Wednesday, Dec. 12

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And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  - Luke 2:8-11

We have been reflecting earlier this week on how the first announcement of the Christmas message is the command not to fear.  In fact, this is the most frequently given command in all of the Bible.  It is one thing to say “don’t be afraid”, but it is another thing entirely to stop being afraid.  Have you ever been truly afraid?  Does it help you if someone simply tells you to stop?  (me neither)  

Notice that the angel does not just tell these shepherds to stop being afraid, he actually tells them HOW to stop being afraid.  The angel says to the shepherds, “fear not, for behold...”  This is the key to putting an end to your fear, you must “behold”.  What does that mean?  The word behold, literally means to look or gaze upon, to ponder and meditate on.  

What is it then that we are supposed to gaze upon and ponder?  It is the Gospel!  Look at what the angel says next to the shepherds, “I bring you good news”.  This is the announcement of the gospel, the euangelion - the good news.  What is the good news?  The angel tells us, For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  The command to fear not is followed immediately by the announcement of the good news of the Savior of the world!  

But how does this work?  How are we to behold the gospel, and how exactly does that help to remove our fear?

Okay, let’s try to make this practical, let’s take 3 of the most common human fears as an example...

The fear of rejection - Many people suffer from the deep fear that if other people knew what they are really like, then they would not want to be around them at all.  The gospel tells us that this Savior that has been born is the very same one that has made us acceptable in God’s sight through His sacrificial death and resurrection.  In other words, God knows everything about you, including all of the ugly secrets, and He accepts you through His Son, you Savior!

The fear of failure - This is that little voice inside that keeps saying, “you’re falling behind”, “you’ve got to work harder because not good enough”, “you’re going to screw things up”, etc.  The message of the gospel is that compared to God’s standard of perfection, you are a failure, BUT, the Savior that was born transfers His success to cover your failure, so that in Him you become a success!

The fear of the future - This is a big one.  Countless people live with feelings of anxiety and insecurity about what terrible thing might happen in the future.  The gospel tells us that this Savior holds all things together and the He is sovereign over all, even over the future!  The baby born in a manger holds you and your future in His hands, and there is no safer place to be in all the universe!

The truth is that if we are living in fear in some area of our lives, it is ultimately because we are not beholding the gospel!  

Jeff Frazier