Warrior Jesus, 3: Jesus Defeats Fear

In a nutshell: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” These are stirring words, but many people fear all kinds of things. And if all that we do fear is fear itself, that is still fearful! None of us want to be fearful, and putting up a front that proclaims we have no fear when in reality our souls are trembling doesn’t solve anything. Often we don’t call fear “fear” but give it a more respectable name, like “stress,” in an effort to control our fears. What we need is a champion who can deliver us from fear and bring us into a place of confidence and freedom. Jesus is that champion! Jesus defeats all enemies. Jesus defeats fear.


A Spirit of Fear
Anthropologists identify three major categories of culture with regard to human shortcomings (that is, sin!): guilt cultures, shame cultures and fear cultures.

In a guilt culture there is a sense of debt to be paid back. In shame cultures there is anxiety about social exclusion. And in a fear culture the fear is that you will be attacked by ancestral or demonic spirits. (Just watch an episode of Tribe for examples.)

In the UK most people are not concerned about ancestral spirits, but many people are spiritually sensitive. A recent survey
reveals that 39% of people believe in ghosts, 22% believe in astrology or horoscopes, 27% believe in reincarnation and 15% believe in fortune telling or Tarot. There are plenty of Brits carrying spiritual fear.

As well as this kind of spiritual fear, there is a more general spirit of fear at work in our society, as revealed by this research:

A charity is calling for a nationwide campaign to protect the UK's mental health after a survey suggested people were growing ever more anxious.
The poll of 2,000 adults for the Mental Health Foundation found 77% found the world more frightening than in 1999.
The charity described a "culture of fear" in which the media and politicians fuelled a sense of unease.
The report, In the Face of Fear, found more than a third of people say they get frightened or anxious more often than they used to, while 77% thought the world had become a scarier place.
While the economic climate was seen as part of the reason for the increased levels of fear, the charity said it believed there were other factors at play.
The report said "worst-case-scenario language" sometimes used by politicians, pressure groups, businesses and public bodies around issues such as knife-crime, MRSA, bird-flu and terrorism can have a detrimental effect on people's wellbeing.

My pastoral experience confirms that many people are trapped by their fears, and often these fears are rooted in childhood. The kind of fears that show up in research of children’s fears are these:
• making mistakes (failure)
• being unpopular
• speaking in front of people
• environment (global warning)
• death
• the future
• snakes
• heights
• injections
• the dark

This list isn’t much different from adult fears!

Where do these fears come from?

Fears Origin
We can see all kinds of reasons as to why people are fearful. Sometimes it is just personality – some people are by natural disposition more prone to anxiety than others. Sometimes it is our social history – the kind of home we grew up in and the attitudes we were taught there. Often it is down to personal experience of scary things that have happened to us. A sense of guilt also plays a major part in making us fearful.

These things give some explanation as to why people feel fearful, but to really understand the origins of fear we need to find the gospel explanation. Genesis 3:1-10 explains it: “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Sin brings fear. Sin’s great deception is that it grants freedom – “You can be like God” – but what it actually does is to separate us from God. And that is a fearful place to be. Our sin leads to a sense of exposure – we feel naked and vulnerable because sin meant we were handed over to our fears.

Fear works by assuming power over us. It controls us. It makes us slaves.

How can we get free?

Fighting Fear
We have to find ways to try and appease fear. We can do this by sacrificing to demons; or by developing obsessive-compulsive behaviours; or by always making sure there is ‘enough’ money in the bank; or by popularity seeking.

Or we might try flat denial. President Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” But if all that we do fear is fear itself, that is still fearful!

Sometimes people say, “I fear nothing!” thereby simply revealing that the thing they fear is being afraid! They fear other people thinking they are afraid, which means they fear the opinions of others!

The real explanation for fear is that in the end all our fears trace back to being afraid of God. All our fears are evidence that we fear there is some power more powerful than us which can crush us.

There is! We should be afraid!

