It's a Big World after All
by Gary DeMar
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In 1960, J.B. Phillips wrote a little book with an extraordinary title - Your God Is Too Small. "For many persons," he pointed out, "the greatest stumbling block to mature faith lies in the fact that they haven't found a God big enough for their needs - big enough to 'account for' their life, and to command their respect and worship."[1] What's true of peoples' perception of God is also true of about their perception of His creation. Many Christians have shunned involvement in the world beyond personal piety because they misinterpret certain passages about God's creation similar to the way they misinterpret passages about God Himself. If God is ineffectual in His being to accomplish great things for the individual, how could anyone imagine that God could or would accomplish great things for His creation?
This misperception is reinforced by how the word "world" is understood when Christians read that it is under God's condemnation (1 Cor. 11:32) or when Peter speaks of "the corruption that is in the world" (2 Peter 1:4) and the "defilements of the world" (2:20). From these and other similar passages many well-meaning Christians conclude that any contact with the world and the things that operate in the world will have an adverse effect on their relationship with Jesus Christ. Tom Minnery understands the mixed message some Christians get when they read these passages:
It isn't difficult to see why some people read the Bible and plunge into the world's problems, believing that since Christ loved the world so much, they should develop a love for it as well. On the other hand, it's obvious why some Christians might read the same passages and conclude that it is ungodly even to help citizens register to vote.[2]
Much of this misunderstanding comes from reading the Bible in bits and pieces rather than as an integrated whole. In addition, there is the issue of language and the different ways "world" is used in literature. The Bible is literature, and we should expect certain letter he features. Since the Bible uses "world" in a variety of ways and in distinctive contexts, we should not take the way "world" is used in one context and assume that it has the same meaning in every context. For example, the word "lion" refers to both Jesus and say in but in different ways. The context he gives us the proper setting for interpretation. A lion has many attributes, some good (royalty and dignity: Gen. 40 9:9-10; Num. 23:24; Prov. 28:1) and some bad (ruthlessness and cunning: Psalm 10:9; 22:13). Jesus is the lion from the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), and say in "browse around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). It's obvious that "lion" is not being used in the same way in both contexts. Satan is described as a "serpent" (Gen. 3:1), and Christians are told to be "wise as serpents" (Matt.10:16). We can hardly conclude that being "wise as serpents" means we should be like Satan.
If we follow the logic that some use in reference to "world" - that "world" is always a description of an evil domain to be avoided - then we could make a similar claim regarding the use of serpents and lions. The varied meanings of words and how they are used in specific contacts are keys to understanding any type of literature, including the Bible.
The Bible and the "World
While the Bible's use of "world" has a number of specialized meanings, in most cases it differs little from the way we use the word in everyday conversation and writing: A "World Series" is a sports competition that can include baseball teams from only two countries (the United States and Canada); the television show "Dave's World" was about the life and times of comedian Dave Barry; being "on top of the world" has nothing to do with climbing the highest peak of Mount Everest; Jiminy crickets song about it being "a small world after all" is not a description of planetary dimensions; and claiming that "love makes the world go 'round" is hardly a law of physics. Few people have a problem understanding these varied uses of world. The same is true for eight to five will uses the word "world."
The World as God's Creation
God's first created and was the creation of the world: "in the beginning God created the heavens and earth" (Gen. 1:1). What was God's opinion of His work?: "and God saw all that She had made, and behold, it was very good" (1:31). From the New Testament, we not only know that "the world was made through Him" but that Jesus "was in the world" (John 1:10; cf. Heb. 1:2-3; Col. 1:16). The created order is God's doing, and it plays a significant role in God's providential plan:
Christ was chosen "before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:20 and parent, and Hebrews speaks of what Christ said when he "came into the world" (Heb. 10:5). Paul says that there are "many different languages in the world" (1 Cor. 14:10). The meaning is straightforward: the references to our physical habitat, the earth.[3]
In his address to the Athenian philosophers, Paul drew from the common believe that God "made the world and all things in it" (Acts 17:24). It was his point of departure for outlining God's redemptive plan (17:31).
The Greek word kosmos ("world"), from which we get the English word kosmos, cosmetic, and cosmology, can designate the entire created order (Matt.13:35; 24:21; 25:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:5, 24), the earth in particular (Matt. 4:8; 13:48; Mark 14:9; Luke 12:30; John 11:9, 16:21; 21:25), a large group, a political/social/religious system, a competing world system, and, as we will see, the domain of God Acts redemption.
The World As the Object of God to Redeeming Grace
One of the most cherished verses in the Bible is "For God so loved the world, that She gave Hated his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16; cf. 2 Cor.5:19). Typically this verse has been used to teach that Jesus died for every individual in the world. By understanding the redemptive context of John, the use of the "world" is best understood to teach that Jesus' love has no national, racial, or geographical limitations, and that is not restricted to any one group of people. The Samaritans, Pooh as a group were ostracized by the Jews, were in brace by Jesus. Upon hearing Jesus' redemptive message, they said the following to the woman who first met Jesus at the well: "it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). The "eternal Gospel" is to be preached "to those who live on the land, and to every nation and try and calm and people" (Rev. 14:6), that is, to the world.
Prior to Pentecost, the Gospel was almost exclusively in Israelite message with some exceptions (Matt. 10:5; 15:21-28). A non-Israelite family could be incorporated into Israel by faith (e.g. Rahab 2 family:Josh.2:8-14; cf.Matt.1: 5). Under the New Covenant, there it is neither Jew nor Gentile (Gal.3:28) because the dividing wall separating the two worlds -- Jewish world and a Gentile world -- was dismantled by the redemptive work of Christ (Eph. 2:11-22). But this was the exception rather than the rule prior to the coming of Jesus as the "Savior of the world."
