Do you find yourself in constant fear, that is the fear of the disapproval of God, or the fear of God’s rejection? Well you are not alone, and even the strongest of those with faith still lack a full understanding of the Love of God, and are prone to and fall into fear.
Did you know that most of our fear is a result of unbelief in the Perfect Love of God. And most of our unbelief is simply from a lack of understanding about what Perfect Love truly is?
Well, no worries, because in this message we are going to uncover what Perfect Love is so that you’ll have a full understanding of what our Loving Father has done, is doing, and has planned for your life, because of His Great Love! From this moment forward, expect to be rooted and grounded in the Real Love of God, and how truly Perfect, it really is!
Without further adieu… let’s get into God’s Word… but before we start.. I would like to discuss the Personal revelation of the Love of God.
You know we can throw around the expression, “God is Love,” and it’s almost become cliche to most of us. But the real question is, “Is it personal. Do you believe this for yourself?” Because the degree to which you know the Love of God for yourself, will determine the degree of your success in this life, but especially over the hardships and trials of this life.
This is revealed in the life and ministry of the Apostle John. I am not sure if you know this, but John was the only disciple who never was murdered or martyred. In other words the enemy could not kill John, he was unstoppable. The secret to the unstoppable Faith of John, was his personal revelation of the Love of God. Simply put, John knew how much God loved him and was made Perfect in the Perfect Love of God. How do we know this?
Well one clue is his continuous reference of Himself as “…the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He continuously reminded himself and even referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Let me show you…
John 13:23 the disciple whom Jesus loved,
John 19:26 and the disciple whom he loved
John 21:7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved
John 21:20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends
You see, John’s faith was empowered by the revelation of the Love of Jesus, so much so, that his faith in the Love of God overcame his fear of death. Out of all the Apostles, John was the only disciple who was at the cross, when Jesus died. The rest all cowered in fear. But what is this fearless Perfect Love that John understood and was empowered with boldness by?
Well, let’s look at what the scriptures have to say about the Perfect Love of God.
1 John 4:17-19
Love has been PERFECTed among us in this:
that we may have boldness
There is no fear in love;
but PERFECT love casts out fear,
because fear involves “punishment”.
But he who fears has not been made PERFECT in love.
Let’s unfold this slowly. First we see that “PERFECT love” casts out all fear. Second we see why someone would be in fear, that is because of punishment. Punishment for what? Well, that’s different for everyone, but for those who lack faith in the finished, loving and PERFECT work of God, because of His PERFECT love, they can never be secure, and will always manifest fearfully, because they are not rooted and grounded in the Real Love of God.
Most of the body of believers are trying to be good and earn the Love of God by their goodness, and have a works-based slant on the Love of God, and are either afraid of failure, afraid of being rejected, and some have even bought into the false doctrine of loss of salvation, are even afraid of our Loving Father throwing them in Hell if they fall, or stumble.
There are a couple hurdles and roadblocks to fearless faith in the Perfect Love of God. One is a works based understanding of scripture, which will always lead to fear or pride, but we are going to stay on this passage of scripture and deal with a lack of boldness and the fear that is prevalent in the hearts of believers these days.
The other issue is a mis-understanding of the “Fear of the Lord,” and far too often it gets hijacked and wielded like a threatening deadly sword towards the children of God, to shake them up, and force them to fall in line, by threatening them with the fire, if they are mis-behaving. Too many teachers are using fear as their tool to scare the children of God into works, rather empowering them with a revelation of the Perfect Love of God.
I can’t tell you how many pastors I have heard say, “If we teach the Grace and Love of God, we are “afraid” people will use it as a license to sin.” The moment you hear them say this, they have already revealed their motives, that is, “They are afraid..” They are preaching and teaching because they are “afraid.”
Well, I submit to you today that God has told the children of God to “Do Not Fear” 365 times in the entire bible, that is exactly one time for every day of the year! In fact the Lord has written, in 2 Timothy 1:7,
2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us fearful,
but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
You see here… that Power, Love, and Fear are mentioned in contrast as we will discuss later in this message. But the truth is that a revelation of the Perfect Love of God IS Power over Fear. Fear of what? Fear of Future Failure? Fear of Punishment, Fear of Falling, Fear of Death!
