Psa 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
Two things are involved in *experiencing God's working in our lives (having his caring attention/eye on us), thereby moving (motivate) us to faithfulness i.e. to obedience.
fear of the Lord
And
hope in eternal life
Fear- The utmost regard for God's absolute rule (sovereignty), majesty, power, and holiness. This is the beginning of wisdom i.e. where wise living starts.
Hope- The anticipation of being in God's presence and experiencing the fullness of who he is in all his infinite Love **according to or in proportion to our faithfulness to him in this life.
"... who hope in his steadfast love..." Why do we hope in his steadfast love? Don't we have and experience his love now? We do but only by faith, not yet by sight i.e. not through direct first-hand experience but "through a glass darkly..."
Though God's disposition is one of perfect love towards us and can not be added to or taken away from (since it's based on the perfect work of Christ and not our imperfect feeble attempts at perfect faithfulness), we will not experience the fullness of his love until we see him in eternity face to face.
It is this hope, the hope of glorification, and the promise of an increased (and increasing) ***experience of his love, that moves us to diligently pursue to him.
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." I John 3:2-3
"For the one who ****sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." Gal 6:8-9
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*We must distinguish between having God's love and participating/experiencing it. Having it is based on Christ's efforts alone, not ours. We can never do enough to secure God's love for us. Experiencing his love, however, is contingent on us participating in his love by faith i.e. faithful obedience.
** "according to..." also carries with it a respect/fear for God i.e. he does things a certain way (according to design) and if we do not live accordingly we experience the repercussions of living contrary to our design.
** "according to..." also carries with it a respect/fear for God i.e. he does things a certain way (according to design) and if we do not live accordingly we experience the repercussions of living contrary to our design.
***The essence of our reward is greater union with God and therefore a greater participation and firsthand experience of his perfect love is in proportion to our faithfulness i.e. faithful obedience.
By "in proportion..." we mean our experience and participation in God's love throughout eternity is in proportion to our trust/faithful obedience to him now, in this life. Participation in God's love throughout eternity is the reward for our faithfulness now, in this life.
****Sewing and reaping is evidence of design and a Designer.
