What's wrong with the world today?
Posted: Fri. Nov, 18 2016What in the world is “the world”?
After what we have witnessed in this year’s turbulent presidential campaign, it’s a good time to increase our understanding of what the Bible calls “the world”.
There are several ways in which the Bible speaks of “the world”.
- The unbelievers; the entire multitude of men who are alienated from God and therefore hostile to Christ and His body, the church
- Planet earth and all of its creation
- The organization and mind and outlook of mankind as it ignores God and lives a life independent of God and focused on self-promotion.
It is this last use that we will be examining today.
This is “the world” that we told not to be friends with. This is “the world” that we are told not to love. This is the world that we need to overcome.
We begin by examining what “the world” is NOT.
This phrase “the world”, as something we are not to love and must overcome, is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Bible.
- “The world” is not something a man can escape by going into seclusion, a monastery for example. As we shall see, that man brings the world with him
- “The world” is not simply an issue of morality. It has nothing to do with the clothes people wear, what they eat, what they drink, their tastes in music, tattoos, or how they celebrate holidays.
- Not loving “the world” does not mean to stop being interested in politics or no longer having a social life, or no longer going to shows or the movies.
- Here, “the world” does not refer to the physical world , the mountains or oceans or natural resources in the ground.
- It does not mean the life of the world in general, ie., marriage, family, business, professional life, and so on.
So what in the world is “the world?”
Here is a good practical definition of the world:
“The world” means the organization and the mind and the outlook of mankind as it ignores and rejects God and lives a self-centered life independent of Him.
Or more simply:
NOT God … ME!
The philosophy of “me-ism”
It’s what G.K. Chesterton wrote back to a question posed by the Times of London to prominent writers of that day : “What’s wrong with the world today?”
Chesterton responded simply:
“Dear Sirs:
I am.
Yours,
G.K. Chesterton”
Now it’s not you or I as individuals that is wrong with the world. It is the philosophy of me-ism. That it’s all about me.
The clearest definition
Perhaps the clearest definition of the world in the Bible is found in the letter of 1 John.
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves 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 boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
Now the expression “the things in the world” suggests many things to different people.
I’m sure that there are lots of Christians who hear “the things in the world” and immediately think of things like cars, and money, and the business world, and the entertainment world, so-called worldly music, big houses, and horse racing!
But John mentions none of these things!
John identifies three things, and they are probably not what people think of when they think of the things of the world.
What is in “the world”?
- The lust of the flesh
- The lust of the eyes
- The boastful pride of life
Not gambling venues. Not houses of prostitution. Not bars.
Not “out there” - “in here!”
What’s remarkable about John’s list is that none of these things is “out there”.
It’s simply not possible to point the finger at movies, or the mass media, or smart phones, or universities.
Those things are all “out there”.
But John’s list is - “in here”.
The world is not “out there”. It’s “in here”. Inside of us human beings! Our lusts. Our thinking. Your arrogance.
The world is part of us. Or at least it can be.
- Our flesh
- Our eyes
- Our pride
In other words, it’s not places, or things,
It’s all inside a man or a woman.
The world lives in the hearts and souls of people.
It gets put there by the lies and deceit ultimately of the god of this world, satan. The principalities and powers work to get human beings to believe their lies. Their lies about God and their lies about human fulfillment.
“The world” is not money; it’s the love of money
It’s not sex; it’s abusing sex for our own pleasure.
It’s not MSNBC; it’s the pride -or the anger - that someone has when watching MSNBC.
It’s not conservative or liberal politics; it’s the arrogance and selfishness of individuals who espouse certain policies because it makes them feel superior to others, or it gives them what they want.
It’s not the university; it’s rejecting God at the university and making learning all about yourself and what you think.
It’s not the trick-or-treating or the costumes of Halloween. Most parents and children do not celebrate Halloween to worship the devil. We should be more concerned actually with the selfishness inside children who hoard their candy!!
Do not be deceived!
Some Christians get all worked up about Halloween - but are totally deceived when it comes to the things Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 11 and Colossians 2!
They don’t see the danger of these things. Yet it’s these things that the Scriptures warn us about!
2 Cor 11:3-4
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
False religions are the worst form of worldliness imaginable.
Yet people who wouldn’t dream of celebrating Hallowe’en have no problem with banding together with “people of faith” on social or moral causes - even when these people deny the deity of Christ , teach you can lose your salvation, or teach that the Holy Spirit is not a person!
Here’s the main point: the strategy, the power that drives the world is DECEPTION.
COL 2:1-8
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
COL 2:16-23
16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
The strategy, the power that drives the world is DECEPTION.
Lies, lies, and more lies
Now the roots of 1 John 2:15-17 can be traced all the way back to Genesis, the first book in the Bible - to the fall of man.
The world - the philosophy of “ NOT God…me” - entered the human race when Adam and the woman fell.
When the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness.
The Lord God provided perfectly for man’s body, soul, and spirit.
GEN 2:9
9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
GEN 2:15-18
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
But then satan came and lied to them. And they bought it -hook, line, and sinker. What he said appealed to their arrogance.
GEN 3:1-7
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, " From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Lies, lies, and more lies! The world rests on a pack of lies.
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
“The world” is the thinking , based on deception, that opposes the Lord God and exalts self.
Here in Genesis 3, the world first shows up when satan sows seeds of doubt about what the Lord God has to say.
“Indeed, has God said?”
Then satan moves to contradict God’s word and attack God’s character. This has been the M.O. of the world ever since.
Until now, Adam and the woman had operated completely by faith in the word of God.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was off limits, and that was that.
But when they listened to the serpent, they let the world into their souls.
That began the deception.
The world will use arguments that sound persuasive in order to try to wrestle your soul away from the simplicity of devotion to Christ.
You gotta worship something
Once God’s truth is rejected, the world thrives on the power of deception.
It comes in the form of stimulating the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.
Satan said “you surely shall not die”….and the woman saw that the forbidden tree was good for food.
Satan said “your eyes will be opened”…and the woman saw that the tree was a delight to the eyes.
Satan said “you will be like God, knowing good and evil”… and the woman saw that the tree was desirable to make one wise.
And then it happened. She and her husband took fruit from the forbidden tree, and ate.
The world had succeeded in getting Adam and the woman to reject God and live for their own lusts and arrogance
Human beings were made to worship God. When we reject God, we have to find something or someone else to worship.
Where do we look? The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.
We look to the world - and the world is all-too-happy to oblige.
There’s just one problem: satan cannot make good on any of his promises.
Fallen man certainly does die.
The eyes of the soul in fallen man are blind. Shut out to the truth.
And it turns out that the wisdom of this world is useless.
The world is a system of thinking, powered by deception, that opposes the Lord God and exalts self, yet never truly satisfies, and leads its unsuspecting victims, finally, to death.
But this is not the end of the story. Next week we will see what our Lord Jesus Christ did about “the world”… and how we can live in what He accomplished for us..
Until the next time, we’re all ….
In His grip,
Pastor John
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