To fear, is to live in bondage! God wants us to walk in a revelation of Him as the Best Father that ever existed, one that ALWAYS has the best interests of his children, and one that ALWAYS has the best plans and purposes for His children. He wants us to always know that no matter what our PERFORMANCE is, that he Loves us, and His Love is Perfect and it’s Everlasting!
That is why it is written…
Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Daddy, Father.
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.…
But there are some who would want us to believe that our Loving Father will possibly throw us in the fire one day, if we fail, or if we don’t measure up, or if we are not good enough. And this is what they call the Fear of the Lord! Hah! What an outright blasphemous lie!
You see, the Love of God covers your past, your present and YOUR FUTURE! You will not fail, and you will never be thrown into the fire! Ever! And for anyone to teach this, is outright child abuse! The word of God is CLEAR on this subject, and any alluding to or vague twisting of scripture if abominable in the site and heart of God!
Let’s see what Paul had to say about this…
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation
God has NOT appointed the CHILDREN of God to wrath, BUT TO OBTAIN SALVATION. But they want you to believe that if, in the FUTURE, you fail, tomorrow, or one day, that God is going to burn you and pour out his wrath, not only on His Enemies, but also his children!
Over and over again, the Lord clearly strengthens us, through the Apostle Paul, here again we see it is written…
Romans 11:29
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
His gifts? What gifts? Well, let’s see. The gift of righteousness. The gift of salvation. The gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of eternal life! It’s all a GIFT and these are PERFECT GIFTS! What kind of Gifts? Perfect Gifts!!!
That’s why it’s written…
James 1:17
Every good and PERFECT gift is from above
His gifts are PERFECT, and IRREVOCABLE! God is not an Indian giver, nor changes his mind like a man, nor lies like a man! And His Gifts are PERFECT! We will soon see what “Perfect” means! But let’s continue!
You see there is no fear in punishment, because Jesus Christ has taken our punishment upon himself, and in exchange has given us the blessing we did not earn, nor did we deserve! This IS the gospel, and this IS the good news!
If anyone preaches any other gospel, and there are many, the bible says, let them be cursed. And the reality of it is, they already are, because they have not believed the true Gospel, that is of Jesus Christ and His Perfect Work, and His Perfect Love! Amen.
The truth is… ALL the punishment that was due us was suffered by Christ Jesus, on our behalf. There is no more punishment from the Father. The job was done, is complete and finished and there is NO NEED TO BE IN FEAR. The Work is done, and the wrath and punishment of God has been exhausted on the back of Jesus Christ, once, FOR ALL TIME!
Anybody who believes any differently does not understand the Cross, and has been severed from Christ, and the Real and Perfect Love of God. Unfortunately, many are afraid to believe that the cross was enough, they want to add to it, just in case it wasn’t enough, and so they do works for a little extra added fire insurance.
But children of God, I submit to you today, that the cross was enough, it was a complete, finished, and a PERFECT work, provided FREELY and GIVEN by a PERFECT loving Father, who ONLY GIVES PERFECT gifts! Amen, amen, and amen! Now that’s good news!
But to truly understand what God was saying through John we are going to have to look specifically at the word “PERFECT” in the Greek, and see what it truly means.
Perfect is defined as follows..
teleó: to bring to an end, complete, fulfill
Usage: (a) I end, finish, (b) I fulfill, accomplish, (c) I pay.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 5055 teléō (from 5056 /télos, “consummation, completion”) – properly, to complete (consummate), i.e. finish (qualitatively) the necessary process – with the results “rolling-over” to the next level (phase) of consummation. See 5056 (telos).
[This root (tel-) means “reaching the end (aim).” It is well-illustrated with the old pirate’s telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness).]
Ahh this explains and confirms so much! See most of the time, the word “perfect” in the dictionary is defined as, “completely free of defects” of faults, or “as good as it can be.” But rarely is it defined as “finished, accomplished, or done!”
