Christmas Day

Lack of Fear The Women at the Tomb

Lesson Verse Matthew 28:1-7

Introduction

I know this is an Advent study for Christmas. This is also the story of fear, how it came into the world and how Jesus, even before He was born, worked to eliminate fear from our lives forever. In order to fulfill God’s call on your life, you must first learn to control your fear and strengthen your faith. Overcoming your fear to do as God asks may reward you in ways you can’t imagine, just like the women at the tomb!

Key Points

• When Adam & Eve ate the fruit, they not only sinned, they brought fear into the world
• From the beginning, the message of Jesus has been “Fear Not!”
• With the resurrection of Jesus, not only are our sins forgiven, our fear has been eliminated

When Adam & Eve ate the fruit, they not only sinned, they brought fear into the world

Many people think Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, a tree whose fruit gave the two of them wisdom. They did not. Adam and Eve ate fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good from Evil. The fruit gave the two of them discernment. I believe before they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve did not understand the difference e good and bad. After creating everything, God looked at His creation and declared it all GOOD! To Adam and Eve, everything was good. Like very small children, they had no understanding of bad.

Now, I know God told them not to eat the fruit of the one tree, however, when someone else came along and said it was alright to eat the fruit, they accept his opinion. Much like children following the instructions of adults even when those children have been told not to, Adam and Eve simply didn’t know any better.

Once they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve could see and feel evil. Where once everything was good, suddenly they saw things that were not good at all, things that were very bad. Eating the fruit didn’t simply bring sin into the world. Eating the fruit brought FEAR into the world and with fear came sin. Sin does not exist on its own. Sin is a powerful symptom of fear. How do we know they were suddenly afraid? Scripture tells us right after eating the fruit, Adam and Eve covered their nakedness because they were ashamed and when they heard someone walking in the garden, they hid because they were afraid.

Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit, once fear and sin had been released into the world, the books of the Old Testament are filled with stories of people being overcome by their fear and, as a reaction to their fear, sinning.

From the beginning, the message of Jesus has been “Fear Not!”

Each time a person encounters an angel in the birth story, the first words the angel says to them is, “Fear Not!” or don’t be afraid or some other variation. Even before Jesus was born, His story was one of faith, not fear. Jesus came to eliminate, not just your sin but also the fear that often causes you to sin.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus shares a message of hope, telling people not to be afraid, not to worry about anything. His message was meant to strengthen your faith and turn your energy and faith to working for the Kingdom of God. Jesus offered ways to help you grow spiritually and focus on God’s call on your life.

With the resurrection of Jesus, not only are our sins forgiven, our fear has been eliminated

Finally, the story comes full circle. When the women arrived at the tomb on Resurrection Sunday, they find Jesus is gone and an angel is waiting for them with a message, “Fear Not! He is not here. He is Risen.” The first words that announced the coming of the Baby Jesus were Fear Not. The first words heard by the women following Jesus’ resurrection were Fear Not!

On Easter Sunday, the women and the world learned that with the resurrection of Jesus, not only was your sin eliminated but your fear had also been eliminated. You have no reason to be afraid any longer.

Faith Vs Fear

The opposite of fear is not courage. The opposite of fear is faith. You can be very afraid and still do something courageous. The way to eliminate your fear, or at least control your fear is to strengthen your faith. You do this through prayer, reading Scripture, Bible studies, church, fellowship with other Christians, and with your family.

You are the heart of your family. You have an obligation to help them grow in faith so all of you become stronger and less fearful. It is important to clarify the difference between guilt and fear so you are able to recognize when your fear is out of control and take steps to overcome it. You must also remain strong in faith to help your family overcome any fear they might have. It can be difficult, I know. You are often concerned about your children and this can grow into fear. Recognize when this is happening so you can stop it right away.

Discover ways to identify your fear, grow your faith, and use that faith to conquer your fear. Then you are able to grow into the Empowered Woman God sees!

For Today

Christmas comes at the end of the year & this is the perfect time to consider the message of Fear Not! It’s too easy to live in fear. Fear is sneaky. You don’t always realize how frightened you are, especially if this is a normal way of life for you. Time to overcome fear. Time to step out boldly. Time to strengthen faith and say’ “Here I Am, Lord!”

How can you overcome the fear in your life?

How can you give yourself the gift of faith?