Freedom from Fear

1 John 4:15-21

 

1. After a long cold and snowy winter, spring has finally come! Even though still it is quite chilly, pretty crocus puts forth its buds and greets us with its pure flowers. Now every kind of spring flowers will bloom sooner or later and God will bless us with the enchanting happiness of new spring all around us. And every kind of beautiful butterflies will fly around and every kind of pretty birds will sing joyfully. It is the divine blessing of spring that every creature starts a new beginning.

2. To really make a new beginning, we need freedom. Bondage and slavery do not allow for us to start afresh with joy and hope. Therefore, salvation and hope is liberation and freedom from our spiritual bondage which is far more tragic than physical slavery, because even with physical liberation still he or she is a slave inside. Therefore, it is meaningful to recover and expand our spiritual freedom in this blessed season of Lent, meaning spring.

3. Jesus came to the world and suffered for us to free us from spiritual bondage. One aspect of the freedom is that from fear. Heb 2:14-15 says that the purpose of his incarnation and suffering was “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.”

4. As a finite being, we need caution, but fear like anxiety, paranoia, or phobia is a problem psychologically or spiritually. A Johns Hopkins University professor said as follows: “We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact.” As Dr. E. Stanley Jones understands, “we are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way.” The Bible teaches that human fear is coming from sin and its spiritual anticipation of punishment, and it is symbolized as the fear of death. Satan manipulates and enslaves humanity by reinforcing this fear of death and deceiving that death is termination. But Jesus came to the world and declared that it is not true. Death is not termination but a simple move to the eternal world. And there is a way to salvation from fear of future for eternal life. As Jesus clearly stated in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Therefore, for us who believe in Christ, death is not fear but a gateway to eternal life and happiness, ending our earthly suffering.

5. However, because fear is coming from sin and its punishment, fear is not removed without the solution of sin. Without sins forgiven, death is the gateway of no return to eternal punishment. In fact, it is far more terrible than what they fear. Therefore, it is strongly urged to be forgiven before facing death, which moment nobody knows. Moreover, as soon as sins are forgiven in Christ, the guilt consciousness and unconsciousness due to sins will completely go away and enjoy the peace with God. Simply believing in Jesus, fully by grace, without any cost will solve all the problems of sin and fear.

6. God is love. When we believe in Jesus who died for us, we experience the wonderful love of God and establish the loving relationship with God: “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.”(15) Love is everything for our life, and then fear is going away from us. Because death is no longer fearful termination of life but the glorious commencement toward eternal and blessed life, we no longer have the fear of death though it is little sad farewell to the remaining people whom we love. In fact, they will meet in the other side sooner or later.

7. If you have still some fear of death, the Bible says that it is because your love is not enough: “The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”(18b) Growing love and overcoming fear go together. Jesus demanded two loves for the life of salvation: love of God and love of people around us. Love and fear cannot coexist. If we love God, we should believe and trust Him, His love and His promise without any doubt. If we have full confidence in His promise on the Final Judgment, our love of God will be complete: “love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment.”(17) God will not punish you not only after death but also in this world. God loves you always. God may discipline you but never punish you. If you believe this, your love of God will be complete.

8. Also, freeing from fear has a definite relationship with our love of people around us. The Bible simply defines not loving as hating brothers. If you do not really love those whom God gave you to love, it is not simply not-loving but hating them. If you do not love your wife or husband, you are hating her or him in some way. If you do not really love any of your children, you are distancing them. If you do not love brothers and sisters in the church, you dislike them in some aspect. Then, your love is not complete and your fear remains within you. Love of neighbor has no condition, for it is not to love some lovely people selectively. If you love people that way, you are not in the process of salvation but still in the slavery of sin. Why? It is because “We love because he first loved us.”(19) God first loved us, these unworthy object to love. God wants for us to learn that love, because it is the required process of salvation and freedom from sin. In fact, it is easier to love fellow human being than to love invisible and untouchable God. Therefore, if we insist that we really love God without really loving close people around, we are “liar”. (20) It is natural that “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”(21)

9. If we do not really love somebody, it is because we have some fear of him or her, whether it is the fear of pride, fear of social reputation, fear of corruption, or fear of rejection. Genuine love and friendship has no condition, though parents worry about. Saving souls in evangelism and benevolence is the work of love. Because “there is no fear in love,” we should do it fearlessly. They may reject us or corrupt us, but love overcomes it. Whenever you face fear, not a simple caution, you should recognize that it is coming from some kind of sin inside of you, and free yourself from such sin and fear. From the early church, Christians have been fearless. Of course, we are all on the process of freedom from fear. In this spring and this Lent, may God bless you courage of love and freedom from fear!