Honestly, I believe using the English word “perfect” is a failure of our bible translators, and the true definition should be used, and that is, the word “finished.” The Word Perfect, means “Complete and Finished.” In other words, you can’t complete an already COMPLETE work, nor can you finish an ALREADY FINISHED WORK.
But most people believe that the Work of Christ is UNFINISHED, that your salvation is UNFINISHED and that God needs them to FINISH it. They believe that the work of the Cross was incomplete, and they need to complete it! But this is an outright lie for some, a deception for many, and a misunderstanding to some who are ignorant of the truth. There are some, however, that have heard this before, but find it hard to believe, leaving them in a state of unbelief, and therefore subject to fear and pride because of their unbelief.
Let’s go back and retake a look at 1 John 4:10, as previously discussed in the message “Free Love.”
1 John 4:10
THIS IS LOVE NOT that we (proved that we) loved God (by finishing his work), but that (we realized) he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (and that, that was enough).
You see, some don’t believe the cross was enough, like the Galatians, they believe they have to “finish in the flesh,” after “believing” in His Work. Or they believed in His Work, but still ‘believe’ they ALSO have to finish it. They lack a revelation of the “complete” and “finished” that is, PERFECT work of Christ!
But I submit to you today that IT IS FINISHED! You can’t add to it, and you CANNOT FINISH IT, otherwise it wouldn’t be, as Paul said, a “Perfect Gift” from above! It would be an “imperfect, unfinished, incomplete work” that was started above, but needs your works, good deeds and goodness to finish it! This is why Jesus said,
John 19:30 Jesus said, “It is finished.”
You see the Perfect Love of God is manifest and made complete, by the PERFECT Work of Christ, and results in your PERFECTION! But you cannot, nor will you ever be made PERFECT, unless you realize that you are Loved PERFECTLY, and saved by the Perfect work of Christ! And this revelation will BANISH ALL FEAR FROM YOUR HEART!
With that being said, let’s re-write 1 John and exchange the word, “perfect” for the word it’s defined by, and reread it!
1 John 4:17-19
Love has been (revealed as finished) among us (by the perfect atoning sacrifice of Jesus)
There is no fear in (a person with a revelation of the finished love work of Jesus) but (a revelation of the HIS finished love work) casts out fear, because fear involves torment.
But he who fears (the punishment that Jesus might not have taken) has not been made (complete, nor whole) in (a revelation of his finished love work.)
You see if Jesus didn’t take our punishment, then that means there is still punishment to be had, possibly, and we are the ones who will have to take it! But no, the punishment that brought us peace and wholeness was upon him! And he took it ALL. Not some, but ALL.
The Work is FINISHED, and COMPLETE, not unfinished and incomplete! This is the PERFECT LOVE OF GOD, and it truly is PERFECT AND GOOD!
On the basis of double jeopardy, Christ will not be punished again, nor will you be punished for sins that Jesus already was punished for! This is good news! You have been made finished, forever! Not just in this lifetime, but ETERNALLY sealed because of HIS WORK, BECAUSE OF THE CROSS! Amen! That is why the bible says,
Hebrews 10:14
For by one sacrifice, he has made PERFECT forever those who are being made holy.
Do you see that!? PERFECT, how long? PERFECT FOREVER!!! Not perfect and finished temporarily, with hopes that you can finish what he started! NO! Absolutely not! This is the good news!!! That you have been made PERFECT FOREVER! I had to say that again!!! Hallelujah!
So now when we read Ephesians 2:10 we need to add the Word Perfect..
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his (Finished) workmanship.
You know, you are allowed to be a work in progress, and masterpiece all at the same time? That’s right.. You, like a telescope, are growing one stage at a time, but you still have in you the ability to extend all the way to the end! And even if you are only extended one third of the way and can’t see the end, it’s ok, keep stretching, keep believing, and you too will see the PERFECT LOVE OF GOD, manifest in the PERFECT WORK OF CHRIST! It truly is the GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT FROM ABOVE!
But speaking of which, that is, the ability to see the end “aim” or the end result through a telescope. His PERFECT work EXTENDS all the way to the end of your life, and all the way to your future failures! That’s right! According to scripture, he forgives ALL YOUR SINS. He has paid the price 1X FOR ALL TIME, for those who would believe and receive! That’s right! Let’s look at Hebrews 10:14 one more time.
