Random Quotes & Articles to Provide Food for Thought
1 John 2:15* Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16* For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17* And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
INTRODUCTION—WHAT IS “THE WORLD”?
What does the Bible mean when it uses the term, “world”?
For example, when John the apostle says in the passage we just read, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world…” what does he mean?
Or in 5:4, “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” What does He mean?
Or what does Jesus mean in John 15:19 when he says, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
Or what does Paul mean in Romans 12:2 when he says, “Be not conformed to this world”?
Let me give you a definition of the world as the Bible, and particularly the NT, views it:
The world is an organized, harmonious system of rebellion against God, with Satan at its head.
Why did I use the words organized and harmonious?
We need to look at the underlying Greek text, particularly the Greek word “kosmos”, k-o-s-m-o-s.
Without fail translated as “world” except in one place.
Kosmos—it’s where we get our English word “cosmos”, c-o-s-m-o-s. Other words derive from it, too, such as cosmic, cosmology, cosmonaut, and even cosmetics.
So kosmos is the word that underlies “world” in our English Bible.
What does KOSMOS mean?
It means, order, arrangement, ornament, adornment.
That’s why in my definition I said that the world is an organized, harmonious system. Kosmos means order and arrangement.
Now you may think the world seems very chaotic and disorganized, and in one sense it is; but I’m not ONLY talking about the world taking it at face value. I am also talking about a very organized and harmonious system that lies behind what we see and come in contact with from day to day. It is that system, that well-organized entity working behind the scenes, that the Bible reveals very clearly, and which the Christian has to deal with.
The Bible reveals many things about that well-organized system—far too many for me to enumerate in the short time allotted. So I would like to quickly look at three aspects of this world, or kosmos:
1. Its Origin;
2. Its Direction;
3. Its Destiny.
1. Its Origin
I hope no one here tonight would dispute the fact that this physical world—this earth–originated with God. He created everything in the material universe—“without Him was not anything made that was made,” John says.
But the system of things that the NT calls “the world” or the “kosmos” did not originate with God. It originated with Satan.
Eden was a paradise where God was the supreme ruler; but when Adam and Eve listened to Satan and disobeyed God, they handed the rulership of their lives over to the devil.
That was where the system began—and it’s never ceased to grow and develop and progress ever since.
So we can say that before the Fall of Adam and Eve there was an earth; AFTER the fall there was a world.
Repeatedly Jesus calls Satan “the prince of this world.”
In 1 John 5:19 it says that “the whole world lieth in the wicked one.”
Satan is the mind behind the system, and he has lots of cohorts and helpers.
Paul talks in Eph. 6 about “the rulers of the darkness of this world.”
You see it’s a planned, organized, orderly system, and it dates back to the day when the first man sided with Satan—the world system was immediately set up with Satan as king.
2. Its Direction
So much for the origin. Now let’s talk about the DIRECTION of this world.
If Satan is its head, then you guessed it, the direction is AWAY from God.
From its beginning in the garden of Eden until this very day, the trend of the world is AWAY from God.
The direction of the world is NEVER toward God, it’s always away.
That is why as Christians we need to be very careful not to get entangled and enmeshed in the world system. Yes, we have to eat and drink, we have to work and clothe ourselves, we have to educate our children; but we must be very careful not to let the world squeeze us into it’s mould.
There is a subtle power always at work to draw us away from God, away from prayer, away from Christian fellowship, away from the Bible.
The verses I read earlier are a key passage in relation to this subject.
John says that we as Christians are NOT to love the world, neither the things that are in the world;
THEN, he tells us what THE THINGS OF THE WORLD are:
The lust of the flesh,
The lust of the eyes,
The pride of life.
All these things have a subtle power behind them, and will always, unceasingly, draw us away from God.
The lust of the flesh would include sensual desires, unchastity, and so on.
The lust of the eyes would include love for finery, luxury, gaudy clothing, superb houses, expensive furniture, and the like.
The pride of life would include honors, status, position, being well connected, and the like. The Bible shows that the tendency of these things is always to draw us away from God. May the Lord help us to be always watchful.
3. Its Destiny
Now we turn to the DESTINY of this world.
This world system is not going to last indefinitely; in fact it’s doom is already sealed.
You remember that when Christ was facing the cross He said these words, “Now is the judgment of this world, now is the prince of this world cast out.” God has already passed sentence on this world—the sentence of death.
One of these days, perhaps very soon, that sentence will be brought into actuality.
This world with its political, commerical, and religious systems—everything that makes up this kosmos that we have been talking about—will be completely annihilated—destroyed forever.
You remember the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 and how he saw the kingdoms and political systems of the world all down through the ages symbolized by the image with different metals and how the whole image was destroyed by a stone cut out of the mountain—that stone is Jesus Christ, and when His millennial kingdom is inaugurated on this earth, the world, the kosmos, will cease to exist. Satan will no longer be the prince of this world.
The book of Revelation similarly foresees the doom of this world system, symbolized by the fall of Babylon in the 17th and 18th chapters. In the end times, the religious, political, and commercial systems of this world will all unite under one banner and under one ruler—the Antichrist. That which has been all the time working behind the scenes will suddenly become visible in the person of the Man of Sin, the very embodiment in human flesh of the devil himself, ruling and reigning on this earth. But then, even more suddenly, the kingdom of Antichrist will be destroyed by the coming of Jesus Christ.
The last chapter has already been written for this world. It is only a matter of time. It’s doom is inescapable. It’s destiny is sure and certain destruction at the hands of Almighty God.
Conclusion
In the light of all this, what should our attitude be as we pass through this world?
We should hold it very lightly! We shouldn’t bank on it in any way.
If somehow you received some secret knowledge that the bank that holds all your money was going bankrupt two weeks from now, would you continue to deposit money in it? Of course you wouldn’t!
So then don’t allow yourself to be entangled with the affairs of this life—this world that is doomed to destruction. It has no future!
May each of us ask God for grace each day to keep us from the subtle inroads of a world system whose trend is away from God. May He help us not to build our future in a world that’s doomed to. Jesus said,
SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU! May the Lord bless you. Amen
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