#145 – The Christian's Relationship to the World

Yesterday on the Morning Meditation we thought about The Word Behind You. May we always be willing to listen to the guiding word of our Heavenly Father when we start to stray from him.

Today let us think about:

THE CHRISTIANS RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORLD

John 15:19 “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.”

These are the words Jesus spoke to His disciples just before His crucifixion. He says, “If ye were of the world,” which means they were no longer of the world. The world is spiritually dead. Therefore, anything man does to save himself is death at work. Before there can be service there has to be regeneration. Man has to be delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. Colossians 1:13 14, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" Hebrews 9:14, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

THE WORLD'S CHARACTER

This world is represented as governed by principles that are not in harmony with the revealed will of God. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

The world is in darkness spiritually. John 3:19, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE WORLD'S CHARACTER

1. It is expressed by the lust of the flesh. They that are after the flesh—controlled by their earthly nature—do mind the things of the flesh. Romans 8:5 says, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."

The lust of the flesh is the antagonist of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

This describes a conflict between the indwelling Holy Spirit and the fallen nature called the flesh. Galatians 5:16, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

2. It is expressed in the lust of the eyes. Cravings for things which minister to sight and the desire of the mind. This is seen in the love of fashion and the greed of gain. The world sells its products by an appeal to the lust of the flesh through the eye gate.

3. It is expressed in the pride of life. If the lust of the flesh is the bud, the lust of the eye the blossom, then the pride of life is the matured fruit of conceit and self-satisfaction. 1 John 2:16, "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."

WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THIS WORLD

1. We are delivered from it. Galatians 1:4, "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:" Jesus came and gave Himself for our sins. He first struck at the root in His death. Then He proceeds to “deliver us from this present evil world.” The word “deliver” translates, “exaireo,” and means to deliver out of. It is an aorist middle subjunctive. The aorist tense is a once-for-all act. The middle voice means that Jesus acted in His own behalf, i.e., saved us for Himself, the subjunctive mood is potential. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world but that does not mean that the world is going to be saved.