No fear in Love

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” - 1 John 4:18

Today is Good Friday, a day in which Christians all over the world commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. If the oxymoron is not lost on you, then cheers. Because what was good about the cruel and gruesome killing of a man? Why do we celebrate it?

A deeper question is, why? Why did Jesus have to suffer such a death? Why was He mercilessly beaten with whips specially designed to grab and rip off flesh? A crown of thorns pierced His head, made to carry his cross up a hill and then nailed to it naked and completely vulnerable to all. Why, why, why?

The prophet Isaiah described his suffering:

But many were amazed when they saw Him. His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know He was a man. - Isaiah 52:14

Why all of this? The Apostle Paul says in Romans 4:8:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ remains the greatest demonstration of God’s love for people like you and me who could care less for it. Today, some 2000 years ago, God died.

And this love can be our way to face our fears...

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"Fear involves torment"

Fear is debilitating yet undeniable. Our entire world is replete with many reasons to fear. Like gravity, the things that cause us to fear are very real and undeniable: other people’s perception of you, uncertainty about the future, your mind, memories and so on. Real, very real and most times very tormenting. 

One response can be to ignore all appearances of fear, to say to yourself that the fear is a lie and an illusion. But permit me to suggest a more prudent approach.

What if you understood that God knows you, like every part of you, your faults, feelings, memories, mistakes, desires, discomforts, your fears? What if your confidence for facing life's fears rests in knowing that God knows and loves you, thoroughly and eternally?

I believe that coming to a place of conviction about God’s love towards us will make us view the things that make us afraid differently. Then will that perfect love truly cast away all our fears.

"He who fears has not been made perfect in love"

This may seem like a harsh rebuke, and in many ways, it is. But I want us to consider this a litmus test. When fears arise, infer that there’s still something more about God’s love that is unknown. And then, resolve to dive deeper into the bottomless ocean of God’s love until we're consumed by it, until God’s perfect love drowns our fears!!

There’s one more way to look at this…

If we fear God more, we will be emboldened to face the fears that pale in comparison.

Perhaps that’s what the wisdom of Proverbs 9:10 refers to:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Timothy Keller captures this beautifully…

“Obviously, to be in the fear of the Lord is not to be scared of the Lord, even though the Hebrew word has overtones of respect and awe. “Fear” in the Bible means to be overwhelmed, to be controlled by something. To fear the Lord is to be overwhelmed with wonder before the greatness of God and his love. It means that, because of his bright holiness and magnificent love, you find him “fearfully beautiful.” That is why the more we experience God’s grace and forgiveness, the more we experience a trembling awe and wonder before the greatness of all that he is and has done for us. Fearing him means bowing before him out of amazement at his glory and beauty.” (Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God)

Take this as an invitation to fear God more. To walk in the knowledge of His love towards us. And to face our fears with that confidence.

Happy Easter and Cheers.