[Feature Story_God Is Love] No Fear in Love
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May 04, 2014 |
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Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church Dr. Jaerock Lee
He is God's servant of love and power who has awakened all people of all nations by spreading the core of the gospel following the Lord's way and manifesting the fiery works of the Holy Spirit.
Manmin Central Church opened with only 9 adults and 4 children in 1982. Through the works of the Holy Spirit the church has grown to become a mega-sized church with approximately 10,000 branch and associative churches. Just as Jesus preached and confirmed the Word by the signs that followed His teaching, Dr. Jaerock Lee confirms that the Bible is the truth by showing the power of God.
He has conducted many overseas crusades such as in Uganda, Japan, Pakistan, Kenya, the Philippines, Honduras, India, Russia, Germany, Peru, DR Congo, the U.S., and Estonia since 2000 and showed explosive powerful works. Among them, Uganda Crusade was reported by CNN.
He also preached in the Israel United Crusade 2009 in Jerusalem. He proclaimed Jesus is the Messiah and it was broadcast live in approximately 220 countries. He is dedicated to the Word and prayer to accomplish the providence of God who desires all people of all nations to be saved at the end time by proclaiming the gospel to the end of the earth and achieving the mission of the ministry to North Korea. www.drlee.or.kr
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment,
and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us"
(1 John 4:18-19).
Where love is, there is no fear. If one dwells in the love of God, they have no fear because there is no punishment for them. Only when people believe that God loves us such that He unsparingly gave His only begotten Son for us can they love God from their hearts.
Having fear proves the lack of love for God to the degree. No matter how many times one professes his love for the Lord, if he is fearful when hardship comes, this can't be perfect love. True love never fails even in life-threatening situations.
1. The reasons one has fear though he believes God
We love God because God first loved us. The love of God makes love sprout in us and it grows up to be perfected love just as buds sprout and beautiful flowers bloom through the sunshine of spring. Furthermore, perfect love drives away fear. Then, what are the reasons people who believe God still have fear?
Fear comes from transgressions
The first man Adam ate from the various kinds of trees in the beautiful Garden of Eden God had placed there and he lived without lack of anything and he lived in full communication with God. However, he fell to the crafty serpent's temptation and ate from the God-forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the moment, the tragedy started.
As Adam's disobedience to the Word of God caused sins to enter, Adam felt ashamed of his own nakedness and made himself loin coverings with fig leaves. Children don't feel shame when they are left naked because they have not yet been stained with sins. In the same manner, before he sinned, Adam felt no humiliation when he was unclothed. But after sins entered, he came to feel ashamed.
God called Adam and said, "Where are you?" He said, "I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." The sound of God had been soft and tender before, but after he sinned the sound of God became a sound that was fearful to him. Just as God said, "In the day that you eat from it you will surely die", his spirit which is the master of man died. He was sent out from the Garden of Eden and toiled on the cursed land and had to live with suffering.
Cain also committed sin. God had regard for Abel and for his offering while He had no regard for Cain and for his offering. Out of jealousy, Cain killed Abel. This caused Cain to be punished by God. So he became a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. Cain appealed his fear and said to God "My punishment is too great to bear!" And he implored for God's protection, saying, "I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
The wages of sin, that is, disobedience to God's Word, is death (Romans 6:23). It means severance of the relations with our holy God. So fear sweeps over sinners.
Fear comes to the extent people have unbelief in God
During the Exodus from Egypt under the lead of Moses, the sons of Israel witnessed the Ten Plagues unfolded by the power of God. They also saw the Red Sea parting when Moses stretched out his staff and water coming forth from a rock when he struck it. They were guided in the dangerous wilderness by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire during the night. They also met God the Almighty who fed them with quail and manna. However, what did they do when God came down to the earth?
The 20th chapter of Exodus shows that God came in the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. They couldn't dare to come close and just said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."