Hebrews 10:14 For by one sacrifice he has made PERFECT FOR ALL TIME.
Colossians 2:13 He forgave us all our sins,
You see most works based, loss of salvation teachers, are afraid to teach this, and will curse you as a false teacher, for EXTENDING the work of Christ till the end of your life, because, once again they are, you know it, “afraid,” you might sin! Then they will point to confession scriptures which simply mean that you agree with God, and turn them into a transactional forgiveness system. What do I mean?
Let me quickly explain. Many believe that you have to continue to confess your sins in order to receive the fullness of what Christ paid for, and made available on the cross, but that if you don’t confess your misbehaving or evil thoughts, then you can’t receive the benefits of His work, therefore exalting the doctrine of confession above believing in the finished work, and making confession the way you can finish His work!
But the truth is, you don’t have to go to Father Michael 1000X a week in order to be saved, and to “stay saved” or to “finish receiving the fullness of the work,” you simply know and believe it’s finished, and realize that there’s nothing you can do to finish it! In fact, YOU ARE THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST.
The finished work of Christ is not something that you do, it’s something he has done IN YOU. You are HIS WORKMANSHIP, that He will use to WORK THROUGH. But bottom line, we don’t confess our sins to be saved, we confess, happily, because we are already saved! Our confession of our sins doesn’t keep us saved!
Too often this is confused with our initial confession of “unbelief” in the finished work of Christ! And, in error, the emphasis is always placed on our sins and the power of our sins, but lacks the revelation of the PERFECT LOVE WORK OF GOD, AND THE POWER OF THAT LOVE MANIFEST! Amen! We could write a book on this, and many have, even in error, so let’s move on.
But what does the bible say about who is going to finish the work in your life!
Philippians 1:6
being confident of this,
that he who began a good LOVE work
in you will carry it on
to PERFECTION
until the day of Christ Jesus.
You see the PERFECT, AKA FINISHED work of Christ, was not a single event in time 2000 years ago, but is ongoing now, BUT HE WILL NOT STOP, UNTIL HE HAS FINISHED WHAT HE HAS STARTED. And HE WHO STARTED IT, will surely PERFECTLY FINISH IT, when? Until HIS SECOND COMING! ALL THE WAY TO THE END!
So don’t worry, God Loves you and HAS NOT, nor will HE EVER fail you! He will keep you firm to the end! You WILL BE FOUND BLAMELESS, and PERFECT! Don’t believe me? Good! Believe the Bible!
1 Corinthians 1:8
He will also keep you firm to the end,
so that you will be blameless
on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who will keep you? He will! Do you have to keep yourself?! No! How long does this PERFECT PROMISE, FROM A PERFECT LOVE, THAT ACCOMPLISHED A PERFECT WORK ACTUALLY EXTEND? ALL THE WAY TO THE END! Your entire life, not some of your life, not just the beginning, and now you need to complete the complete work of God.
You see only a PERFECTLY LOVING FATHER, would PERFECTLY COVER THE WORK, and PERFECTLY PAY THE PRICE, and PERFECTLY FINISH THE WORK, AND GIVE US SUCH A PERFECT GIFT from above! The LOVE OF GOD IS PERFECT, AND IT CASTS OUT ALL FEAR!!! Therefore we can approach the throne of Grace BOLDLY and without fear!
But the unbelievers, and the false believers, want to yoke us, and keep us in bondage, as slaves to fear! But the Father has not given us a spirit of fear, fearing his punishment, but a spirit of LOVE AND POWER! What kind of Power, a PERFECT POWER as a RESULT OF HIS PERFECT LOVE! Amen
The Lord wants us to know this Love, and to rely on it! Rely on His PERFECT GIFTS AND PROVISIONS revealed in HIS PROMISES. He wants us to know the Love that He has for us! And what is this Love? This love is shown by HIS PERFECT WORK, AND HIS PERFECT SACRIFICE for HIS CHILDREN, and all those who would SIMPLY BELIEVE AND RECEIVE, and not achieve it or try to complete it!
