Can I tell you the answer to my question? You might think it strange. What would I do if I were Superman? I'd probably go to places I normally couldn't.
I'd like to walk the bottom of the ocean, searching for sunken treasure... maybe explore the Titanic. I'd like to explore Antarctica. I'd head to Area 51 and find out what's so top-secret. I'd head to the Bermuda Triangle and get to the bottom of all those missing planes and ships.
Can you guess what all those "missions" have in common? Well, they're all things that I would, normally, probably die attempting. You see, fear is a pretty big deterrent.
Nobody wants to die. You can't explore Antarctica because you'll freeze to death. You can't walk the ocean floor because you would drown. You can't take a stroll in Area 51 because of a plethora of armed guards. I rather enjoy living.
But... if that threat, and therefore, that fear, were taken away... well there's no telling what I could do.
With that in mind, listen to these words penned by the apostle John:
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 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 4:17-18Boldness in the day of judgment... fear cast out... how in the world does this happen?
John tells us. Perfect love. For us.
The love of Jesus for us, His bride.
According to John, we can confidently face the day of our death, whenever that is, because Jesus loves us. We don't have to fear judgment. Christ has forgiven our sins and imputed us with His righteousness.
"As He is, so are we in this world." We're His. He's with us. We're with Him.
Knowing you're loved is the remedy to fear. Knowing you're loved is the ingredient to boldness.
When you know you're loved, you can face anything. Because Jesus is with you.
The flip side is true also... when you aren't entirely sure you're loved, how can you NOT be a little fearful? John asserts in this text that a fearful person is one who hasn't become entirely convinced that they're deeply, completely, and overwhelmingly loved by God.
If churches are filled with fearful people (and they are), you now know why. They don't know they're loved.
And honestly? They don't hear it enough. We're afraid it'll make them complacent. We're afraid they'll respond with "I guess I can live however I want!"
We tell them the Good News to get them "in," and then we tell them not to let it go to their head.
We're good at imperatives. We're good at giving to-do lists and we're even better at telling people what NOT to do. We do these things because we want them to grow. But we're putting the cart before the horse.
Because guess what? God wants them to grow too. He really does. That's why He lets us know He loves us so much.
"We love Him because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:19Notice the order. His love comes first. We can't begin to love Him until we recognize His love for us.
My hope and prayer for you, today, is that you know how dearly and utterly loved by God you really are. In my post next week, we're going to look at how, once we get this, God's unconditional love begins to transform us.
But for now... I'm going to be honest, it's going to drive some of you crazy that I'm not giving you a checklist or to-do list. Deal with it.
Okay, I'll give you one thing.
Get alone with God and let Him love you. Let Him cast out your fear. And don't you leave until you're sure.
Tomorrow, you'll forget. So do it again.
Adam is a husband, father, preacher, and teacher
living in Mayfield, KY. You can follow him
or Facebook here.
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