“1 God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! 2 Every living creature – birds, animals, fish – will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You’re responsible for them. 3 All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else.
(Genesis 9:1-3, from The Message).
The NIV uses fear and dread in the place of fear in this passage. I have found that respect and awe are also synonymous with fear.
I thought of how animals fear us. I understand that undomesticated animals are afraid of us at first.
They are likely to flee or fight when they realize we are near. I think it is only when they realize we are in dominion over them that they willingly submit to us out of respect and awe.
They will gladly obey us and even risk their own lives in fighting for us if they realize we love them.
My fear and dread of God is similar to that of animals for mankind. I was originally afraid of God, but I wanted positive relationship with Him. I eventually realized I could not please Him in my own strength. Only then did I see a need to me to trust Christ for my salvation. Now, in awe, I love and serve Him because He first loved me.
“8 But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.” (Romans 5:8, from The Message).
Now my fear is only when I know I have displeased Him. That is taken away when I confess my sins and realize He has already forgiven me because of the faith in Christ which He Himself gave me. As the old hymn expresses, “What a wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord.”