Job was very clear in his mind that all the blessings in his life were from God and he told his wife that God had blessed them with good things. However, Job offered sacrifices unto God very often out of his reverential fear of the holiness of God. Job probably only understood Phileo love which is a conditional love, and it means “I will love you if you love me”. Thus, he concluded that God would only bless him when he was good and punish him when he was not walking in line with Him. Of course, that’s what was required in the Mosaic covenant where blessings would come to them if they obeyed and walked in God’s ways, but curses would come upon them if they rebelled against God. Job was oblivious to the devil’s existence and thought that God was the cause of his tribulations. Hence, in the entire book of Job we read that the devil had caused all of them to blame God as the source of his suffering. Many Christians and unbelievers will be disillusioned about the love and even the existence of God if we are unaware that it is the work of the devil to kill, steal and destroy. We will blame God, be bitter against Him even to the extent of denying our faith! Job’s wife was furious with God! There are many Christians who have an issue with God because of the wrong perception of Him.
Many will be misinformed during a period of deep suffering if we are fearful of talking about the work and schemes of the devil. During this pandemic and economic crisis, many are fearful of stepping out the front door or losing their wealth. These are tormenting thoughts unless we are strong believers of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This was a pivotal and watershed moment at the Cross and after the resurrection of Jesus. God showed us what is unconditional love or Agape love because Jesus came to declare GOD to us through His life, ministry and death. The Scripture above reveals to us that Christ died for us while we were YET sinners, imperfect and ungodly. Job only knew about God through oral tradition. Job lived in fear and torment. However, we have the Bible and through its progressive revelation, has given us a clearer perspective of God. God showed us His love while we were ungodly and will continue to love us unconditionally after we are saved. Despite our shortcomings, we are hidden in Christ and once we have this positional truth embedded in our hearts and know how God looks at us, it will cast out all fear. We can have faith in God instead of being fearful that sicknesses and pain are ways God uses to punish or discipline us. We do not have to live in fear nor be tormented by it.
Sermon Series: Job and I (Part 4)
你是否饱受恐惧的折磨?
约伯记3:25-26 因我所恐惧的临到我身，我所惧怕的迎我而来。 我不得安逸，不得平静，也不得安息，却有患难来到。”
约伯共鸣了人类最大的恐惧，那就是失去财富和健康。约伯一直生活在恐惧中，害怕他生命中所有的美好事物，特别是他的孩子，他的健康和财富会被上帝夺走。这是他最大的恐惧，一直折磨着他！
约伯心中很清楚，他生命中的所有祝福都是来自 神的，并且他告诉妻子 神把美物都赐给了他们。然而，出于对 神的圣洁的敬畏，约伯常常向神献祭。约伯可能只理解Phileo的爱，这是有条件的爱，意味着“如果你爱我, 我也会爱你”。因此，他得出结论， 神只有当他表现好的时候才会祝福他，如果他不行 神的道，就会受惩罚。当然，这就是摩西之约所要求的，如果他们顺从并按照 神的方式行，祝福就会降临到他们身上，但是当他们悖逆时，诅咒会降临到他们身上。约伯不知道魔鬼的存在，以为 神是他苦难的根源。因此，在整个《约伯记》中我们读到，魔鬼使得他们所有人都把约伯苦难的源泉归咎于 神。当不知道那杀害、偷盗和毁坏的始作俑者是魔鬼时，许多基督徒和非信徒都会对神的爱大失所望，甚至怀疑祂的存在。我们会责怪神，对祂心怀苦毒，甚至放弃信仰！约伯的妻子对 神大为恼火！有不少的基督徒出于对神的错误认识而对祂耿耿于怀。
当身陷极深的痛苦之时，如果我们惧怕谈论魔鬼的作为和诡计，就会误导许多人。在这场疫情和经济危机期间，许多人怕得不敢踏出家门半步，或者害怕失去财产。除非我们是耶稣基督的坚定信徒，否则这些想法会不断折磨我们。
罗马书 5:8唯有基督在我们还做罪人的时候为我们死，神的爱就在此向我们显明了。
耶稣钉十字架以及复活之后，这是一个关键的分水岭时刻。 神向我们展示了无条件的爱或Agape的爱，因为耶稣通过祂的生命、事工和死亡来向我们显明 神。上面这段经文向我们揭示基督在我们还是罪人、不完美和不敬虔的时候就为我们死了。约伯对 神的了解只有来自口述的传统。约伯生活在恐惧和折磨中。而我们却有圣经，并通过圣经中渐进的启示，使我们对 神有更清楚的认识。 神在我们不敬虔的时候向我们显明了祂的爱，在我们得救后， 神仍将继续无条件地爱我们。尽管我们有不足，但我们是隐藏在基督里的，一旦我们把这个关乎地位的真理嵌入心中，知道上帝是怎样看我们的，这将驱散一切的恐惧。我们就能对 神有信心，而不是害怕疾病和痛苦， 以为这些是 神对我们的惩罚或管教。我们不必生活在恐惧中，也不需要被它折磨。
讲章系列: 约伯与我（第四部分）