From the Cross: Fear

by David Chadwick

“Fear” was written down multiple times by people at our Service of Darkness this past Easter. Because of how many times it was addressed, I wanted to cover it a second time in this series.

Fear. This is the foreboding feeling that something bad may happen.

Did you know that God frequently tells us not to fear in the Bible?

“Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).

“Fear not, for I am with you…” (Isaiah 43:5).

“Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed…” (Joshua 1:9).

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God…” (Isaiah 41:10).

So many examples in Scripture of being told not to fear. And yet this is a crippling, common emotion that too many people choose to embrace and let dictate their entire lives!

It is one of the first negative emotions introduced to mankind after the Fall in Genesis 3. After sinning, Adam responded to the Lord God by saying, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” The building blocks of Adam’s guilt created a house of shame in which fear walked right in!

Stop for a moment and remember God’s original intent. He originally intended for creation to be orderly and peaceful, an environment where fear could not exist. Before sin entered the world, Adam and Eve perfectly trusted God in all things and lived in shalom - perfect peace and wholeness!

After eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they essentially declared themselves to be God and fear entered the world.

The antidote for fear is God’s presence. His presence allows us to live both surrendered to and arrested by tremendous faith! Repeatedly in God’s Word, faithful people are adjured, “Do not be afraid, for God is with you.” When Jesus ascended to heaven, he promised that he would be with his children forever, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). This means he promised to leave his presence indwelling in the hearts of all who believe in him!

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in the hearts of anyone who professes faith in Jesus (Romans 8:11). Fear must flee.

The eternal God of this universe in Jesus faces all your problems with you.

Why fear?