"In righteousness shall thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee."

- Isaiah 54:14

            If you look back to Genesis, when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, the first thing that manifested in his life was fear.  "...And I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen. 3:10).  The Book of Romans tells us, "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men..." (Rom. 5:12).  In other words, something happened in Adam the moment he ate of that fruit that not only impacted his life, but the entire human race.  It was the fact that death seized the sovereignty of man, where he now became subject to bondage, a bondage generated by the fear of death.  Hebrews chapter two mentions this: "Who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:15).   God never created man to be in bondage to anything, yet that is exactly what happened the moment sin entered into the world.

There are actually two different Hebrew words used in this passage in Genesis concerning Adam's nakedness.  At the end of chapter two, it reads: "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Gen. 2:25).  This word is AROWM, and it pertains to being without a garment or to be unclothed.  But there is another word found in chapter three, verse seven.  It states, "And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."  Here, the word for naked is EYROM. It refers more to a state of being; to feel utterly naked and helpless.  What was it that changed in Adam and Eve that allowed them to go from being unashamed of their nakedness to seeing themselves in need of a covering?  It is obvious that the glory of God left them the moment they sinned, and when this occurred, they became self aware of their utter helplessness.

            Psalms eight says, "For thou hast made him (man) a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor."  He goes on to say, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet" (Psa. 8:5, 6).  This refers back to Genesis chapter one, verse twenty-six, where God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."  According to Romans three, we find that, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).  These words, "come short" can be understood to mean: to suffer want; to be devoid of; to lack; to become inferior; to fail to become a partaker of.  If you took any one of these definitions and replace the word come short, it would help you see exactly what happened in the garden.  Adam sinned and suffered the want of the glory.  He failed to become a partaker of it, and thereby lost his covering.

            What was far more impacting was what losing the glory imposed.  It created in man a giant called fear, which left him wanting in every area of his life.  He found himself utterly helpless, and his helplessness brought him under the cruel dictates of a spirit of want.  God never intended for man to be subject to bondage.  It was never God's plan for man to be in want.  He was to be the champion of life and live in dominion.  He was to be the crown of God's creation.  When Jesus came to redeem mankind, he came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).  But even more than that, he came to bring us life! (John 10:10).  Romans 8:10 says, "Our spirit has life because of righteousness."   We have been put back into a right standing with God, and by doing so, he has restored our sovereignty to rule and reign in life by one Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17). 

            We don't have to be dominated by fear, because we are no longer utterly helpless!  Not only have we been given back our authority in Christ, but we have a helper, the Holy Spirit, to aid and assist us so that lack and want - and the fear and dread of terror and oppression have no right to be over us any longer.  We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.  David said, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want!" (Psa. 23:1).  If you will take your place in righteousness, not only will you be established, but you can declare this to be a day of reckoning on fear, terror, and oppression, and say, "Be far from me, thou enemy of all righteousness!  I declare you are under my feet for I shall not want.  I shall not fear.  I shall not be afraid. "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing" (Psa. 34:10).