Fear Not!

Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the hiding began. First they hid themselves from each other; and then when God came to take a stroll through the garden with them that evening, they hid from God. Why were they hiding? Adam says it clearly, “I was afraid.”

While God does send them out of the garden, God shows his continuing love and care for them by making them clothes and giving them a new place to live that has all they need to thrive. God has standards and God expects his children to live by those standards; but when we fail to live up to those standards—even when we knowingly and willfully break God’s standards—God’s love continues.

Consider this: When Adam and Eve’s son, Cain, kills his brother and tries to hide it from everyone, there are consequences; but God doesn’t annihilate him. Cain’s own actions have made it impossible for him to live in community with his family of origin. When Cain says God’s punishment is more than he can bear, God promises to put a mark of protection on him, “so that no one who found him would kill him” (Genesis 4:15).

In spite of this lavish display of grace, throughout the Bible you find people still have to be reassured every time God shows up. When God approaches Abraham to offer him the opportunity to be the father of the covenant people, God’s first words are, “Do not be afraid.” When he appears to Moses and invites him to lead the Israelites out of slavery, God’s first words are, “Do not be afraid.” When Joshua is left with the task of leading the conquest of the Promised Land, God comes to him with the message, “Do not be afraid.”

And it doesn’t stop with the Old Testament. Indeed, as God begins the work of establishing a new covenant; one holy messenger after another begins with “Do not be afraid.” During their last meal together Jesus tells his disciples, “Do not be afraid.”  When the resurrected Jesus meets the women in the garden on Easter morning he tells them, “Do not be afraid.”

When John writes his letter to the church he reminds them that God loves them. Indeed, God loves them so much that God “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).  So when you know and rely on the love God has for you and accept the power the Holy Spirit gives you to live a life that is pleasing to God, there is no reason for you to be afraid. 


May we grow to love each other the way God loves us.