Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Dominion and fear are with him. He makes peace in his high places.

Job 25:2 (emphasis added)

Job is one of the oldest books of the bible in chronology. It is placed as occurring within the time of the patriarchs, in a chronological reading of the bible often being inserted within the first few chapters of Genesis. Some scholars believe it was written in the 5th-6th century BC. Others think Moses wrote it down, having heard the tale during his time in Midian tending sheep. It is written in an incredibly complex and obscure form of Hebrew, which only muddies the waters and raises other possibilities. There are those who think Job lived before the Flood. There is a rabbinical tradition placing Job as one of three prophets consulted by the Pharaoh who threw the Hebrew boys into the river (Job didn’t agree with the plan). And others believe Job is a mythical figure, a metaphor to teach us that God’s ways are above ours. That He is always just and everything He does and allows is just even when we cannot see it from our human point of view (the religious view of the term ’sovereign’). Whatever the truth, or your personal belief, Job is a rich book full of colourful pictures of God many of which are echoed elsewhere in scripture.

“for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33). “For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation” (Ephesians 2:14). God IS peace. God is a peacemaker. He is the antithesis of fear. Like any good father, the Lord seeks the best for His children—while not stepping on their free will. In Genesis 4:3-12, Cain becomes jealous of his brother and thinks evil about him. God steps in immediately, saying in verses 6-7 “The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” God seeking peace between the brothers. God not promoting inaction or appeasement, but an active and probing act. Peace was wrestling with temptation and coming out the other side. Peace was not going with the flow, but setting one’s face against evil. Cain did not listen and chose strife.

God is often given a bad rap in the Old Testament. A God who smites. A God who is bloodthirsty. A God who hardens hearts in order to punish more. A God who wagers with angels on a whim. A punishing and wrathful God. But if any of that is a true reflection of His nature, then how could both Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 say that God doesn’t change? That He is the same yesterday, today, and forever? While it is true that without being a believer in Jesus as Messiah (1 Corinthians 2:16) God’s ways are far above ours and so we can not always understand how everything truly works or is reconciled to everything else (Isaiah 55:8-9), I think the answer is wrapped up with sin. In the Old Testament we are given a way to cover our sin—the sacrificial system—a way to try and live out righteousness but learn that we cannot in our own strength—the Law. While you CAN hold to each and every one of God’s commandments in the Law, it doesn’t deal with the heart or our motivations. You cannot on your own keep the Law perfectly in deed and in heart. That was the point of the sacrifices: temporary covering. That was the point of the Law: learning we NEED a Saviour. That’s why Jesus came. The whole system of the Law and the writings of the prophets were meant to show humanity that (1) he is not enough on his own to achieve true righteousness and (2) that Jesus IS the Messiah who can wipe sin away forever.

In the Old Testament we have a ‘do this and live’ attitude because whenever you didn’t follow the Law, whenever you didn’t obey the Lord, you put yourself outside of God’s protection. You entered the wilderness where you were at the mercy of the curse. Bad things happen in a world twisted by sin. By definition it is NOT perfect. If you aren’t protected, you get hurt. In the natural, this is proved simply by the weather. Strip naked and head off into the landscape. You’ll start to get damaged almost immediately and could easily die from exposure. In the New Testament, Jesus paid for sin. Wiped it and the consequences of it away – for those who accept His gift. Now we have a ‘live and be able to do this’ attitude. Abiding in Jesus provides the propitiation for sin. Since we are free, we want to celebrate God and do what pleases Him just to please Him. We aren’t bound by rules and consequences, we are motivated from love and worship. And He empowers us with what we need so that when we’re walking in it, we naturally do what pleases Him.

All through the Old Testament this God that we stereotype as a bundle of smite seeks the best for His people. When the plagues came upon Egypt He clearly warned the nation as Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt were challenged. Any Egyptian who obeyed was spared the damages right alongside the Hebrews. When the spirit of death came upon the land, the Lord was there PREVENTING the entrance of death into protected homes (Exodus 12:23). God is always a preserver of life. Why did people die in punishment? Why were nations driven out and slaughtered to the last living resident? Sin. The Lord was protecting His people from sin. Sin is a disease. It spreads worse than cancer. It has a one hundred percent mortality rate. You cannot escape it. It will poison a person or a nation with the same unfeeling passion. In the Old Testament, a sacrifice could stave off some of the effects because God is merciful. But animal sacrifice is not enough. It will not do, because while flawless to the eye the animals are part of fallen creation. Nothing fallen can wipe away the mark of fallenness. It takes a perfect sacrifice for that—Jesus, the Anointed One. Until sin was dealt with, humanity had to deal with the consequences of it. Obey, live righteously, and have protection. Disobey, live unrighteously, and pay the price. It was simple.

In the New Testament it is also simple. You can be a disciple of Jesus or not. You can recognise and believe He paid the price for sin, believe that the Father resurrected Him to life again, confess Him Lord of your life, and be baptised into new life in Jesus. You can deny Jesus and live on your own terms. It’s funny because people fight God with all their might in order to be ‘free’ of Him. Meanwhile, God is fighting with all His might to save people from themselves. Because if you ‘win’ and reject God, you die. That’s not much of a victory. Don’t have that view of God? Don’t think He fights for you to be free? Ask yourself what the message of the angels was to the world when Jesus was born: “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men” (Luke 2:14). God wanted peace with humanity and for humanity to know they have a way to have peace with Him. Giving up a part of yourself to pay for something you not only had nothing to do with but gave everything needed for others to avoid that thing? That sounds like God is fighting pretty hard to save us. Especially since He upholds our existence and could snuff us all out in a moment (Hebrews 1:3). He must love us very much to put up with so much from us. That mercy is what He wants to spread. The Good News that we no longer have a wall between us and God.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”” (Isaiah 52:7). “and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). God wants us to spread the news of His Peace. That perfect love which drives out fear (1 John 4:18). Jesus addresses it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” He wants us to be as He is. Peacemakers. The personality of a peacemaker is clear (Matthew 5:3-8): Not proud in spirit, repentant, gentle, seekers of righteousness, merciful, and pure in heart. To be as Jesus is: “We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love has been made perfect amongst us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement, because as he is, even so we are in this world” (1 John 4:16-17).

