Sermon # 15 - Overcoming Fears Of The Past Series

We read in Genesis 3:9, The LORD God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" (ERV)

The Almighty God, who is the creator of heaven and earth, who is all-knowing called out to Adam in the Garden of Eden, and wanted to find out where he was. It was not that God did not know where Adam was, but there was a reason why God checked with Adam as to his whereabouts. If we can comprehend the reason why God asked this question to Adam, I am sure that we will find answers to many of the questions that linger in our minds as well.

God created Adam and Eve, in His own image and likeness. Though sin marred this image of God in humans, we can still see glimpses of God’s image in people around us. This is why we may notice that people can still be humane, kind, loving and merciful, just as God is. God also endowed man with the authority to rule over all that He had created. As those who were created in the image of God, Adam and Eve were also has been gifted with a free will and the capacity to choose between good and evil. There was only one command that God gave to Adam and Eve who were enjoying the beauty of the glorious Garden of Eden, and that was that they should not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was also in the garden. Nonetheless, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command, and one of the consequences to their disobedience was that they lost the authority to rule over God’s creation, which was instead replaced with fear.

If you are wondering why they had to forfeit this authority to rule, let me explain this with an example that we are more familiar with. Let us say there is a man who is appointed the General Manager of a company, by the owner of that company. As a person who holds such a post, the General Manager has a certain amount of authority bestowed on him. This position of authority gives him freedom to hire or fire someone, to buy, produce and sell the products for the profit of that company, as all this has been confided to him by the owner. However, the moment that the General Manager rebels against the standards or rules set by the owner, and decides to do things his own way and not in conformity to the rules of the company, the owner will surely not put up with such behavior. He may warn him, but if he still continues to disrespect the owner, the owner will certainly have him removed from that post.

That’s exactly what happened to Adam and Eve. To say it in general, all of mankind lost their authority to rule which was now replaced with a sense of fear or dread.

Fear and guilt of the past

There are so many fears that fill people’s hearts, but there is one that is dominant in many and this is the fear of the sins they committed in the past. Many people live in constant regret and guilt from wrongs that they have done many years ago. Every problem they face in life is related back to that sin from the past, and this fills them with constant apprehension.

The fears Jacob faced

A good example in the bible is Jacob, and we will study his life to see how he handled these fears from his past.

We read in Genesis 32:7, Then Jacob was in great fear and trouble of mind: and he put all the people and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two groups; (BBE)

Just to get the background of this verse, as a young man Jacob had deceived his elder brother Esau and usurped his birthright and also his father’s blessings, which rightfully belonged to Esau. Esau was therefore enraged with his younger brother Jacob, and wanted to take revenge on him. Nonetheless, as their father Jacob was well advanced in years, Esau determined that once his father passed away, he would deal with Jacob and finish him off. On knowing this, Jacob fled from Esau and landed up in another country with his Uncle Laban. Jacob was married and prospered in every way. However, many years later, Jacob decided to get back to his home country, with all that belonged to him, and this was when Jacob dreaded as to how his brother Esau would react to him. Jacob recalled all the sins of his past, and that was why he was filled with great fear and a troubled mind, not being sure of what lay ahead of him.

Jacob’s various plans to appease his brother