HOW TO OVERCOME THE FEAR OF SIN AND DEATH
John 1:48-49 NKJV Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?"Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
Nathaniel was known for his credibility and criticism therefore, his brother Phillip was confident that he was best positioned to authenticate the validity of Jesus’ claim to divinity. Prior to his encounter with Jesus, he had been seating secretly under a tree. Jesus knew that in order to convince Nathaniel it has to be beyond reasonable doubt, this He did by revealing Nathaniel’s secrets.
The ‘presence’ of God (His essence or tangible manifestation) has
often been viewed as a temporal phenomenon. The word ‘presence’ first occurred in Gen 3:8 KJV “And ... Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the
Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” The word ‘presence’ is the Hebrew ‘paniym’ which means ‘the face, countenance, anger, heaviness, favour’. These words describe the tangible
manifestation of God.
God created of all things and is
infinite in manifestation whereas man is finite. It is difficult for the finite
mind to comprehend the infinite nature of God therefore, in order to
communicate with man, He does so in progressive manifestations (Rom1:20,Isaiah28:10). To
better understand this, imagine your physical size in comparison with that of
planet earth. You cannot see the entire planet at once but in bits. The earth
is measurable and according to the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, NASA, the earth is said to have a surface area of
about 510 million square kilometers or 5.1×108 km2 . If the earth had a human-
like face, say of the size of the African continent, we would still not be able
to see it except through space technology and in comparison we would be like
specks of dust on the surface of the earth. This should give us an idea of what
it means to be in the presence of an immeasurable personality and the creator
of the universe. We are literally ‘nothings’ in comparison, that’s why the angels say in wonder “Lord, what is
man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of
him?” Ps
144:3 NKJV
We are made in God's image and imbued with His creative ability . This is why none of God's creation dominates like
the human species. We have placed our footprints on the earth and in space. It
is this superior creative ability and the capacity to worship that makes us such valuable assets before God. He desires worship from us every moment of the day.
We are like fishes in a boundless
ocean (God), we came from Him and will return to Him like the fishes in the
ocean. We cannot hide from Him because He lives in us and we in Him. He knows
whatever we say or do. He sees our thoughts ( 1Sam 16:7).He is omnipresent. It
is against this backdrop that the religious concept of ‘coming out’ and ‘going into’ the presence of God is injurious to the soul. It is gives
Satan room to manipulate our intellects and makes it easier to fall into
temptation. That was how he deceived Eve. She did not know that God was present
all the time in Eden- if she did, she would have verified Satan’s claims against God by asking Him
directly. The tree of the knowledge of God and evil was the symbol of the
judgment of God. She ate of it and became judgmental and was condemned for it
(Mat7:1.Rom2:1) .Divine judgment belongs to Him with the power to overcome death. She had
no such ability and therefore died spiritually. The awareness of the eternal
presence of God gives freedom from the fear of death whose power lies in
sin.
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