Jesus' redemptive love extends to Jews (Matt. 15:24), Canaanites (15:22), Samaritans (John four:42), and Gentiles in general (Matt. 12:18, 21; Luke 2:32; Acts 9:15; 10:45; 11:1, 18). Jesus while his "to die for the nation; and not for the nation only: but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who all are scattered abroad," that is, His elect from around the world (John 11:51-52; 10:16). As a Jew, Peter had to be convinced in a direct way from God that non-Jews (the world as distinct from Israel) also would share in covenantal blessings through the cross of Christ (Acts 10-11:1-18; 15:1-29;Gal. 2:11-14). This is why Peter could say, "I am most certainly understand it now that God is not one to show partiality but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him" (Acts 10:34b).
Jesus prayed, "I do not ask on behalf of the world, but it does to whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine" (John 17:9). Prior to Christ coming, two worlds existed dividing Jew and Gentile, with some exceptions. Two worlds still exists, but the division is between believers and unbelievers. When we use the word "world" with this meaning in mind, we are referring to those who have not embraced Christ as Lord and Savior.
The World As Referring to All without Distinction
The Pharisees were concerned enough about Jesus' impact on the hearts and minds of those living in Israel, especially in the capital city of Jerusalem, that they issued this frantic warning: "The world has gone after Him" (John 12:19; cf. 7:4; 14:22; 16:21; 18:20). Obviously, the world in this context means a large group of people and not millions of people from around the globe. Not everybody without exception, but everybody without distinction: young and old, male and female, and Jew and Gentile (12:20). The word "all" is used in a similar way throughout the Bible (e.g.Matt. 3:5; 4:23-24). "For example, Mark 11:32 tells us that 'all men counted that John was a prophet' but obviously only people all where of what was going on could have been intended. In John 8:2 we are told that 'all people came to Him' but we know that the Pharisees did not do so. In both cases it would be more appropriate to say 'all kinds of' people."[4]
The World As a Prevailing Political System
The advance of the gospel Throughout the Roman Empire Caused Enough Alarm That Some Claimed That Jesus' Disciples Had "Upset the World" (Acts 17:6). Although a different word is used for "world" (oikoumene), the meaning is similar to kosmos in application. In the days of the early church, Roman ideology, Roman military strength, and Roman commerce dominated the Mediterranean world. The inhabited earth, as far as the New Testament writers were concerned, was an alien and political and religious world ruled by the Roman empire (Matt. 24:14; Luke 2:1). The effects of Jesus' redeeming work had an impact on those opposed to the gospel. These gospel opponents understood that an allegiance we Jesus would mean that their present divine king, Caesar, could no longer claim the title of Dominus et Deus, "lord and god." The competitive threat of Jesus' lordship to the prevailing political kingdom of Rome led to Jason and his associates being charged with anti-kingdom activities: "they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another Kane, Jesus" (Acts 17:7). The use of "world" and this context means the world of pagan Rome dominated by all of its attendant decadence including its toleration of a cold practices (8:9-11; 13:6-12; cf. 19:19) and warship of rulers (12:20-24).
On the World As Antithesis
How can it be quote that friendship with the world is hostility toward God" (James 4:4) when we know that "God so loved the world" (John 3:16)? If "world" is given the same meaning and every context in which it appears, then we would have a contradiction. The "world" James is describing is the world of unbelief, not the world as a place, a sphere of influence, or the realm of redemption. The use of kosmos as James described it is "a widespread disposition and power in mankind for evil in opposition to God." [5] The Bible uses kosmos to characterize what sinful men and women have done with their world and shows its antithesis to God's ideal world and His moral order (1 Cor. 11:32; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 2:15-17).
The world is then sent and therefore needs to be saved (John 1:20; 3:17; 4:42; 12:47; 16:8). The world is the place of darkness, ethically speaking, into which the light (God's holy Son, Jesus Christ) has shown (John 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46). The world is spiritually dead and dust needs life giving to its (John 6:33, 51); this clearly demonstrates and that "world" cannot be taken in a natural sense, for the world (understood descriptively as the creative order) is animated and alive.[6]
Scripture plainly teaches that Christians are to be in the world Ren Geo graphically) but not of the world (morally) (John 15:19; 17:14-15, 16, 18; 1 John 2:15). If the world as a place is to be rejected, then God violated His own prohibition by sending His Into the World and by taking on human flesh and leaving his newly formed body of believers behind to carry out His mission in His name. God does not call on us to escape from the world as a place but to avoid worldliness as a system of belief and competing allegiance. Paul wrote to the Corinthians "not to associate with immoral people" (1 Cor. 5:9). Some took this to mean a complete separation from the world. But this is not what Paul had in mind, "for then you would have to go out to the world" (1 Cor. 5:10). Christians are to remain in the world, while those so-called Christians who practice immorality were to be removed from fellowship (1 Cor. 5:13).
Conclusion
Scripture is our guide as we deal with the world and not the two-dimensional worldview of either secularism (making the world or nature absolute) or pietism (escaping from the duties of this world). God "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) in this world! We, as Christ's disciples are to carry out His mission in the world. Jesus worked in his earthly fathers shop as a carpenter, affirming the goodness of the created order and the value of physical labor. He healed the bodies of the infirm. He fed the masses. The Bible calls on us to care for the widow and the orphan. That is what it means to be in the world but not of the world.