The cross isn’t supposed to just make you feel amazed by God’s great love and grace. It is also supposed to deeply disturb and frighten you. Because God chose the cross when He had infinite options at His disposal. He chose to act totally two-faced regarding the topic of child sacrifice. He chose to mix lessons on love with reminders of His brutality and warnings about the intensity of His wrath. When we look at the cross, we should not just be feeling all safe and happy with a God who love, love, loves us. We should also be remembering that our Gods have a very dark side—one which never tires of brutality, gore, and pain. While our Gods certainly want us to feel secure in Their care, that security is supposed to be built on trust in Their good Character, not on a lack of fear.

If there is no element of fear in your relationship with God, then you are rejecting who He really is. Once you reject who God is, you run the risk of deluding yourself about your own salvation. You see, it isn’t some sweet Savior who offers to rescue us from Hell. It’s the same Guy who created Hell and considers it a fine idea. Reverence is a deep respect for God which comes from a great fear of His dark side. God demands that people fear Him throughout the Bible. Reverence is a requirement, not an option. Without reverence, it is impossible to please God, for the only way you can get yourself into a position where you have no fear of God is by totally denying so much of who He is. Yes, God is amazing love, abundant grace, and incredible patience. But He’s also terrifyingly violent, shockingly sadistic, and zealous for revenge.