Fear of the Lord
The only way to conquer this fear is to be right with God. We need to move from Adam’s “I was afraid” to what the Bible describes as “fear of the Lord.” As Psalm 111:10 puts it, “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom.”

This phrase fear-of-the-Lord sums up how we are to live before God – with awe, respect and reverence. This phrase is what linguists call a syntagm or “bound phrase.” It is only two words in Hebrew and it can’t be broken down into its constituent parts. It becomes one word. To live with a Fear-of-Yahweh is to recognize his ultimate authority. Living this way keeps us from being afraid and leads us into freedom.

Only Jesus can bring us into this way of living.

Jesus Defeats Fear
1. By breaking the power of the powers [Colossians 2:15]
Jesus has proved himself to be the ultimate power – he is the one to fear! He has beaten all the other powers, thrown sand in the face of every bully, and demonstrated his superiority over them. When you are standing behind the ultimate champion you don’t need to be afraid of anything.

2. By enabling us to become sons [Romans 8:15]
Jesus calls us into a relationship of freedom with him, a freedom from fear. We become children of God, fellow heirs with Christ. As Psalm 54 puts it, “In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”

What are the consequences of Jesus defeating fear?
1. Gratitude of mind for the favorable outcome of things
Fearful people don’t readily give thanks. Fear traps us in ingratitude and makes us hostile, prickly people. In contrast, fear-free people enjoy life! [Philippians 4:4-7]

2. Patience in adversity
Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a Catholic priest who was a leading figure in the struggle for Poland to be free of communism, said this after martial law was imposed:

A man who bears witness to the truth can be free even though he might be in prison… The essential thing in liberating man and the nation is to overcome fear… We fear suffering, we fear losing material good, we fear losing freedom or our work. And then we act contrary to our consciences, thus muzzling the truth. We can overcome fear only if we accept suffering in the name of a greater value. If the truth becomes for us a value worthy of suffering and risk, then we shall overcome fear – the direct reason for our enslavement.

If what we value most is Jesus we will be empowered to cope with difficulty, and not give in to fear, and not try to solve every problem ourselves. We will be patient and full of trust in Him.

3. Incredible freedom from worry about the future
In Christ we can be freed from a fear of failure. This means that we will be prepared to take risks and live a life of adventurous faith. It means that we are freed to live in the present rather than always worrying about what is coming next. It means that we can be confident about our destiny, because we know that Jesus will safely bring us to eternal life with him.


Application Questions
• What things tend to cause you to fear (or feel stressed/anxious/worried)?
• How is Jesus the answer to these fears?
• How does fear of the Lord lead to freedom rather than being afraid?
• How does Jesus help you be grateful rather than fearful?
• How does Jesus help you be patient in adversity?
• How does Jesus help you have confidence about the future?

Warrior Jesus 2: Jesus Defeats Guilt & Shame

In a nutshell: We all know we’ve got problems. The real problem is how to solve our problems. The world teaches that our problem is outside of us and the solution is inside us – if we can only get our personal psychology ok we will be ok. But the gospel teaches that the problem is inside us and the solution is outside us – that our problem is guilt and shame, and that we can’t fix this ourselves. Only Jesus can fix it. Jesus defeats all enemies. Jesus defeats guilt and shame.

1. In the beginning…
Genesis 2:5-9; 15-25
The story of creation presents a perfect, harmonious world. The man and woman were surrounded by beauty (there was no enemy of ugliness); they were given purposeful work to do (no enemy of meaninglessness); they were in harmony with the plants and animals (no ecological enemy); they were in perfect relationship with one another (no relational enemy); and in perfect relationship with God (no spiritual enemy).

This perfection, harmony and innocence was symbolised by their unashamed nakedness. They were completely confident and satisfied: in themselves, their environment, their relationships, and in God.

2. The fall…
Genesis 3:1-13
By disobeying Yahweh, Adam and Eve made a journey from innocence and confidence to guilt and shame. They became objectively guilty and subjectively ashamed.