A peacemaker doesn’t seek to manipulate. They are not easy going. This is NOT peace at any price. Peacemakers are not appeasers. This isn’t about avoiding trouble, but actively seeking to produce peace. Since we cannot have peace while covered in sin, we must become new in Jesus. Spreading peace means spreading Jesus. Making disciples of all men is about peacemaking. A peacemaker isn’t sensitive. They are never on the defensive. Their feelings won’t be hurt because they are delivered from Self. They are not concerned with themselves, but with Jesus. They aren’t sensitive people. They can’t be because a peacemaker never approaches a situation looking at how it may affect themselves. Look to the apostles in Acts as they spread the Word. They felt they had no rights, just Jesus. They didn’t think in terms of whether they were persecuted, they spread the Word and took with joy what came next—good or bad.

Jesus told us that we needed to kill the Self. “He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). We have no rights. We just have what the world says are rights. Because the creating and giving of rights is the best way the world has to get some kind of order. But in Jesus we give up our Selves. We give up those feelings. That identity. We accept Jesus and seek to become like Him. To be clones of Jesus. More of Him, less of us. So the peacemaker isn’t blaming others for how they act. Having killed the Self, the peacemaker knows that others act the way they do because they are ruled by Self and not by God. To change the way they act, they have to change who is in charge. True peace only comes from God. Anything else is temporary and a pale imitation. As peaceful as this world ever gets, as secure as you ever can feel, it is NOTHING compared to the Peace of God.

To be true peacemakers, we have to see things from God’s point of view. We have to view people His way. We have to see the situation His way. We have to process our feelings His way. It isn’t easy, but one of the first steps to achieve it is to keep our mouths shut. Jesus followed that policy. “For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49). We must control our tongues (Proverbs 18:21). We need less of us and more of Jesus (John 3:30). If we view everything in light of the gospel we will seek to diffuse every situation we are in. To be lovable, selfless, upright, righteous, and humble. It is not us doing anything. This is not OUR attitude. We’re dirt and not worthy of anything (Psalm 103:14). It is Jesus in us that is worthy. It is Jesus in us that gives us righteousness. By Grace through Faith we have received everything. Not of ourselves, but of Him do we achieve victory (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Peacemakers are reflectors of God’s character. We are lights shining in the darkness of this world (Matthew 5:14-16). Beacons of discipleship where people can come to be transformed by Him. We never ask what we need, we ever seek the Father’s will (Matthew 6:8 & 33). This is the role that all the body of Christ have been called to. It is not enough to tell people about Jesus. We are to make peace. Same idea, but vastly different modalities. Anyone can spread the words of the bible. Anyone can talk about Jesus. But peacemakers model Jesus as they share the message of Jesus. It is what we were told to do by Jesus Himself (Matthew 28:19-20). To be peacemakers in a world that will persecute us for our peacemaking. To preach this Good News to all creation: God made a way in His Son Jesus. We can be righteous in Him. We can be saved through Him. We can stand before God, presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to His Glory. We can be true peacemakers. It is never too late to start. Shift your lifestyle to that of Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Renew your mind in the Word. Abide in Jesus, and watch as He transforms the world around you, through you.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 5:13

We have been given an amazing opportunity because God loves us. God is like any parent. When He gets really excited about something, He wants His kids to be part of it. In this case, He is really excited about what He is about to do. Whether in books like Revelation, the poetry of the Word, or in things Jesus Himself spoke, we know that tough times are headed to the earth. God is not excited about that. He is holding it back and waiting for as long as He can. But sooner or later the consequences of the choices of humanity are going to come on them. That grieves Him. He is holding them back because if we all chose Him, much of them would be unnecessary. However, humanity is not doing that. While many, MANY people are coming to knowledge of the Lord God as Saviour, many others resist. So the consequences of not choosing the Lord are coming. The consequences of disobedience are on the way. What is God excited about then? The way He is going to care for His kids. For those who are believing and seeking Him, there is nothing to worry. The failure of the supply chain, the failure of banks, the switching of the world to a new paradigm, the upheaval of social systems, of governmental systems, even of borders, neighbourhoods, and homes. Through it all, the sons and daughters of the kingdom will be secure. If we are seeking Him, devoting ourselves to Him, listening to Him, and being obedient to His voice, then all will be fine. Imagine the impact that will have! That is what God is excited about. The opportunities His children will have to witness by their lives and their generosity within their blessing to everyone around them. Why do YOU have food? Jesus. Why aren’t YOU worried? Jesus. Did you know what’s going on? Well, no sorry. Why not? Jesus. The storm will be raging, but we won’t feel it. We will see the travails of the world, but we will be aloof. Observing, but not participating (Proverbs 3:25-26, Psalm 91:8-10). Are you seeking the Lord with all your heart? Is He your fortress and high place? If not, start today. God is eager to have you part of the witness He is about to make in this world.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.