This is why it is written…
1 John 4:16
we know and rely on the (PERFECT AND FINISHED) love God has for us.
And as we realize the FULLNESS of what THIS WORK HAS ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED, our faith explodes! Faith is built on trust! And it’s hard to trust and approach somebody you are “afraid” of! You won’t run to someone you can’t FULLY trust, because in the back of your mind you will be afraid they might hurt you one day, or if you say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing they will murder you!
But conversely, Faith works THROUGH a revelation of the Perfect Love of God, and His PERFECT WORK! That is why it says,
Galatians 5:6
faith works through (REALIZING THE WORK IS DONE BECAUSE OF HIS) love.
This faith, that is faith working by PERFECT love, is a faith that MOVES MOUNTAINS, AND IS AN UNSTOPPABLE FAITH, one that is, like John, undefeatable! And it will prove itself all the way to the end.
You see, seeing the end, from the beginning, is the key! A telescope can see all the way to the end, if it is EXTENDED! So what does the Loving Father do? He shows us the END! So that we can be FEARLESS AND BOLD, because we know the end, now! It is God who has said,
Isaiah 46:10
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
The Lord knows what is before us, because he goes before us, that is, yes even into our tomorrow! Wow! Lord help our unbelief! It is the Lord who told Joshua, do not fear, only be strong and courageous! Why? He told Joshua why! Let’s see what he said…
Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD himself goes before you
and will be with you;
he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 1:30
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified;
do not be afraid of them.
30 The Lord your God, who is going before you,
will fight for you.
One, he goes BEFORE us into our tomorrow, and even to our end. Two, he will never leave us! He will be there with us until the end! AND Three, he will fight for us! And if God is for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US!? No one!!! Therefore DO NOT FEAR!
You see, a God who has done a PERFECT AND COMPLETE, AND FINISHED WORK, one that includes our lives unto the end, but even EVERLASTING must love us PERFECTLY. His Love is PERFECT. His Love is COMPLETE, and this REVELATION, will keep us and empower our faith, and will cast out all FEAR!
But a God who might leave us, and who might forsake us, and might cast us out, and might burn us in the fire, and might not really fight for us, HAS AN IMPERFECT LOVE, and a person who believes this will be FULL OF FEAR! Amen!
The Lord says, “Do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged!” Why? Because I love you! And my Love is not IMPERFECT, but is PERFECT, and is COMPLETE and the revelation of this will make you WHOLE! Be whole my son, be whole my daughter, and be healed of the wounds of rejection and works, in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen. Know my PERFECT LOVE, receive the results of MY PERFECT WORK, and walk in the RESULTING POWER!
You see, the Perfect Love of God, will release and makes room for the PERFECT POWER OF GOD, and the fullness of it! Many of us lack the Power needed to overcome fear, and the POWER NEEDED to conquer and move mountains. Why? Because we are not rooted nor grounded in the PERFECT LOVE OF GOD.
We are weak and frail, and diseased but God wants to bless us with the fullness of His Power, and the Power that can be contained by a WHOLE HEART AND A WHOLE SPIRIT, with no leaks and no cracks. This is what Paul prayed for, for the Ephesians! He says…
Ephesians 3
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with POWER through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in (PERFECT) love,
18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the (PERFECT) love of Christ,
19 and to know this (PERFECT) love …
You see the key to receiving the Power of God, is a faith in the Perfect Love of God!
His prayer, and my prayer for you is that you might know how long, and how high, and how deep this love EXTENDS, that is your entire life, but even Eternally. It extends into your tomorrow. It EXTENDS, even for you future mistakes. It extends into your future problems, it extends beyond this life, and even beyond your death. It extends on eternally.
There is no place it cannot extend, and there’s no place you can hide from it, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it! You can’t finish it nor can you complete it, it is the PERFECT, FINISHED, COMPLETED LOVE OF GOD, MANIFESTED IN THE PERFECT, FINISHED COMPLETED WORK OF CHRIST! It truly is PERFECT! Amen!
and then