Their story tells the story of how we all ended up as we are…

3. Everyone now experiences guilt and shame
Romans 3:23 makes things very clear: You are guilty!

This is why so many people carry a sense of debt – the overdraft you can never clear; the guilt about things you have done in the past. Guilt can become very powerful and controlling, with no easy way out, especially if the person sinned against is dead, or long gone. Guilt fractures relationships. It leads to self-loathing; addictions; substance abuse.

We need forgiveness but don’t know how to get it.

As well as feeling guilty we feel ashamed. Many cultures are ‘shame cultures’ where there is not so much a sense of sin needing to be forgiven but to be cleansed of shame. This is very typical in many Mediterranean and Muslim cultures, where the most severe punishment that can befall anyone is to be disowned by one’s family, and where family honor must be defended at any cost.

Carrying shame is like carrying leprosy – it alienates you from other people. Shame can be the result of things we do, or because of things other people do to us (this is particularly the case with those who have been sexually abused).

We need cleansing but don’t know how to get it.

4. How can we get free?
To try and rid ourselves of guilt and shame we invent coping mechanisms: Religion, moralism, markers of social status, or a complete hardening of conscience.

None of these is effective.

A more common approach in our society is to claim that guilt is a social construct and shame is simply low self-esteem: The problem is outside you; the solution is inside you. Other people have messed you up! Its not your fault, so get your personal psychology right and you will banish feelings of guilt and shame.

This little video illustrates the problem well...



It looks like the problem is external - it looks like its someone else's fault the escalator has broken down. And the solution looks like it is internal - all they need to do is walk. But actually the problem is an internal one - they are stuck on the escalator and have no sense of how to get off. They need someone - a savior - who can take them by the hand and lead them off it.

We are guilty and do feel ashamed! We are stuck on the escalator blaming other people and blind to our own sin. Our problem is internal, and we are lost unless there is an external solution. We can’t just blame other people for our problems and try to make ourselves feel better – we need a savior! We are right about feeling guilty – we don’t even live up to our own standards, let alone God’s! We should be ashamed!

5. How Jesus defeats guilt and shame
How does Jesus defeat our Guilt?
Answer: a Gospel of forgiveness [Hebrews 2:17]

Jesus lived the life I should have lived and he died the death I should have died. His sacrificial death on my behalf was accepted by God and by faith in Jesus, I can receive his rightness as a gift.

Every other religion will have you working your way out of guilt, but Jesus gives us forgiveness for free. Jesus and his resurrection is the Gospel you need to deal with your guilt.

How does Jesus defeat our Shame?
Answer: a Gospel of relationship [Hebrews 12:2]

Jesus did not just bear our guilt, he bore our shame. On the day of Atonement [see Leviticus 16] two goats were selected to carry the sin of Israel. One of these goats was killed – this demonstrated the seriousness of sin and how it can only be dealt with by death. But the second goat was chased outside of the camp into the wilderness. This demonstrated how sin breaks relationship between man and God and that this separation has to be removed by separating our sin from us.

Jesus is not just your death goat. He is your scapegoat. Jesus has carried away our relational separation. He is the one on whom all your shame was laid. He was executed in the most shameful way possible, hanging naked on the cross. But he did this because of the joy of relationship with us it made possible.

Jesus’ resurrection showed the power of shame was temporary: Now there is nothing but glory and honor to come for those who put their faith in him. Jesus and his resurrection is the Gospel you need to take away your shame.

6. Apply the gospel to every situation
We mustn’t apply worldly solutions to gospel problems. Only Jesus can defeat the enemies of guilt and shame. Only by turning to him can they be taken away from you.

This turning to Jesus doesn’t only happen at the moment of our salvation. Throughout our lives we need to keep turning to him. We need to keep turning to the cross and to the tomb.
Guilt and shame are only answered by the cross and the resurrection. We can manage their symptoms through therapy and behaviour management, but only Jesus can root them out.

