What If We Lived Without Fear?

1 John 4:18 clearly states, "There is NO FEAR in love because perfect love casts out fear..." With that being said, why is much of the preaching/teaching of the church fear based? Why are many of the "faith based" movies nothing more than fear based? And by fear, I don't mean healthy reverence...I mean straight up scared to death type stuff. This has got to change.

We have become so fear driven in much of our thinking that we are afraid to think differently. So fear driven, in fact, that our perception of the love of God is perverted. The lack of confidence in the love of God within the church is astounding. Is it any wonder that we struggle to convince those outside of the church that God really loves them?

The Good News of the Gospel is L-O-V-E. A love that, quite honestly, took the world by surprise. A love that exceeds any of our understanding or expectation. A love that was/is completely grounded in the nature & character of God. It was this message of love that propelled the first century church in the midst of the Great Tribulation (that is how they referred to the persecution they endured from the Jews & the Romans). Jesus told His disciples not to lose heart. "In the world you will have tribulation, but I have overcome the world." There was no fear in His message but a reassurance of all that He had accomplished. This love enabled them to grow, to expand the Kingdom of God, the boldly proclaim the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ. They did not shrink back. They knew who they were in Christ and who the Father was for them. They understood that NOTHING could separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus. No nakedness. No famine. No peril. No sword. They were OVERCOMERS!!!

So why all of the fear based preaching? Why do we still uphold messages like Johnathan Edwards "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God"? Is that really the heart of the Father? When I read the Gospels, I see Jesus in the hands of Angry Sinners. And I hear Him say, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." I realize the Good News of the Gospel can seem like fantasy, but the reality is that the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit loved their creation so much that they were will endure the "hostility of sinners against [themselves]."

Instead of fear, Jesus promoted GOOD CHEER, FAITH, JOY, & LIFE. He wanted His disciples to know what it meant to have the same confidence in His Father that He possessed. What we know about church history is that they were fully convinced. They carried the message in the midst of severe persecution. They continued to travel the world carrying the message. They faced imprisonment, loss of property, scorn, ridicule, & even death. However, they did not relent. They followed in the footsteps of their Master. Some of them to a cross, some to a chopping block, & some to imprisonment. Why? Because they saw something that many of us have not seen. They saw the end of the age upon the horizon. They knew the Old Covenant system was coming down. They knew that Jerusalem was going to come under fire. They advanced the Gospel well beyond the borders of the Holy City to ensure they would not be stuck when the time came to flee.

It's this misunderstanding of Scripture that causes many good believers to carry fear. What we read in Matthew 24 & Luke 17 is not a description of our future but theirs. Jesus is describing the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem which occurred around 70 AD. If you read through Josephus' history of these events, you discover that not one Christian was killed during the Roman invasion. Why? Because they left the city. This is why we need to read these verses in context. What was Jesus talking about? Who was He speaking warning? When would these things take place? What generation would see these things come to pass? Jesus tells them what they would endure, what actions they would need to take, and that THIS generation would not pass away until these things came to pass. Why is this important? It's important because when we take these verses out of context, we create a fear driven message for our generation that was not intended.

Our Gospel message is one of peace, love, and confidence in the love of God. Our covenant is not the Old Covenant of the letter (the Law) but the New Covenant of liberty (in the Spirit). We don't have to carry fear of the future, fear of an impending judgement, or fear of the wrath of God being poured out on mankind. God has already displayed His judgment against sin - it was at the Cross. What we see in the death, burial, resurrection, & ascension of Jesus is God restoring mankind back to the original design. The world is ours for the taking. This is not a world that we should be trying to flee but a world that we should by trying to fill with the knowledge of God.

I want you to consider some serious "What If(s)?":
What if our understanding of eschatology (view of end times) is wrong?
What if our understanding of the finished work of Christ has been flawed?
What if the way we have applied & interpreted certain Scriptures is faulty?
What if we knew that much of the modern "end time" preaching we hear today did not arrive until around the early 1500's?
What if Revelation was written for the 1st Century church rather than the 21st Century church?
What if God really did judge all sin for all time in Jesus?
What if God was really as good as I have tried to communicate?
What if God wanted you to carry a future & a hope?
These are just some questions to consider. These are meant to stir you to study for yourself, and to ask this one last question: "How would I live if I did not live in fear?"

Regardless of what the future holds, I want you to consider the statement made by Jesus to His disciples: BE OF GOOD CHEER, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD. Fear may produce a few converts or a few followers, but faith produces true Sons arising in the Earth. I ask you, what was God's intention? What is the Earth groaning to see revealed? May the sons of God take their place. May we be perfected in His love. May we live in unbridled confidence.