THIS WORLD

This world is an amazing place at times. It is a place of unforgettable beauty and goodness, but at other times it is a place of heinous shame and evil. In my short life I have seen the splendor of the ice capped mountain of Everest in Nepal and I have seen the throngs of wilder beasts running at break-neck speed along the Serengeti in Kenya and Tanzania, both sights to behold. I have seen waterfalls and trees that seem to almost kiss the skies. I have brought life into this world and sadly I must confess I have taken life out of this world. There is nothing more special in this world than to hear a new born baby cry for the first time as it comes into this world. With all of the beauty this world can offer yet at the same time it also offers great sadness, poverty, and despair. I have seen the swollen bellies of children around the world; the sickness, disease, and famine of biblical proportions and even the ravages of war in the eyes and lives of people around the world. Yes this world is an amazing place, but my friend if we take a liking to this world it will destroy us. We must keep our heart out of the world, we must never think of this world as our home. Yet we (I include myself at times) Christians do all we can to dig our heart and lives into the dirt of this world. Jesus told the disciples, “Heaven (Strong’s #3772 the universe, the world, the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced) and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) Now Jesus was not talking about “Heaven” our heavenly home for awhile, He was talking about the sky, the clouds, the stars, the planets, etc. Like the disciples then today many Christians get things here confused when the “world” is mentioned and if you get confused here my friend you are in great danger of losing your soul.

Now the Scripture often uses the word “world” to describe and explain things that affect our senses and human reasoning. For example in the most memorized verse in the Bible and even in the next verse we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) John had a lot to say about the “world” maybe because he spent his last days on earth in exile on an island; funny how the love for the world seems to grow dim in our thinking and heart as we get alone with God and separate ourselves from all of the hustle and bustle of life’s busy routine. In 1 John we read, “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. 16For 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. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) In both examples the word “world” is used many times, but the same Strong’s translation word, Kosmos #2889, is used. How could God give His precious Son Jesus for the “world” in one verse, but in another verse tell us not to love the “world?” For us to understand this we must apply some good old common sense (that God gave us) and do what Paul instructed Timothy; to study the word to find thy self approved so that we would not be found to be in error. Never forget the truth of the word of God (both written and spoken) is contained in the words as the precious Holy Spirit gives us revelation understanding to the words and concepts contained in what God is telling us. If we look at the Greek meanings for the word “Kosmos” we find it has eight meanings:

(1) An apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government.

(2) Ornament, decoration, adornment, the arrangement of the stars, “the heavenly hosts,” as the ornament of the heavens in 1 Peter 3:3.

(3) The world, the universe.

(4) The circle of the earth, the earth.

(5) The inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race.

(6) The ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ.

(7) World affairs, the aggregate of things earthly: the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce us from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.

(8) Any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.

Most certainly (and using our common sense) God would not give His precious Son for any government or earthly order, any arrangement of the stars, nor for the universe of which he made (Genesis 1:16) in five words. In Matthew 24:35, Jesus was talking about meanings, 2-4. In John 3:16-17, Jesus was talking only about meanings 5 and 6. And in 1 John 2:15-17, John was talking about all of the meanings, except for number 5 and 6. And do not make the mistake of thinking the earth is this world it is not. The earth (and the fullness therein) is what God made and gave to man that will never be destroyed. The world is an ungodly system, a way of thinking and doing things that is in direct rebellion to God’s word. To see this system in action all you have to do is turn on the TV and watch the news and popular programming. The world is the legal system that says it is okay to kill babies when God calls it murder. The world says it is okay for men to marry men and woman to marry woman, but God calls this an abomination. Almost every social issue and cause today that is popular in the world is in direct rebellion to God’s word. Also to see the world’s system in action all you have to do is go to a contemporary church and see how they have sold out from the Godly principles of the word of God through; Christian rock and roll music, interpretive dance, flag waving, permissive dress with no modesty or decency, and the folksy, hip-hop, liberal, worldly sermons that deny the authority, revelation, and power of God while exalting the world. God’s idea is for the church (the Body of Christ) to change the way people (the folks Jesus gave His life for in John 3:16-17) operate in the world, but today the opposite has happened the world system has been adopted by the church and it is changing the hearts and minds of Christians world-wide. We must go back to the tried and true principles of the Bible, the old ways lead to life. We most certainly are not to love this world (and be very careful how we love this earth), we are not to put our heart and soul into this worldly system (no matter how good it looks or how good it feels) we are to shun the world and all of its trappings. There is a direct correlation to our spiritual growth and development and the love we have for the world; the more we go after the world the less of God will be in us. I see this in the way we go after technology; everyone has a cell phone and are glued to them, we are addicted to social media (Facebook, etal), our lives revolve around technology and we seldom have time to be quiet and still before God to hear His voice. We cannot even get in a car (alone) and be still we must turn on the radio, put on a CD (at unnatural levels) or text someone, for most people (Christians included) technology has overwhelmed our lives and our relationship with the LORD (for most Christians) is non-existent.

Now do not think you are immune to this love of the world. The Lord really showed me how I am addicted to things from our past. As Karen and I began to look at the furniture, pictures, and the “stuff” we planned to move to our new home I could not believe how strong in my feelings I had for some of the old furniture we bought when we first got married. Furniture we shipped all over the country, from duty station to duty station, even to Germany and back. Furniture and things collected through the years that remind us of places and people from a time that has passed us by. You know we will never be able to allow God to bring new things into our lives until we can allow God to remove the old things from our lives. It was really strange the time we spent after we were told we had to move seemed like we were in limbo or in neutral. It was kind of surreal we were in a holding pattern (to be honest it was confusing at times) just waiting to close and move, but in us was a peace because we knew we were going to be moving and we were heading into uncharted waters in God. This my friend is the place where God can be God (in the unknown) and not some puppet on a sting to command at our whim, but a holy and capable God who cares for us individually and cares for the plan He has purposed and planned for our lives. We see this clearly in the life of Abram. In Genesis we read, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” (Genesis 12:1) Did you know God is a great disturber? He loves to disturb us and put us in a real fix so He can fix us. This is what He did with Abram. Can you imagine God telling you to leave your country, leave your relatives, and even leave your family? Talk about the unknown and then God says I will show you as you go where you are going, but Abram (in obedience) had to let the old things pass away in his life so that God could show him the land he was to go to and so that God could bring all of His precious promises (that God had for him) into his life. But before God can get us to a place where we are willing to leave our country, relatives, and family God first but be able to cut the world out of our heart and minds. In Matthew Jesus shares some very hard and often misunderstood words with us, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39) Jesus says, I have a sword and I am going to stick it in your heart (if you let Me) so that I can cut you out of this world and it is going to hurt and even cause strife and anger in your family; between your parents, brothers, sisters, and even your children, because if you love them all more than Me than you are not worthy of Me. God has a cross (our will laid against God’s will for our lives) for each and every one of us to die on, to crucify our love for this world and its pleasures. Count the cost my friend Jesus comes with a sword to cut our affections and desires for this world out of us and it will hurt (we will cry) and we will even die, but “he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” The more we allow God to cut us out of this world the more of God’s life we will have in us. Two things I will promise you my friend and that is Jesus is good at wielding a sword at our heart, his sword cuts us coming and going and the second is it will hurt we will have pain, heartaches, and confusion, but if we allow Jesus to do His work in our lives at the end of the surgery we will be able to love the unlovable as Jesus did, endure the persecution and tribulation Jesus also promised us because we will not be of this world we will be birthed from above. Written by David Stahl