For example, when I talk to Christians who are having marriage problems there is always either a sin issue (which creates guilt) or a shame issue. Sin issues happen when he doesn’t lead and she doesn’t submit. They happen when he doesn’t love his wife sacrificially and when she doesn’t respect her husband. Learning one another’s love languages, how to improve communication, etc. can help manage the symptoms, but the only real solution is repentance and forgiveness.

On the other hand, shame issues are usually a consequence of abuse. E.g., the wife was sexually abused and now finds it difficult to be physically open with her husband, or the husband was emotionally abused and now finds it hard to support his wife emotionally. The only real solution to this is to know that Jesus bears the shame away.

Our enemies have to be destroyed or they will destroy us. Jesus does this. Jesus defeats all enemies. Jesus defeats guilt and shame.


Application Questions
• Do you know that guilt and shame have been defeated in your life?
• Are there things you need to repent of?
• Are there things you need to allow Jesus to carry away from you?
• How do you see the reality of guilt and shame being worked out in your neighbours lives? What can you do to help them find freedom in Christ?

Warrior Jesus: Jesus Defeats Death

In a nutshell: On Easter Sunday, death, the biggest of all the villains was totally and completely undone. The tomb was empty, and it still is. And that means that at least one person has conquered the grave, smashed the last enemy, and overturned the curse of death that has afflicted every human since time began. A champion only has to be killed once. Death had a pretty strong track record, until it faced Jesus, to whom it had no answer whatsoever. His resurrection life was simply too powerful. Jesus defeats all enemies. Jesus defeats death.

The video of Johnny Cash performing “Hurt” has been viewed over 19 million times on YouTube. It is unusually powerful for a music video because of the way it shows the legendary Cash at the end of his life, thinking about those who have already left him and those he will soon leave. It reveals regret for mistakes made and for youth faded. And it recognizes the human incomprehension at death, which comes, as Eccesiastes 3:11 puts it, because “He has put eternity in man’s heart.”

Yet at the same time Cash’s video offers a glimpse of a hope for redemption – the images of Christ’s crucifixion point to something more going on here.

This is not Cash’s song. It was written by Trent Reznor, of the Nine Inch Nails, and when Reznor sings it, it offers nothing but total nihilism. Cash takes a song of despair and turns it upside down. He doesn’t flinch from the bitterness of death, but somehow turns it to worship – “You could have it all, my empire of dirt…” – a recognition that all he has achieved is nothing in comparison with the achievement of Christ at the cross.

[As an aside, Cash also does something similar with the song “Personal Jesus” which as sung by Depeche Mode sounds only mocking, but on Cash’s lips becomes a declaration of faith. Truly a great man.]

And that is the message of Easter – everything gets turned upside down.


The inevitability of death
Death was the penalty for disobedience. God warned Adam & Eve what would be the consequence for disobedience: “You shall die” (Genesis 2:17). They disobeyed, and they died. Ever since, as Philip Larkin put it, “Life is slow dying.”

Every life heads towards sorrow. The people we love die; or we die and leave those who love us bereaved. As Cash sings, “Everyone I know goes away in the end”

This is the first in a five-part series during which we will be looking at some of our enemies: Guilt & Shame; Fear; Ugliness; Injustice. But death really is the greatest enemy of all.

Because death is the enemy we spend all of life fighting it, and adopt different strategies to do so…

Pursuing health: We spend billions on health care, beauty products and keeping fit. But we still die! Arthur Lydiard was an acclaimed athletics coach and the “father of jogging”, who produced two Olympic champions and was credited with inspiring the worldwide jogging craze. At one point he was running 200 miles a week. He was a healthy guy! And he lived until he was 87. But he still died, collapsing from a suspected heart attack in a Texas hotel.

Denial – recklessness: Some people delay death by defying it through living on the edge. Goran Kropp was an adventurer who reached the pinnacle of his career as an adventurer by cycling 7,000 miles from Sweden to Nepal, climbing Everest without porters or bottled oxygen, then cycling back to Sweden.

