What if I were to tell you, in the midst of a world consumed with reports of the latest terrorist acts and speculation about the next possible atrocity, that the master terrorist of all terrorists had already been located and destroyed?

You would certainly think that was good news. You would wonder why they haven't already reported it on the evening news.

Yet that is exactly what Hebrews tells us has already happened:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Jesus] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15).

What we have just read is the most important news any believer could possibly receive. This report from God's Word says the master terrorist (the devil) has been destroyed and the believer has been delivered from fear.

The world is preoccupied with fear because apart from the cross of Jesus and His victory over death, no one can get rid of fear. However, the person who has received the total deliverance from fear that salvation provides, never again has to live in fear or allow it any place in his or her thinking.

But how did this great deliverance take place? And how do we personally live totally delivered from fear.

To answer those questions we must first of all notice that we are talking about a flesh and blood victory here. Through the body, man was made subject to fear because of death. So Jesus became flesh and took on death in order to destroy the devil—the one who was holding the power of death over us.

Jesus poured His blood out for us. He allowed His flesh to be stripped and whipped for us. For what?

To defeat him who had the power of death. Pay attention to that verb "had." It is past tense. The devil no longer has the power of death over those who believe.

But notice, Jesus didn't just stop with victory over the devil. Jesus both destroyed him who had the power of death, "and deliver(ed) them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." That's you and me.

Look closely at what it says Jesus' suffering and victory purchased for us. It does not say that He gave us the power and the ability to cope with fear. Nor does it say that He gave us the power and the ability to choose which fear was good and which fear was bad.

No! It says He delivered us from fear.

And He did it at the same time He purchased our salvation. Every believer is familiar with some of the victories that Jesus won at Calvary. We know on the cross, He bore our sins and delivered us from continued subjection to sin. And we know that in His suffering and death, Jesus "took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matthew 8:17; see also Isaiah 53:4-9).

What believers haven't yet fully applied in their lives is the truth that Jesus also took the power of death away from the devil. He did it by destroying Satan and pulling him down from his position of authority at the same time, in the same act that delivered you and me from sin and sickness.

Freed From Every Bondage

To get a better understanding of how Jesus' victory affects us, let's look at Romans 8:14-18:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Here we see that fear is a spirit. It is a spirit that enslaves every man and woman until they make Jesus the Lord of their life. But once a person is born again, the spirit of fear no longer has any power in their life—unless that believer invites fear back in.

In fact, not only has the spirit of bondage been destroyed, but also another spirit has been put in its place. Every born-again child of God has been given the spirit of adoption. It is by that spirit, we cry "Abba," which is the most intimate Hebrew term for "Father." In English, we could translate it "My Dear Father," or "Daddy." This terminology gives us an idea of how close God desires to be to us. But sadly, most Christians don't enjoy that kind of relationship with their heavenly Father.

So how is it that we have been robbed of such a wonderful relationship with a God Who works only through love and never through fear?

The answer is that we have misunderstood verses 17 and 18: "If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

We have been taught that the things we are suffering may be part of God's will for our lives instead of recognizing them for what they are—the acts and deceptions of a desperate and defeated enemy.

In fact, the suffering referred to in those verses is not physical suffering at all. We can see that in just the first few words: "If so be that we suffer with him…." We don't suffer with Jesus on the cross. He suffered what He did on the cross to deliver us from the things He suffered.

Two Ways Jesus Suffered

To find out how believers do suffer with Jesus, look back again to Hebrews 2. There we will see that Jesus endured two different types of suffering. The first of these is described in verses 9-10:

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Clearly, Jesus being made "perfect through sufferings" refers to Jesus suffering death so we could live. This suffering He endured in His body is not something we can share with Him, but a suffering He endured so we would not have to endure it.

If we do not share that type of suffering in the body with Jesus, then there must be another type of suffering we do suffer with Him. The Word reveals what that suffering is:

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted (Hebrews 2:16-18).

The last verse is our key to the only kind of suffering that God intends His children to suffer with Jesus.

Jesus suffered being tempted. And because He did, He is able to "succour" or "help" them that are tempted.

This verse describes a level of suffering that the Church has not majored on as it should. But the problem is not new. Hundreds of years ago we began de-emphasizing revealed knowledge that comes only by the Spirit and began giving all of our attention to knowledge gained through the five physical senses—what we can see, taste, smell, hear and feel.

For centuries, schools (especially those not based on the Bible) have focused entirely on this sense knowledge approach, relying on information gained through the physical "sense gates." They have programmed only that information into the mental computer of the human mind, emotions and will.

The problem is, knowledge gained through the five physical senses is extremely limited. And it is of a much lower authority than the understanding that comes from the realm of the Spirit.

This creates a great challenge. You cannot come to know God through the five physical senses. I'm not saying you cannot gather evidence of Him this way. But you cannot come to know Him in any meaningful way with just the information you gain through sense knowledge.

