The risen Christ, the first words to his disciples, "Don't be afraid there is nothing to fear here."
The writer to the epistles to the Hebrews said that "Jesus came to take away the fear of death" and then the writer of first John says that "Perfect love casts out fear."
The word that is used for "casting out" is the same word used for "casting out" demons. God's perfect love casts out all of our fears.
The fear of punishment, the fear of hell, the fear that God is somehow out to get us, the fear that somehow were not going to be good enough, the fear that we are not going to make it.
The fact is that we live in the universe where from Gods perspective, fear has been cast out of heaven like lightning.
We no longer have to fear death or dying because we believe in a God of life, a God of hope, a God who brings resurrection, Who will bring wholeness and a new creation that will be so extraordinary that words cannot describe it.
And that is our hope!!
- from the documentary Hellbound?
