Read this - http://www.gracecentered.com/the_roar_of_the_lamb.htm
I agree. Jesus Christ and God Himself have been reworked and image refined without consent for years in America. We have so much bought into the idea that our feelings and rights are paramount that the thought of anyone, even God daring to give commands and not just "His feelings on certain matters that He would appreciate us considering" seems out of line to us. And that is way out of line.
What we hate to admit is that fear can be a great thing. It's an incredible tool for priority alignment and ego control. Many times we stray from God in large part because we have slowly (or fastly) raised our thoughts and opinions to the point that God Himself is just another voice to consider, not the Almighty creator, saviour, and GOD that He is. Fear can strip away that dangerous Satan encouraged lie that tells us we are in control, we are the only ones who can decide truth for ourselves, and we are the only ones with the God given right to choose our individual paths and actions- But God never gave that right. Fear reminds us of that. It forces us to see that He gave us the choice to make a choice, not total freedom of the consequences that go with it when we choose wrong and taunt the lion.
That's why God says fear of Him is the beginning of wisdom. Because fear realigns us correctly concerning who is worthy to be feared, who is in control, who holds the power. In other words - who is God.
Think about this - when God called His people to Him to make a covenant with them as "His people," you know what He did first? He came down and shook the mountain and absolutely terrified them - all of them - even Moses. You think God didn't know what He was doing? You think He went "Whoops - Didn't know I'd get that reaction. I was just trying to make a great entrance, but looks like I took it too far. How embarrasing!" No - I think God knew exactly what would happen and how they would react. And He got what he wanted. He knew they would tremble and He did it because He knew they needed to tremble. God knew that God's people needed to fear God. It's impossible to seperate it from knowing God. If you've never come to God with fear - I doubt you have ever come before God at all. No man can stand in presence of GOD with any true idea of who He is without walking away with a sense or awe, reverance, and yes - fear. Too many of us today think we have been before God, and yet somehow walk away feeling like we just blessed Him with our presence, instead of being humbled by His.
I'd much rather be reminded about the Lion in God's nature in an article here and now than stand too late on judgement day with the realization that I spent a lifetime seeing God as only a lamb. You need to be able to see the Lion - if you can't - the roar is probably a lot closer than you know.
Somehow I cannot deeply feel the fear. I cannot fear the fear.
That is, as I've said elsewhere, the awe/reverence/fear we ought to feel for God is not small -- it's not trendy -- it's real live fear, fear that will make your teeth chatter and your underwear suddenly need changing, if you dwell on the vast difference between His holiness and power, and your own.
Every time I meditate upon my shortcomings, my flaws, my nasty rebellious sins, I can entertain the fear for a while -- but it won't stay around.
I can't fear the fear. I accept it, I know it's there and I know it's appropriate, but the simultaneous mental image of me being wrapped forever in the arms of One who died for me counterbalances it.
I think the fear of God comes largely from an awareness of who He is--His otherness. I'm thinking of Isaiah's "man of unclean lips" reaction or Peter's "get away from me; I'm not worthy" reaction the first time Jesus caused him to catch a miraculous batch of fish.
God is high and pure and holy, and without Him, we're not.
The dichotomy is that when this fear takes root in us, we no longer need fear his wrath. I'm thinking of Psalm 103, which talks about how God doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, removes our sins far from us, knows we are dust. And throughout the psalm, the people He does this for are described as "those that fear Him".
Sometimes when I look up in the night sky and it goes on and on and on and I get an intimation of eternity, I shudder. Then, I think, I glimpse a small part of God's otherness and, as a mere human, realize my own smallness and unworthiness.
That's what I think of when I think about fearing God.
Do you remember the roar of Aslan after he made agreement with the "queen"? That's what I think of. His authority so real, that even in the moment that he chose to lay down his life, his voice was commanding and supreme. That was constantly on my mind as I read the article.