Meanwhile, Moses calmed the people who were trembling with fear and said to them, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin." So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
Then, what is different between the Israelites and Moses? The people of Israel didn't believe from their hearts although they experienced the works of God. But Moses believed God from the bottom of his heart and his heart without evil resembled the heart of God. Since the Israelites didn't believe God, they complained, blamed Moses, and stood against God in hardship. But Moses interceded for them and asked God to forgive them, even putting his life at risk when the people were about to be destroyed. He achieved the heart of God to the extent that he could communicate with God and see the image of God.
God made Himself known to other prophets in a vision or a dream. But with Moses, He spoke mouth to mouth even openly. This is because he was very humble more than any man who was on the face of the earth and was faithful in all God's household (Numbers 12).
Lastly, fear comes from not understanding the heart of God
The lack of understanding the heart of God means that one doesn't know God well. In the Old Testament times Job was such a person.
Job 1:1 reads, "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil." He consecrated himself before God all the time and after feasts he offered burnt offerings according to the number of his children; for Job said, "Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." He tried his best to act justly before God.
Job did so because of fear for God rather than love for Him. After he met with adversity, Job said in Job 3:25, "For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me." In fact, Job had received overflowing blessings but in such blessings he had worries and felt afraid that God would inflict difficulties upon him. If he had shared true love with God, he wouldn't have had any anxiety or fear.
With misunderstanding about God, in Job 2:10 Job also said of God, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" God doesn't allow hardship to anybody without reason. If He did, how could we have believed Him as God of love and served Him? No Scripture in the Bible says that we should accept adversity from God after we receive good things from Him.
Job didn't understand the truth well. He knew of God as knowledge but he hadn't experienced God personally, so he couldn't understand the heart of God or feel His love. That is why Job misunderstood God and felt fear. To lead such a person as Job and for him to reach true love, God allowed afflictions on him. Through them, Job gained realization about God's true love and said, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You" (Job 42:5).
Before afflictions, Job served God believing that God was a fearful God based on the knowledge he had learned. But he came to know God is love by meeting and experiencing Him. Then, he came to love God from his heart and received double-fold blessings.
Therefore, if we achieve perfect love all fear will be driven away and we will never fear of anything from God. We will rather long for Him and live always with loving anticipation. In the love of God, the way to the redemption of men from their sins was opened, so fear goes out to the extent that love comes in. When we achieve perfect love no fear can affect us.
2. In order to accomplish fearless perfect love
1 John 5:3 says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome."
The evidence of love for God is to keep His commandments. Keeping His commandments refers to keeping and practicing the Words in the Bible and fulfilling them with love.
If you love someone, you might want to fulfill his or her heart's desire no matter what it is and joyfully do something for him no matter how hard and difficult it is.
Going two miles with a person you hate is troublesome. But, what if you walk with one who is beloved and a person whom you want to hear from, long for, and you always miss? Then you won't feel discomfort even if you were to walk all day.
Those who love God don't find it hard to keep the commandments. In fact, they find it rather happy and joyful to keep them. As much as they love God and put them in practice one by one, fear fades away and they can be strong and bold in the truth. They can finally reach perfect love and even sacrifice their lives with that love.
1 John 3:21-22 states, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." When we love God and dwell in the truth, we can boldly ask God and receive answers to whatever we ask for. This is God's love for us.
Why don't we check ourselves? Do you feel the love of God who protects you with His blazing eyes? Do you experience the love of God in your life who has even numbered the hairs on the heads of His dear children and knows everything and guides them?
The worldly people who have no belief in God feel afraid when hardship or affliction comes. However, in believing people there is no fear. This is because God the Father is near us forever. We will also return to our home in Heaven, so we don't have to feel afraid though the physical life ends in the world.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you imagine that you will have everlasting rest in the beautiful Heaven and share love with the Lord, you can overwhelmingly overcome any kind of sufferings of the present time.
God is preparing heavenly houses for believers and waiting with longing for the day when He will welcome His beloved children. I pray in the name of the Lord that by loving such God you will quickly accomplish perfect love.
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