Fear Not

We have been mostly diligent over the past three years, or so, to form a community that has a healthy level of disgust towards fear. That is something that blesses me immensely because fear is such a commonly acceptable way of living that it has almost become the, “new normal,” for our modern society.

You almost cannot leave someone without hearing the cliché of, “Be safe!” I always think, “Like I planned to purposefully go do some stupid and unnecessary dangerous thing, but now, since you told me to be safe, I guess I will reconsider… [major eye-roll].” I know that’s not what they meant, yet, “safe,” has become the new, global objective. There are large swaths of porcelain people who nervously want to bubble-wrap the whole world and require seatbelts on desk chairs because of the danger associated with free-wheeling in the office space. It will not be long before there will be mandatory helmets required before you can ride the escalator at the mall. Fear is one of the most accepted (and deadly) sins in our progressive culture.

It has even become a good thing in many circles. If you are looking to be a cool and popular dude, then just join the newest fear-mongering messaging group. We are told to fear the, “existential,” threat of climate change, otherwise we all die. (!)  It is a daily thing to hear about NUCLEAR WORLD WAR III (Aggghhh)! We are threatened by our workplaces and government to fear, “The VIRUS,” (or the next variant, or the next pandemic, or the big, “C,” cancer, or the monkeypox, or the flu season, or the public restroom door handle, or the… or the…) so much so that we can be mandated to put on masks that are proven to be health deteriorators. The peer pressure to take an experimental injection is so strong that even now, when it has been publicly reported to be deadly, there are still people lining up for their next dose. This is only possible among people who believe in the reality of fear to the degree that they will pridefully carry the signaling of compliance to the messaging on their band-aid injection site or masked faces. This is not a new human phenomenon… it was birthed in the Garden of Eden when mankind chose to not believe the first and only command.

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17 BSB

I do not know if you have ever thought about it, but what did Adam and Eve think when God said, “You will surely die,”? There was no such thing. There was no history of it… no experience of it… no knowledge of it… nothing. All they had to go on was trust in God that He was leading them for their benefit. Obviously, in a short period of time, they learned, experientially, that death was all bad… really, really bad. So bad in fact, that all of mankind, since that dreaded choice, has been traumatized by the consequences in ever increasingly new ways.

This event launched one of the most egregious depravities perpetuated in all of eternity: slavery.

Now since the children have flesh and blood, He (Jesus) too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15 BSB

Please notice that our universally shared human misery was the FEAR of death, and not specifically death itself. You could even conclude that the real weapon forged in the Garden rebellion was fear, not death or even sin. Please do not take that statement to any extreme misrepresentation. Sin is TERRIBLE… death is TERRIBLE. (Remember, around here, we call sin, “sin,” and we call fat, “fat.”) Yet, if we truly understood this verse, we would rightly conclude it is the FEAR of death that welds the chains of slavery’s shackles around mankind’s necks.

The campaign for victory over sin, death, and slavery will march us all right through the heart of the enemy’s territory known as, “fear,” (the valley of the shadow of death).

Our Lord and Savior knew this truth well. Jesus specifically said the term, “Fear Not,” fourteen times in the Gospels. Look at these examples as illumination.

• Matthew 10:26 – “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the rooftops.”
• Matthew 14:27 – Then Jesus said to them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
• Mark 4:40 – And he said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you no faith?”
• Luke 8:50 – But Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (The good ole’ King James says: “Fear not; only believe…”)

Take note that in every instance He did not just say to not fear, but gave additional instruction as to why and/or what to do instead. This is important because we cannot just generically not fear. Life is exceptionally well equipped with the necessary assets to effectively tempt every single human being with genuine fear… even Jesus had to face and overcome this temptation.

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil for forty days. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Luke 4:1-3 BSB

Medical science will tell you that at the forty-day mark of going without food, the physical body is facing organ shutdown, which is the start of death. One of the subtle aspects of this temptation was the underlying potentiality of Jesus dying outside of the plan of God. One could argue there was a temptation for, “fear,” associated with not completing the Gospel mission that was perpetuated by the real threat of death. This is also a partial aspect of what Jesus faced on the night of his unlawful arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
Matthew 26:37-38 BSB

I think words matter and Jesus said that his soul (mind, will, emotions) was at the point of death… Jesus was not an exaggerator. This was real. We have all had to and will have to face this slave master nose-to-nose in this journey of life. In that showdown, there will be winners and losers. Some of the losers will even be considered, “Christians.” Some of those folks you may even have legit relationships with and think they are relatively good people.

Peter had to face the, “fear of man,” when Jesus was arrested in front of him. This tough fisherman, who had expressed his undying loyalty to Jesus as the Christ and who was like a right hand to the Lord, was even renamed from Simon (meaning ‘to hear’) to Peter (Petros – ‘small stone’) as a declaration of his divine fortitude buckled under pressure. He could not stand against the fear associated with possible societal death:

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus declared, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” And all the other disciples said the same thing.

A few verses later:

After a little while, those standing nearby came up to Peter. “Surely you are one of them,” they said, “for your accent gives you away.” At that, he began to curse and swear to them, “I do not know the man (Jesus)!” And immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Matthew 26:34-35, 73-75 BSB

My, my… how things change under the power of fear. Fear is a slave master who will make you go out and weep bitterly when it shackles you. But, what joy and peace are associated with being liberated from that evil tyrant! As our verses in Hebrews 2 above have proclaimed, we have been freed from that tyranny through the victorious conquering of our Hero, Jesus.

It is now of utmost importance for us to reinforce that victory and freedom by rigorously fighting off the temptations for fear that surround us daily. This is a major purpose of the mainstream media today, to enslave the masses with increasingly intense and newly created ways of obeisance to that old slave master.

What is the effective strategy against a world immersed in this terrifying darkness? Love.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:18-19 BSB

When one enters into fear, it is a clear sign of how they do not understand the love of God. Just like a face mask declares a person fears an invisible virus, so does it equally declare that they have not allowed love to perfect (mature) them.

God’s kind of agape love and fear cannot coexist. They do not agree to disagree. They do not go along to get along. They are mortal enemies from the very beginning and the fight will rage on until every single human soul is brought into glorious freedom.

I understand that some will not survive the war, they will lose their fights through weak self-control, and they may quit the struggle admitting defeat and enslavement because quitting is easy and even popular today. It is a tragic and heartbreaking reality about the casualties of conflict. But, because we still have breath (ruach), we still have a choice, we still have a Sword (of the Spirit), we still have Spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4), we still have an empty cross and tomb that declares the Winner is way stronger than anything and everything ever thrown at Him. And He is loving us right now.

This unbreakable, unbeatable agape love is equally available to any and all who will receive it. And, if you did not notice, it first comes to us from Him… we do not even need to go out and get it. We love Him because He first loved us. When you know Jesus’ love is with you and for you, the battle against fear just got a whole lot more exciting… and you are a whole lot more confident.

I love exciting fights!

I also love y’all greatly!
Steve