Kropp set out from Stockholm on October 16 1995, riding a custom-built, 18lb bicycle and towing 240lb of climbing and camping gear in a trailer. His route took him through eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and finally Nepal. By the time he arrived in Kathmandu, he had been pelted with rocks, assaulted with a baseball bat, and run off the road, He repaired 132 flat tyres.

When he left the staging ground in Kathmandu in April 1996, he became the first climber to carry all his equipment (weighing 143lbs) to Everest Base Camp, at 17,100ft. From there he made his way up the South Pillar, doing his best to steer clear of other climbers, doing his own route-finding, eschewing the fixed ropes and carrying all his own food.

His first attempt ended in frustration when he was forced to turn back, having run out of steam 350ft below the summit. Despite this blow to his morale, and in the face of rapidly deteriorating weather that would result in the deadliest season in Everest's history, he steeled himself for another try. That failed too, due to dangerous snow conditions.

Then, on May 9-10, the great storm arrived, the worst in living memory, catching 40 climbers from eight expeditions high on the mountain; eight died in the disaster. A few days after the storm subsided, Kropp set off for his third and final attempt, still without Sherpas and without bottled oxygen. On reaching the summit he lingered for just four minutes, deeming it prudent to get his blue, oxygen-deprived fingers to a lower altitude as soon as possible.

He spent a few weeks in Katmandhu recuperating before beginning the 7,000-mile ride back home.

Amazing! Inspirational! But Kropp still died, aged 35 from a fall while rock climbing on a popular route.

Denial – passivity/indifference: This is probably a more common strategy – “Just don’t think about the big issues. Pretend they’re not there and they won’t get you!” Trouble is, they are, and they will!

Ambition: Some people fight death by ambition – be the best, have the most, get to the top. Perhaps the most ambitious man of all time was Alexander the Great. He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle.

Alexander assumed the kingship of Macedon following the death of his father Philip II, who had unified most of the city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian hegemony in a federation called the League of Corinth. After reconfirming Macedonian rule by quashing a rebellion of southern Greek city-states and staging a short but bloody excursion against Macedon's northern neighbours, Alexander set out east against the Persian Empire, which he defeated and overthrew. His conquests included Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia, and he extended the boundaries of his own empire as far as Punjab, India.

Alexander had already made plans prior to his death for military and mercantile expansions into the Arabian peninsula, after which he was to turn his armies to the west (Carthage, Rome and the Iberian Peninsula).

Alexander changed cultures by integrating many foreigners into his army. He also encouraged marriages between his soldiers and foreigners, and he himself went on to marry two foreign princesses.

His legacy and conquests lived on long after him and ushered in centuries of Greek settlement and cultural influence over distant areas. This period is known as the Hellenistic period, which featured a combination of Greek, Middle Eastern and Indian culture. Alexander himself featured prominently in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His exploits inspired a literary tradition in which he appeared as a legendary hero in the tradition of Achilles.

But Alexander couldn’t beat death! He died after twelve years of constant military campaigning, aged 32, possibly as a result of malaria, poisoning, typhoid fever, viral encephalitis or the consequences of alcoholism.

The point is, Whatever strategy you adopt to fight death, we are all working to the ultimate deadline. Death is the No. 1 enemy that defeats everyone in the end. If we are to beat it, we need a hero who is stronger than death.

Death is the big one. In movies, the last enemy to be destroyed is always the head villain (it wouldn’t be quite the same if Alan Rickman died half way through Die Hard, or if Jack Bauer killed the chief terrorist by 11am). The last enemy is always the most dangerous villain of all, and the reason why the other villains are there. It’s the same in Scripture. Death is the biggest of the enemies and the explanation for the others. If there was no death, there wouldn’t be any war or injustice or fear or sickness. So if you can abolish death, you can totally strip all the other enemies of their power.

Where is a hero like this going to come from? How is he going to do it?


