Over and over, Scripture instructs us to fear not. Yet so many of us, on so many days, find ourselves struggling deeply with feeling fearful.
The truth is, we cannot simply tell our hearts not to feel fear. Telling yourself not to feel something is impossible. So, what do we do when fear shows up? Especially since we cannot defeat fear or overcome anxiety on our own.
We look to Jesus, taking every fearful thought captive to make it obedient to Him. Fear has no place in our lives because of who Christ is. And as we remember who He is and all He has accomplished, Jesus pushes out fear.
An excellent passage of Scripture for us to look to is Revelation 1:17-20 where Jesus reveals some of His fear-defeating attributes to the Apostle John in a vision:
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.’”
Here, we find that fear disappears in the presence of these seven attributes:
1 - His Eternity - Jesus is the first and the last.
God is the creator of time, space, and matter. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit all existed before any of these things existed. Thousands of years later, He sent His Son to die for the sins of the world. Two thousand years after that, you were born, and you will get nine or ten decades on this earth unless your life is cut short. Then, at the end of your life, if you know the Lord, you will be called home to be with Him. Life for others will continue until Christ returns, and everything written in Revelation plays out. Time, as we know it, will end. Wickedness, sin, death, and anyone apart from Christ will be consigned to hell, while those under the blood of Christ will live with Him in the New Heaven and the New Earth forevermore.
If we were to put all of this on a single timeline, it would stretch far beyond the confines of our comprehension, with our lives being mere grains of sand upon it. That does not mean your life does not matter. The Bible teaches that Jesus knows you so well that He knows the number of hairs on your head. But seeing the vastness of the eternality of Christ begs us to ask a few questions.
Because He is the first and the last, what problem in our lives can He not overcome? What are you facing that is bigger than Him? What dilemma, question, tumor, or broken relationship in your life does not pale in comparison to Jesus? These aren’t meant to be insensitive questions that belittle the pain and problems in our lives. We must let the eternal nature of Christ put everything else in perspective.
The next fear-defeating characteristic Jesus declares is His divinity.
2 - His Divinity - Jesus is the living one.
Notice that Jesus states in verse 18 that He is the living one. Why does the wording matter? This phrase is used in Scripture to differentiate God from false gods. The fundamental difference between a false god and the one true God is this - God is alive, and they are not.
We find this truth spelled out clearly in Psalm 115:2-9:
“Why should the nations say,
‘Where is their God?’
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.”
Jesus is alive, and He is divine. Along with His divinity, Jesus casts out fear because of His humanity.
3- His Humanity - Jesus died.
We just established that Jesus is the living one, yet He goes on to say, “I died.” How can God possibly die? God only dies if He becomes a man. God did not cease to exist on the cross at Calvary, but the Lord Jesus in the flesh died.
The writer of Hebrews speaks into why His death is so important, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery,” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Mankind's greatest fear is death, but it doesn’t have to be for the Christian. We follow the One who has already experienced death. Jesus died, meaning He is not asking us to do anything He has not already done. So when we bring our fears to Him, whether it is fear of dying or any of our other struggles, we are not praying to a distant God who does not understand. We are praying to a God-man who knows what it is like to deal with everything you and I have dealt with and overcome - which leads to our next point.
Praise God, His humanity is closely followed by His victory.
4 - His Victory - Jesus is alive forevermore.
After stating that He died, Jesus states, “and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Christ is alive, and He is victorious! The marvelous truth about His victory is that His victory means you and I will know victory. The Apostle Paul expresses it this way, “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him,” (Romans 6:9).
This fact is why Protestants have historically celebrated the empty cross. It is a finished work. Jesus is not still suffering for our sins. He will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him, and that means it no longer has dominion over those who belong to Him.
His victory then leads to another powerful truth in the face of fear - His authority.
5 - His Authority - Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hades.
Remember when you finally held the keys to something you purchased, like a car or a new home? Keys mean authority.
Jesus says, “I have the keys over death and Hades.” Death is something we all face, and Hades is the New Testament translation of the Old Testament word for the realm of the dead - Sheol, the grave.
What does this mean for us? We know that when we die in Christ, we are with Him. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” We also know Jesus told the thief on the cross, “And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise,” Luke 23:43.
Jesus has the keys, and at the end of Revelation, we read, “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire,” (Revelation 20:14). Death isn't the end of our story. Jesus has the victory. Jesus has the authority.
He also has and gives us clarity.
6 - His Clarity - Jesus will make His will clear.
You and I do not know what tomorrow or the day after will hold, let alone what the future that stretches far into eternity will look like. But Jesus, the first and the last, is not confused or unclear about what is to come, and He will always make His will known. That is why, in His wisdom and sovereignty, He tells John, “Write these things down.” We don’t have to live in fear when we remember that Jesus sees, Jesus knows, and He has a plan. We will never be left to figure everything out on our own. He makes His will clear.
The final attribute that vanquishes fear is that Jesus is in control of the mystery.
7 - His Mystery - Jesus is in control.
What is the mystery? Reread verse 20: “As for the mystery of the seven stars they saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
These are churches that are struggling. Some are divided. Some are eaten up with false teachings. Some have tolerated sin. All are being persecuted. Yet John is told that Jesus has every one of those churches under His control, and He has angelic messengers ready to deliver a word to those churches. Nothing is outside of the control of Christ!
Consider how all of these attributes rolled up into the person of Jesus can vanquish our fears. What do we have to fear if He has always been and always will be? What do we have to fear if He is divine? What do we have to fear if the One who loves us has truly died for our sins and risen from the dead? What is there to fear if He has authority over death and Hades? What do we have to fear if He is always going to make His will known, and He is always going to keep the things on earth under His control?
What is stirring up fear in your heart right now?
Take every fear and anxiety to Jesus. Let Him cast out your fears as your heart is reminded that there is no problem or unknown you will ever face that is greater than Him. Because of Jesus, we can fear not.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10