The End of All Fear (Part One)
Easter Sunday, also known as Resurrection Sunday, marks the most important day not only in the Christian faith, but in the whole of human history. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ eradicated all fear, including the ultimate fear of death and condemnation. He did this by taking our sins upon Himself. Because of His perfect and enduring love for us, He took the punishment that should have been ours.
“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. [...] God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. We love each other because He loved us first.”
Fear of Death
Sin brought darkness and death into the world and into the hearts of mankind, separating us from the holiness and wholeness that we had at the beginning of the time with God. There is not a single person apart from Christ who has ever been sinless. As Paul observes in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Later in Romans 6:23, Paul tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” Death is what sin gets us. Since we cannot cleanse or free ourselves from sin by any number of good deeds or intentions, we need a savior - and that, we find only in Christ.
Because of Jesus and what He did for us, now we get to say: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).
For those who believe in Christ, death is not something to be afraid of. As Paul observes in Philippians 1:21, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” When we depart this earth, we go to our Heavenly home where we were meant to live all along, in the presence of God. In His presence, there will be no more tears, no more pain, and no more sorrow (see Revelation 21:4). We get to live forever in the presence of the One who loves us most.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” - John 11:25
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” - John 3:16
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” - 1 John 5:11-12 (emphasis added)
Fear of Condemnation
In the end, death is just a doorway to another place. Worse than death is condemnation - the rightful punishment of sin. There’s no sense in sugarcoating the fact that hell is a real place. Hell is separation from light, from goodness, from loveliness and truth, from everything right - in short, it is eternal separation from God, because every good thing comes from God (see James 1:17). Since we are all guilty of sin, then there must be punishment, because God is perfectly just. If there is no punishment for a crime, then justice is not upheld. Since we were judged to be guilty, the punishment for our sin was eternal separation from God.
However, since God desires none to perish or experience hell (see Ezekiel 18:23 and 2 Peter 3:9), He sent Jesus. Christ carried out our sentence and bore 100% of our punishment, so we would have none to bear ourselves. Now, all we have to do is trust and believe that He did this for us.
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - Romans 8:1
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” - John 3:17
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” - Colossians 2:13-14 (emphasis added)
Only through Christ have two of the greatest fears humanity has ever faced - death and judgment - been eradicated. Death is no longer the end, and condemnation is no longer our future.
Yet we still feel fear. We wrestle with fear of people, fear of the forces of darkness, and fear of the unknown. But these too have been conquered by the mighty love of Jesus Christ! In the next post, we’ll see how the same perfect love that secured our eternity also frees us from all other fears.
Let’s Pray Together.Lord Jesus, we praise You for the mighty act of love that You suffered on our behalf. Because of Your sacrifice, because of Your death and Your resurrection, we no longer need to fear our future. Our minds need no longer be ruled by anxiety about death, judgment, or punishment, because we have freedom and victory through You. You are our undefeated and reigning King, whose power and love are unmatched. Help us to remember this when fear rises. As Your Word says in 2 Timothy 1:7, You did not give us a Spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind. Help us to remember this, and to remember that You reign sovereign above all things. Help us to know and believe You are always with us - even until the end of the age. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Holy name we pray, Amen.