Jesus, Our Hero!
That’s the Gospel of Jesus and resurrection! On Easter Sunday, the biggest of all the villains was totally and completely undone. The tomb was empty, and it still is. And that means that at least one person has conquered the grave, smashed the last enemy, and overturned the curse of death that has afflicted every human since time began. A champion only has to be killed once. Death had a pretty strong track record, until it faced Jesus, to whom it had no answer whatsoever. His resurrection life was simply too powerful. So, as Paul taunted: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O grave, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).


Resurrection Power
Jesus did not rise “spiritually,” or “metaphorically.” His was a real, physical resurrection. In order to beat death we too, have to share in this resurrection power. This is the only death-defeating strategy! The Apostle Paul describes this strategy in 1 Corinthians 15…

1 Corinthians 15:50
This body is going to die; there’s nothing you can do about it; you’re not going to get to ‘heaven’ with it. In your body there is no re-incarnation; no hope of a better future. If we are going to beat death we need something to happen to us that changes this inevitability.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
How these things will happen is mysterious, but the mystery has now been made known to us through what Christ has done. The Corinthians were looking for answers to life’s big questions, but the only real answer is Jesus. He now has an imperishable body, and in him we can be changed so that the inevitability of our current condition is reversed.

In describing this transformation Paul is talking about what happens to believers in Christ (see 15:1-2). The apostle Peter says something similar in 1 Peter 1:3-5. This is what happens to Christians! This is where we’re headed! Our bodies will be Imperishable, Undefiled, Unfading – this is what we will become!

1 Corinthians 15:53-55
This must happen because it has already happened in Christ. He is the firstfruits (15:20), and we will be like him! Those who are in Christ, must share in his resurrection. Resurrection becomes an inevitability! It is because of this that Paul can taunt death! Death still seems to win; but it is a broken power. Paul can look it in the eye, shake it by the collar and laugh at it.

1 Corinthians 15:56-57
Sin is the reason death can sting us. Disobedience led to death. Sin is given its power because it makes us want to do what we are not meant to do. Naturally our desires are the opposite of God’s will.

But Jesus has nailed sin to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). He has made it possible for us to fulfil God’s will – not by our own actions but by sharing in what he has done. Our sins are exchanged for his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), and he makes it possible for us to share in his resurrection power.


Death defeated
The hope of Easter is not metaphorical. It is not even merely ‘heaven’. It is the hope of resurrection! Because resurrection is our inevitable destiny Christians can face death boldly. Death is no longer our end, but our beginning. As Spurgeon put it:

Death is the end of dying. The day a believer dies, dying is done with forever. The saints who are with God will never die again. Life is wrestling and struggling, but death is the end of the conflict. Death is rest and victory. Life is full of sinning, but blessed be God, death is the end of that. No transgression or iniquity will follow us to heaven.

Life is longing, sighing, crying, wasting away, and desiring. Heaven is enjoying, possessing, and delighting one's self in God. Life is failure, disappointment, and regret. These emotions are over when death comes, for glory dawns with satisfaction and intense contentment.

The day of our death will be the day of our cure. There are some diseases that will probably never be healed until the last Physician comes. Then with one gentle touch of His hand, we will be healed forever. All infirmity and all sickness will vanish in our last hour. Blind sister, you will have your eyes. You who lost your hearing will hear the song of angels. You who limp will dance. You will have no infirmity. Death cures the ills of old age.

Our death day will be the loss of all losses. Life is made up of losses, but death loses losses. Life is full of crosses, but death is the cross that brings crosses to an end. Death is the beginning of our best days.

Death is no longer the enemy! The hurt has been healed. Jesus defeats all enemies. Jesus defeats death!

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!


Application Questions
• How does “Hurt” make you feel?
• How is it that we can know the bitterness of death yet say with Paul, “O death, where is your sting?”
• Do you know that your sins have been forgiven?
• Why is it important to understand that we are headed not only for ‘heaven’ but for life after life after death?