God is a spirit. To worship, or know, Him you must come to Him through the spirit by means of His Word. You can't make a connection with faith or learn anything about real truth by limiting yourself to the five physical senses. All you can find out are facts.

The knowledge we've neglected to pursue—spiritual knowledge—has a much higher authority than the five natural, physical senses. This is knowledge gained by the Holy Spirit, by the Word of God through revelation. It is God revealing Himself in His Word to your spirit—God's way of revealing to you the key issues of life.

In contrast to the limited nature of sense knowledge, this revealed knowledge is knowledge that is unlimited. And unlimited knowledge is exact knowledge. It bypasses the five physical senses.

We have a clear Bible example of the existence and importance of this type of knowledge in a statement Jesus made to His disciple Peter. He had just asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" Some answered with the various opinions they had heard from people in everyday conversation.

But when Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!"

Jesus' response to Peter was:

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood [or the five physical senses] hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:17-18).

When Jesus said "on this rock," He wasn't referring to Peter being that rock. He was talking about the heavenly, revealed knowledge of who Jesus is, what He is, where He is, our place in Him, what He's done for us, what He is doing for us, and what He will do for us in our future throughout eternity. He said, "Now on this rock I will build my Church."


Built Up on Revealed Knowledge

In times past, the Church hasn't built itself up on that revelation knowledge. For centuries, following the lead of the world, the Church rejected revealed knowledge and built herself up on sense knowledge.

Because sense knowledge has no answer for spiritual problems, the Church has made excuses: "Well, I just guess God doesn't do this any more." Or, "I guess God must have allowed this to teach us something."

When all the time, the spiritual answers have been right there in the Word of God, in the Spirit of God Himself, in Christ Jesus and in us!

In effect, we trapped the spirit man inside the flesh, and developed the mind at the expense of the heart, or spirit.


Get Accurate Information

Remember, we just read that our Champion, our Commander in this war on fear, was made perfect—or mature—by suffering temptation. Before He took on a flesh-blood-and-bone body and came to earth, Jesus never had to resist anything that had to do with the flesh. But when He came to earth, Jesus had to face Satan just like you and I have to.

His suffering was that He resisted the pressure and the temptation to sin and break fellowship with God. Jesus resisted by standing in faith on God's Word and choosing to speak and do only what He heard and saw His Father say and do.

Remember how the devil tried to tempt Him in the wilderness: "Command that these stones be made bread…Cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee…All these things I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:1-10).

Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are—yet He did not sin. He faced Satan exactly like we face him. His suffering was in that He resisted the same temptations we face, and more, in His life on earth.

The supreme challenge for Jesus came in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prepared to face His death. There, He was tempted to be out of the will of God. God willed one thing, and Jesus another: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).

How severe was His suffering to stay true to what God said instead of what His senses screamed?

The Gospel of Luke answers that question: "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44).

Jesus believed and stood and trusted God until blood came out the pores of His skin!

This is the suffering we inherited from our Lord and Savior—resisting temptation by standing on God's revealed will instead of on what our senses are demanding.

Jesus delivered us from sin, sickness, demons, fear and all the things that go with fear: doubt, unbelief and worry. Our suffering is to stay on the Word of God and to resist those things we've been delivered from, even when our minds and bodies are screaming otherwise.


Refuse Satan's Tools of Fear

The opportunity to sin and to be sick, defeated and afraid is always before us. What we haven't understood is that we don't have to take the opportunity.

The Church has taught for a long time, "Well, everybody is going to be sick." We've been programmed to think, Well, I'm just lying here in this bed suffering this disease for Jesus. No, you're not. You're just lying there sick. God's not getting any glory out of it—no one is.

What is happening though, is that your health is being stolen. Your money's being stolen. Your family's having a loved one stolen from them. You're not being made a better wife or a better husband. You're no benefit to your family, your job, your Church or your community.

But something totally different happens when you begin to rise up out of that bed and say, "I refuse sickness! I refuse sin! I refuse fear! In the Name of Jesus, according to 2 Timothy 1:7, I have not been given a spirit of fear. I have been given the spirit of power, the spirit of love, the spirit of a sound mind. And I rebuke you, Satan."

Can you see the difference?

That's a form of suffering on a higher level than the natural, physical, sense realm.

You suffer when you do what it takes to resist the symptom in your body that is demanding your attention. You suffer when you take a stand in faith regardless of what your relatives and friends say. And you suffer when you choose to believe the Word instead of what the world thinks.

When you move beyond sense knowledge and take your stand on what God has said, you always win. Satan has no defense against it.

That's when you go from suffering to joy, from pressure to deliverance. And it all begins when you quit treating fear as a member of the family and start walking free from all bondage. Free—as one who has been adopted by blood into the family of God.