Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.“

Hebrews 12:2

Strong’s Concordance reminds us that in the first-century Mediterranean world, honor and shame governed social interaction. Public status, family reputation, and civic standing formed the matrix through which people viewed life (Strongs, historical insight, Greek 152, aischuné). Shame was a symbol of the curse (Genesis 2:25). It is the result of unrighteous conduct coming to light (John 3:20). It’s a word that covers public disgrace, private humiliation, and also loss of honour – before Adonai and humanity. To be nailed to a tree was shameful because it was a public declaration of being cursed by Adonai (Deuteronomy 21:23). Sin is inherently shameful. We might not feel it one to another, but before Adonai ALL sinners feel TOTAL shame. It’s one of the reasons people get so hot and bothered when believers speak the truth about sin. The guilty are feeling shame about their guilt before Adonai. Jesus had never felt ANY of that. In ANY form at ANY time. Jesus was inside and out totally, completely, and absolutely righteous. Jesus had NOTHING to be ashamed about.

Jesus’ ordeal of punishment, trials, and crucifixion was FULL of shame. He was stripped naked before the public. He was beaten, mocked, treated worse than you would a slave or a whore, and not given even basic respect. Jesus also drew to Himself ALL Sin – as a thing as well as personal transgressions (John 12:32). Jesus had NEVER felt this way. Jesus had NEVER been in the position of engaging in sin OR having a sin nature. This was the FIRST time and it was AGONIZING to Him to be separate from His Father (Matthew 26:38). Jesus quoted Psalm 22 (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) when He was on the cross, referencing the Messianic Psalm that spoke of all His torment, all His troubles, all the aspects of His ministry and why He was going through the agony, but also the VICTORY that would be His in the end. It was that victory, the opening of the Way to all humanity, that Jesus kept His eyes on. It was the covenant He was making with His body and His blood that Jesus rated as better and more worthy than what He was undergoing.

Newton’s third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So in every interaction, there are forces acting on interacting objects. The size of the force of one object equals the size of the force of the second object. The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. This is Jesus’ sacrifice. He took on the shame of being Sin so that we could take on the honour of being righteous. “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we could become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). If not for Jesus’ action, we could not participate. Our actions, no matter how good or how full of effort, are NEVER enough to create true, full, complete, and total righteousness. The Law of Moses clearly shows us this. We NEEDED what Jesus did. And Jesus was willing to set aside EVERYTHING in order to be able to do it for us.

For anyone who feels that Jesus might have been forced by His Father to do it, there is John 10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take possession of it again. This commandment I received from my Father.” For anyone who might decide that Jesus was forced into it by our decisions and our actions, there is Revelation 13:8 “And all those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name is not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.” Of Jesus’ own free will He chose to sacrifice Himself and despise the shame that would come of becoming Sin, and He chose it before Creation was created. He did it FIRST to kindle in us the ability to choose salvation, restoration, and His righteousness.

In the same way, Ruach HaKodesh agreed to come and dwell in us. Ruach HaKodesh did not think it shameful to inhabit us. We are not poor temples unable to be worthy of His presence. No. We ARE the temples of Ruach HaKodesh. We are – because of JESUS – worthy of being so. Before anything was anything they chose. One to die and live again, the other to live within us. They see us differently than we see us. They see us as we are called to be – without denying where we happen to actually be. But they deal with us as righteous in Jesus. They deal with us as worthy vessels, set apart for His use. They deal with us as we are in Jesus, not as we are in ourselves. And as they have proved by their choices and actions, there is NO SHAME in that and NO PLACE for shame in us. We are renewed, recreated, and have been DELIVERED from the curse – the curse itself and the symbols of it as well. We are clean, clear, and created Holy in Jesus. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 22:23-24

“You who revere Yahweh, praise him! Glorify him, all you seed of Jacob, and be in awe of him, all you seed of Israel, because he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and has not hid his face from him; but he listened to him when he cried for help.” There have been times in my life I have begged for help and had no one answer. I have been mocked when in need. I have had my pain ignored and forced to acknowledge another’s pain. I have also been selfish and had the opposite be true. It is part of the condition of humanity. This is the behaviour we learned and have had trained into us by the world’s systems and their author the devil. But praise Adonai, things are different in the Kingdom. When we cry out we are NOT despised. We are NOT abhorred. We are NOT turned away. We are NOT ghosted. We are paid attention to. We are cared for. We are lifted up. We are saved. We are BLESSED. Adonai treats us as His beloved children! Adonai – as great and righteous as He is – pays attention to each and every one of us every single moment of every single day! We are NEVER alone. We are NEVER unloved. We are NEVER abandoned. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8