Fear Not Fear
Throughout the scriptures, the word 'fear' is mentioned. Fear, by definition, is an unpleasant feeling of anxiety or apprehension caused by the presence or anticipation of danger. So is fear a thing or being? We have all experienced fear in our lives, some fear hardly nothing while others fear everything. We fear our children being abducted—that is the anticipation of fear and a soldier fears entering a mine field—that is the presence of fear. Both are feelings of anxiety with the presence of fear. So, it is a feeling, but also a reality. Of course, we do not live with this fear always; we learn to live with the presence of it in our lives.
As Christians, who read and believe the scriptures, we are told over three-hundred times to fear not, however, as Christians we often times have more fear than the unbelieving world—my question is why? Before Christ came to earth, God was a being who sat on the mountain, a God whose name was reverenced and whose name could hardly be spoken because of the fear He instilled on His people. Of course, as we have read, the people would rebel and God would punish them to keep them on the straight and narrow. As any good father who loves his children, discipline is mandatory to keep one's children in line and a way to ensure that that child will grow up and be a good man/woman—or so that is the hopes and aspiration of a parent. But still, mankind had fear—the fear of death that led to nothingness, a death that was final, a death that was bitter.
While on earth, God promised His people: Fear not, I am the Lord your God who goes out before you in battle…Fear not to enter this land and conquer it…many fear not’s are recorded in the scriptures, but still the one fear that could not be overcome was the fear of death, and the ruler of that domain was Satan, who brought the idea of fear into the world with the deceiving of Adam and Eve. With one simple lie, mankind was separated from their Creator through the greatest adversary ever imagined—fear.
What was God to do?
1 John 4:18, 19 tells us: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. (And keep in mind that the word 'perfect' in Greek means wholeness).
Who is the wholeness of love? Who is perfect love? God sent his only Son, Jesus, to save us from the power of death. The only answer was to defeat death, by the power of love—the power of self-sacrificial, perfect love in the embodiment of our Lord and Savior. In the book of Hebrews, Saint Paul writes: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.
Again, we read about Satan that had the power and fear over death—the anxiety and presence of death held God’s people in the bondage of fear. So Christ came and became man, He took on our flesh and blood, He took on the sweat and tears, the pain and suffering, He became a man and allowed His own creation to crucify Him.
Was he afraid?
Yes, He was! He asked His Father if it were possible to take away what He was about to endure, but perfect love cast out fear and Christ boldly took all our places on the cross. And through that one single monumental action, He destroyed the only hold Satan had over us—the power of fear—the power and completeness of death.
Through Christ, God became tangible and real. Through Christ the Father reunited with His creation and brought us back to Him.
Do we still have fear?
Yes, we do. Christ plainly explained to us that we only need to fear the One who has the power to cast us into the lake of fire, the One who can destroy the soul—that being IS NOT Satan. The Father is the only being that has the power to destroy the soul and His desire is for all mankind to reunite with Him, and through His Son’s sacrifice, we all have the choice to enter into eternity, to enter into the glory and presence of God. But we have the equal choice to cast ourselves into utter darkness and follow after Satan. We become our own judge, jury and executioner—we have the authority through our actions and free will to end up with Christ, or without Him.
We no longer are in the bondage of death, we have the gift of life. We no longer need to fear death, the war against it has been fought and won. We no longer need to fear Satan, his power over us has been destroyed. We do not need to fear, for the anticipation of death has been removed, the fear of death has been destroyed and replaced with perfect love.
We need to live our lives in a way that we glorify Christ with our actions. We are called to be people of justice, purity and holiness. We are called to be honest, truthful and joyful. We are called to serve the world with humility and love. We are called to live lives free of fear and torment. God wants to give us His blessings and rain upon us His goodness and glory. We need to boldly pronounce to the world who we are and not fear to be Christians.
