Man earnestly tries to control the future so that he may remove this fear. However all human efforts to do this fail because ultimately it is God atone who controls the future. All things are thus known by Him because He brings them to pass.
"Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" Isa. 46:8-10. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:11 that God "works all things according to the counsel of his own will." What therefore is uncertain to man is not uncertain to God.
Yet this very fact is also the basis of man's fear. For the very omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence of God (that is, God's complete knowledge, His everywhere presence and His all power) strike fear in man's heart because man is a transgressor and God is his judge. After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, they hid themselves when they heard God's voice, and Adam confessed to God that he was afraid (Gen 3:6-10). Man's present day fear cannot be disassociated from his sin against God.
With this background then we can understand the words of the angel to the shepherds., "Fear not." Surely when "the angel of the Lord came upon them . . . they were sore afraid" (Lk. 2:9). In the presence of the super-natural we are afraid. But the words of the angel are not merely reassurance concerning that which cannot be understood. Rather the message of the angel gets to the heart of the matter of removing men's fear, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord."
Why is Christmas synonymous with joy and gladness? Because the birth of Jesus is the coming into this world of the long promised Savior who is none less than the Lord Himself. Jesus is the Savior because as His name signifies, He is the Lord who saves His people from their sins (Mt. 1:21). He came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), to give His life a ransom for many (Mk. 10:45).
The celebration of Christmas in today's secularistic society is largely an empty observance. It is like the decorations: glitter and tinsel but no real value. Yet there is really nothing more relevant to today's world and to this generation than the words of the angel, "Fear not." The older generation fears all the changes that are presently taking place, and the younger generation fears that the future offers them nothing to live for. A people living in such uncertainty, fear and dread desperately needs to hear once again these words, "Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy . . ."
As once more we celebrate Christmas in our churches and homes, we may well ask ourselves whether we too have become engulfed in this fear that is gripping the unbelieving world. Now is the time for victorious faith: "And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). Because it is faith in Jesus as our Savior; He who has said to us in view of all our troubles in this world, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33).
Biblical Christianity is the antidote to fear because it is the message of joy, the joy of salvation, the joy of salvation in Jesus Christ the Savior. The message the angel brought that night long ago has not lost its value through the generations, for it is just as true now as it was then. As you celebrate this Christmas is your outlook one of fear or joy? The angel said, "Fear not." That means trust. If you have your trust in Jesus the Savior than you will know the real joy of Christmas that overcomes fear.