Fear

Is 43:1-3

Scripture has much to say about fear. In the NIV fear occurs 334 times. If you look for afraid, you can add another 205 references. If you add worry and anxious … well, you’re getting the picture. Fear is spoken of both positively and negatively in Scripture …. and the truth is that everyone of us here has some element of fear in us, and that is as it should be. The issue is not do we have fear, the issue is what type of fear do we have, and what we do with our fear.

There are three types of fear and I’m going to call the first one: Natural fear

Fear is a natural, dare I say God-given, emotion. New born babies exhibit two fears: the fear of falling (Moro reflex), and the fear of loud noises (startle reflex). All other fears are learned responses, brought to the child by its environment, taught to the child by its parents. But those two we seem to be born with. Fear has a legitimate function in life. Like pain, fear is a sign that warns of danger. Now we could go into a lot more detail, but there isn’t time. Suffice it to say that there are natural fears which are meant to protect us and warn us.

Now I have to make up a word to describe the next two fears: I want to talk about infernatural fear and supernatural fear. The new word there is infernatural but I’m sure you understand it when I use the word supernatural. Super means from above; and infer means from below (think of the words superior and inferior). In Scripture, “from above” always means “from God”. You might remember these verses:

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Next too born again in vs 3 your Bible will have a footnote saying: The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.

When we are born again, or born from above, we are no longer natural or flesh; we are now supernatural or spiritual … we are in the words of Paul “new creations” (2 Cor 5:17) with the supernatural power from above, the Spirit of God, which is not natural, we have that Spirit within us (Rom 8:11) and our natural self or flesh weakens and fades and returns to dust, while our supernatural self changes from glory unto glory (2Cor 3:8). When we are born again, we see things differently, we see things the way God sees them … we get a new perspective, from above, and a new reality which is framed by the truth that: OUR GOD REIGNS. That is the message of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, namely that, even though it might not look like it, OUR GOD REIGNS. And because our God reigns, He can say over and over in the Bible (100’s of times)

FEAR NOT

Do we have any fears as supernatural beings? Did Jesus have any fear? Listen to how Isaiah describes the Messiah who will come:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him –
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord –
³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.  Isaiah 11:1-3

The first type of fear I described was Natural fear;

The second type of fear is Supernatural fear and this is a good fear which the Bible, both testaments, recommend and refer to as “The fear of the Lord”. There is much to say about this particular fear, all I’m going to say is that it is described as the beginning of all wisdom and it is not fear as we understand it naturally, because it is supernatural, it is how fear is understood from above. It is the convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and, yes, fear. When she discovers she is pregnant (Luke 1:50) Mary proclaims, "His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him." The Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8) finds Jesus describing the judge as one who "...neither feared God nor cared for man." Some translations of the Bible, such as the New International Version, sometimes replace the word "fear" with "reverence". This is a good fear because it is a supernatural fear, a fear from above that we see exemplified in Jesus, and we are to cultivate it. At the start of our service last Sunday morning you might remember we were encouraged to welcome and acknowledge God … to say hello to God. That is something of what it means to fear the Lord. This is a good fear, and Scripture recommends it/commands it a few hundred times.

Which leads me to the third kind of fear, the one I have invented a word for: Infernatural fear.

This is a fear that comes from below, it is not a fear we were created with or for, it is a product of the Fall. What are the first words spoken by Adam after He and Eve choose to sin:

He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’ Gen 3:10.

Until now, Adam and Eve have lived a healthy life of supernatural fear, living in the fear of the Lord, which doesn’t mean afraid/scared of Him, but rather in awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love and obedience. They had lived with a natural fear which, if they’d strayed close to a cliff edge would have made them pull back for fear of falling; if they’d heard a loud noise like a volcano erupting they would have jumped and then moved away from it … natural fear. Now, after their encounter with the snake, they experience infernatural fear, fear from below and they allow it the power to override the healthy fear from above. And that is the state that many of us choose to live in now.

This plays out today in a negative fear, worrying about things that may never happen; worrying about things over which we have no control. It’s into such fearful worrying that Jesus speaks when He says:

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? … Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  ‘And why do you worry about clothes? …  So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, …  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As I said earlier, natural fear has a legitimate function in life. Like pain, it is a sign that warns of danger. But when fear moves into the seat of command and becomes chief of staff … it heightens the danger. Fear makes us so self-conscious that we cannot see objectively. Fear intimidates the conscience and often perverts moral judgements ... we make poor decisions when we are afraid. Fear weakens the body, and, when it verges towards panic, paralyses the will.

As we continue to live in the flesh, all 3 of these fears are choices for us and often, infernatural fear gets the upper hand and we can feel there is no way out. Jesus gives a hint at a way forward when in the grip of fear … seek first his kingdom  … in other words, remember who is actually King, remember that “OUR GOD REIGNS” which can lead us to awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love … all the elements of positive fear, the fear of the Lord.

As Kingdom people we live in a new reality, and that reality is: God’s kingdom has come and is coming! A sea in front of you and an Egyptian army behind you need not cause you to fear … because the reality is OUR GOD REIGNS; a fiery furnace need not fill you with fear because the reality is OUR GOD REIGNS; being thrown into a lions’ den need not fill you with fear because OUR GOD REIGNS; your best friend and saviour dying on a cross need not fill you with fear because OUR GOD REIGNS. Your own suffering and death need not fill you with fear because OUR GOD REIGNS. Fill in your own words: “My …. Need not fill me with fear because MY GOD REIGNS! HE REIGNS.”

Stop saying: “But the reality is … .”  unless it’s to say “The reality is I live in a world where my God reigns … I wonder what He’s going to do in this fear filled and hopeless situation … and until He does it I’m going to live in a holy fear of the Lord, in awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love and obedience.”

One of the ways to deal with the subject of fear is to load you up with guilt about your fear by reminding you of the 100’s of times God and Jesus say “Fear not” in the Scripture. That hasn’t worked in my life. What has worked, when I choose it, is to pursue a holy fear of the Lord; reminding myself that MY GOD REIGNS … and, by the power from above that He provides in His Holy Spirit, committing myself to a life lived in awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love and obedience … in other words, I seek to live in a holy fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom: Choose that fear and that wisdom because the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight and the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.