BY Argie Simonis
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Gen. 1:27
We are made in the image and likeness of God. The Lord has given us the ability to experience emotions, which are essentially our response to the environment we are in, but He has not called us to walk in life based on our emotions, but based on faith:
"For we walk by faith, not by sight:
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2Cor. 5:7-8
One of those feelings that can sometimes paralyze a person is the feeling of fear. But do you know that fear is not just a feeling, but there is a spirit of fear, just as there are many other evil spirits behind bad feelings that we may experience? In today's message as I said, I will focus on the spirit of fear, but let's see what the word of God tells us:
"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2Τim. 1:7
Here we see that there is a spirit of fear which is of the devil, and a spirit of power, a spirit of love and a spirit of sound mind, which is of the Lord.
See what Isaiah writes to us:
"To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." Isaiah 61:3
Here we see the spirit of heaviness which is from the devil, and the spirit of praise which is from the Lord.
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;" Isaiah 11:1-2
Here we see a spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
The spirit of fear is a demonic spirit that attacks a person and causes him all these feelings:
- Lack of courage,
- Insecurity,
- Hesitation,
- Doubt
The reason I make this introduction is to expose the real root of the fear one may be experiencing:
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph. 6:12
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2Cor. 11:3
This is the first trap the devil set for man, and the reason I mention it is to see man's first reaction to sin. So what did Adam and Eve do once they sinned?
"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
And the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you?
And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." Gen. 3:8-10
Man's first reaction when sin entered the world was fear. Let me make a clarification here:
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." Prov. 9:10
The fear of the Lord mentioned here has the meaning of the respect and honor we give to the Lord and not the terror or intimidation caused by the devil. So the fear felt by Adam and Eve is referred to in the second case. The most repeated command of God in the Bible is "Fear not". Whenever the Lord, or an angel of the Lord appears to someone, the first thing He says is "Fear not."
Man feared God, at a time when God had done nothing to cause this fear. I will talk about three main fears that a person can face in his life:
1. The fear of rejection.
God created us, but because His nature is love, we are actualy made by love:
"And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him." 1John 4:16
In other words, we are made to love and to be loved. That's why the greatest fear a person can have is the fear of rejection. Do you know why; Because man's greatest need is love and acceptance. But this is something that can lead us into a trap, because our battle against rejection can turn all our attention to our acceptance by others, making it our first priority. So our struggle to be accepted by people, somehow becomes an idol in our life and we devote all our energy there, reaching the point of compromising our faith and our moral values, just to be accepted by others.
"The fear of man brings a snare: but whoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe." Prov. 29:25
For example, we hesitate to express our opinion on something we morally disagree with, in order not to offend people or provoke their reactions.
Do you know how the devil deceived Eve? He tempted her to get something she already had. Basically all of the three main fears I'm going to talk about today are actually things that the devil is trying to convince us that we don't have and need to get, when in fact we already have them.
Do you remember what the devil said to Eve?
"For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods..." Gen. 3:5
But in fact Eve was already like God:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen. 1:26
So the devil managed to trick her, and look what happened:
"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, said he to you; but his heart is not with you." Prov. 23:7
So when the devil comes and tells you that you must do certain things in order to be accepted, your answer must be
"I'm already accepted."
That should have been Eve's answer as well. The devil told her if you do this you will become like God. Eve had to answer him "I am already like God".
If someone comes and tells you that if you don't do this, for example if you don't take this drug or if you don't do this crime you can't be part of the group, your response should be:
"I'm already part of a much better group. I belong to Christ's family, I'm already accepted":
"For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" Rom. 8:15-16
Here is an advice tip for parents and then we'll go to the second fear:
Every child that comes into the world is born with the need of acceptance, and the only way for this child to find this acceptance is to be taught Christ.
So, since our greatest need is love, our greatest fear is rejection.
2. The fear of failure.
When you fear failure, success becomes the ultimate goal in your life, resulting in you constantly striving to become a successful person. In other words, you value what you fear, and success in that particular case becomes an idol in your life. Success according to the human terms is usually money, fame and glory. But look at what God's word tells us about this:
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Μatt. 6:24
Obedience.
When you obey God, you will be successful in whatever you do:
"Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3
So when you devote yourself to studying the word of God and doing what the Lord tells you, you will have success in your life regardless of what is happening around you. The catch here is that if you try to achieve something in your own strength and not with God's power, two things can happen:
Either this will make you so stubborn that all you care about is achieving your goal at any cost, or your inability to do so will discourage you so much that you give up without even trying. I'm sure many of you have been, or possibly already are, in one of these two situations.
The same principle applies here. The devil tempts you to seek something that the Lord has already provided for you:
"Now thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the aroma of his knowledge by us in every place." 2Cor. 2:14
We are already victorious in Christ and when we obey the Lord we will have success in our lives. An advice here and we'll go to the third fear:
Do not worship something that you already have and do not fear something that the Lord has already defeated. So there is no reason to fear rejection or failure.
3. With the same reasoning we go to the third fear, the fear of death.
I will say the same here:
You should not worship your life, but you have no reason to fear death either. The closer we get to the Lord, the less we fear death. I believe that the best criterion to see how far we stand in our faith, is to consider how much peace we have within us at the thought of the time when we shall depart from this life. We see the best example in the dilemma faced by the apostle Paul:
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I know not.
For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;" Phil. 1:21-25
Do you see the revelation that Paul had on this subject? Whether you live or depart from this life is gain. How is it possible to intimidate such a man? With threats? With torture? With tribulation? With death? And don't forget that the same spirit that lived in Paul that time, lives in us today. All born-again believers have the Spirit of God dwelling within us:
"What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?
For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1Cor. 6:19-20
"For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" Rom. 8:15-16
The question that arises is this: What is wrong with wanting to be happy and enjoy my life?
Absolutely nothing, as long as you live the right way, and I will explain. As I said before, there is a right fear, the fear of the Lord, and a wrong fear. In the same way, there is a right life and a wrong life. One is from God and the other from the devil.
In other words: The temporary life and the eternal life.
Temporal life came forth only after man had sinned. There was no death until sin came into the world:
"Why, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed on all men, for that all have sinned:" Rom. 5:12
From the beginning of creation, God's plan for man was to have eternal life and not temporary. What I am trying to say is that when all your concern is in your temporary life here on earth and you fear death, then this life has become your idol. Remember the words of Jesus:
"For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Μatt. 16:25-26
Here, of course, the Lord does not promote suicide. He is simply setting the right priorities that we should have: Do not seek the temporary, but the eternal. Nothing temporary can give you real joy. Even in my temporary life here on earth, my real joy is in eternal life with the Lord, and actualy this eternal life begins here and now:
"He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life." 1John 5:12
That is why I will emphasize again that when I say not to worsip our life, I do not mean not to enjoy it. What I'm trying to say is that we should not idolize the temporary, because that is precisely the devil's goal, to entrap us.
I will close this message with a reminder from the words of the apostle Paul:
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20
Amen?
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