notice them when something goes wrong in that cycle of miracles!

Recall he had empathy for this mom who was all alone – this death would have placed her into severe poverty and the dilemma to have no one to care for her! Jesus decided to fix the problem!

Thesis of Message: We as Christians should have an awe and holy fear of Jesus who was God in the flesh – He was not just another nice guy! He had power and authority over the things in this world and beyond this world – He was part of Creation – this should give you goosebumps! We should be chasing His wind of the Holy Spirit so we will be awed by His majestic glory and power.