Fear of Man Is God's Punishment

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (1Jn 4:18). Fear of man is God’s punishment because he has lost love. After Adam ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first thing that he did was to sew fig leaves together and make himself loin coverings because he was afraid of being naked even though he had been naked (Ge 3:7-10). Before Adam ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he had lived within love which was the image of God (1Co Chapter 13).

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others; it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1Co 13:4-7).

Therefore, Adam lived by believing whatever the word of God. But after he ate the fruit for himself from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and committed sin, the first symptom was fear and because of the fear, he made himself loin coverings in the first place. In other words, like a snake, he covered up himself with untruth and hypocrisy and intentionally began to hide his own weakness as the attribute of a snake.

The beginning of most of many incidents that happen to us humans is “fear”. Tragedies are taking place due to a lot of fears such as fear of the future, fear of poverty, fear of being exposed as our own weakness, fear of shame, fear of being deceived and used, fear of terror, fear of disasters, etc. and such fears rule over and reign over the realm of mankind.

Now is the age of terror beyond extreme fear. The driving force of Migration Period that began from the fourth century was fear. Such fear was punishment to have received from God because they were departed from love, the image of God. Accordingly, the only way to overcome fear is to restore love, the image of God, and to return to God. For that reason, the Bible says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment” (1Jn 4:18). If you commit a sin, snares surround you, and sudden dread terrifies you (Job 22:10) and adversity pursues sinners (Pr 13:21). Therefore, there are tribulation and trouble in the spirit of mankind.

Like this, as a result of eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind lost ‘the good’ and lives by being locked in fear and death of a disaster which are the results of evil. A disaster is the period to extinguish and burn sin and evil with fire until sin is poured out totally and paid off by pain of fear, terror, worry, anxiety, concern, fall, disease, etc. in proportional to the sin which each individual has committed. Therefore, in regard to the days of adversity, it is written in the book of Psalms “the iniquity of my foes surrounds me” (Ps 49:5) and in the book of Romans, “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil” (Ro 2:9). As if spring comes after winter, if the sins of human beings are accumulated, then they are judged according to their deeds as termination of their sins; and if they finish serving the sentence, then they will make a fresh, new start in life. Moreover, if the sins are accumulated again, then they are judged again. Such a continuous living is life. From this vicious cycle of life, the way to life and eternal life is only to return to “the good” after receiving salvation (Cf.: ‘The Covenant of Tears, the Last Promise of God’).