What the World is; and how a Christian can live in it
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 (1 John 2:15).
Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God (James 4:4).
- What is the world?
- What is it from which we are to keep ourselves unspotted?
The word ‘world’ can be used in three ways:
- The world-space – The earth, the platform on which the world-system operates.
- The world-people – Those on the earth.
- The world-system – The order or system according to which human affairs are managed on the earth.
When we read that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (world-people), that was to the world-space. In so doing He came in contact with the world-system which hated Him. When He said to His disciples, ‘They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world’ (John 17:16), He meant that they were not under the system, governed by it, or finding their life in it.
He that is a friend of the world-system is an enemy of God, because this world is self-governing and not subject to God. It is a bit like the military system which funds, clothes, arms, trains, accommodates and orders. The soldier simply has to subject himself to the system. It is a self-contained system.
Man wants society. Position is everything: there is an innate desire to climb the great ladder. Some succeed, whilst others strive to maintain their current levels. What a tremendous power to absorb heart and mind the social world-system possesses! People want good government, physical protection, property, human rights, free trade, education, health care – these are met by the world-system. It is amazing! Non-academic people find manual labour or serve in restaurants or care homes; others have creative talents in art, music and literature. Entrepreneurs run successful businesses; others are doctors, administrators and politicians. It takes all kinds to make a world, they say
The object of the world-system is to keep the great moving mass of humanity thoroughly occupied and reasonably contented. People’s hearts and are kept busy from the cradle to the grave.
Man is a very complicated creature. A good many different things taken together are needed for self-fulfilment; a little business, a little politics, a little society, a little study, and a little religion. Man is naturally religious. The word ‘religion’ occurs only five times in the whole Bible. Religion is not godliness, for worshippers of idols are religious. Even humanism can be a religion. Religion is as much a part of man’s nature as his intellect or memory. The world-system provides for man’s religious needs. One may like beautiful music; others relish imposing ceremonies; another wants to give vent to his unrestrained emotions, while another is opposite, preferring cold, legal orthodoxy. To assuage their guilty feelings some do penance. There are creeds, doctrines and sects for every shade of religious temperament, outlook and traditions.
Now God is leading some, alas a very few, to see that all this business, politics, education, government, technology, inventions, electronic communications and the internet, entertainment, charitable institutions – and religion are all part of the ever-improving world-system. But the Christian’s place is not in them, though he r she may use them. Whatever Christ’s present relationship to the world is, that is the Christian’s too – His place is above. That defines our place. Meanwhile, Satan is the god of this world, the manager of this stupendous system. His has the energy and genius: he is the prince. When Jesus Christ was on earth, the devil came and offered Him all the kingdoms of the world. He said ‘All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine’ (Luke 4:6-7). That exposed Satan. Scripture described him as ‘full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty’ (Ezek 28:12) and ‘like an angel of light’ (2 Cor 11:14).
It is little wonder if men are deceived and deluded? A few have their eyes opened to see, by the word of God, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, what the world really is. Some may think they have escaped from the snare of worldliness, if they have given up worldly pleasures, and become active in churches. They do not realise that they are just as much in the world-system as before, only Satan, its prince, has shifted them from one department to another, to quieten their uneasy consciences and make them better satisfied with themselves.
The question arises, how is the Christian to escape from the control of the world-system? Paul says, ‘As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God’ (Rom 8:14). The Christian’s normal mode of life is being governed by Christ, the Christian’s Head, under His immediate direction in all things small and great. This is how Christianity cuts at the very root of worldliness, for man’s free-will is the foundation on which the world-system is constructed, just as Christian life is founded on dependence on God and obedience to His will. Satan’s world is a great system for man which is a perfect substitute for the leading of God’s Spirit. The great apostasy is fast approaching and Satan openly will declare himself personally to be god of this world. So is it not high time for Christians to awake out of sleep, and to see to it that they are not in any way associated with a system that is fast heading for judgment?
But we will say, ‘How can we help it? Are we not bound by necessity to these things by our trades and professions, as members of government and of society -business must be attended to?’ Everybody admits that, but the very fact that everybody admits it, demonstrates that it as not of God.
It is our faith that gets the victory that over the world (See 1 John 5:4). Faith does not look at outward circumstances, at what is, or is not, possible; it disregards what seems, and looks at God. People will tell us what we should and should do not do, but the child of God walks straight ahead, paying no attention to what they say. Our natural way may appear perfectly reasonable and satisfactory, but the one who walks by faith knows that whatever is universally agreed on as the right way must be wrong – that is the broad way.
Another question arises as to our citizenship. Should a Christian be interested in the government of the country to which he belongs, and vote, so as to help to put good men in power. Darby said ‘No, as God’s child, I am not a citizen of any country, or a member of any society; my citizenship is in heaven, and I have henceforth to do with heavenly things; the cross of Christ has crucified me to the world, and the world to me; if I give my mind and heart to these earthly things I shall be the enemy of the cross of Christ. Be not conformed to the world.’ God orders governments, so we submit ourselves to them, pay our taxes, and pray to God for kings, and all in authority (See 1 Tim 2:2). It is not that he voting in itself wrong, as that the Christian has given his vote and interest to the Man in heaven, whom God has exalted as King of kings, and Lord of lords. On the other hand, he sees that the world is ungodly and independent of God, coming under judgment.
We who are saved are to be distinct, blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke shining as lights in the world (See Phil 2:15). This is to be our mission. But to live in this way costs something. We will be like a single rock in a fast-flowing river. Everything around us is on the move, pressure, pressure, pressure, and we would get swept it away were we not a rock on a firm base. We have the word of God governing our lives, so we are stable when the storm comes. Being an honest and good church-going citizen brings no persecution, that is just flowing with the river, but to shine as a light in the world for Christ, provokes the world’s enmity because He is hated. If I enjoy a fair reputation in the world, the life of Jesus is not made manifest in my mortal body, Christ is not discoverable in me. That is a test.
When once a person has really come to know God, he is drawn upward, by union with Christ on high, from participation in the things of the world-system. His desire is to be more like Him, and transformed from this present evil world. He has become a son of God, with eternal life in Christ. How can he turn back to the world’s weak and beggarly elements? There are no rules. It does not say, ‘Thou shalt not vote, thou shalt not be honoured in this evil age, thou shalt suffer shame.’ It is a wonderful provision, that the heart of love finds no difficulty in discovering the will of God, while the heart that is not sincere finds excuses and invents ways of enjoying the worldly path whilst appearing sincere externally.
To conclude, we have to be in contact with the world-system to some degree, but this contact is never to be one of fellowship; what concord can there be between Christ and Belial (2 Cor 6:15)? Jesus said to His Father in John 17:15, ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.’ Jesus, who was not of this world, suffered and was straitened; the loneliness and tribulation were real to Him, and they will be real to us just as we follow in His steps. Are we at home here, where Christ is not? We are homeless wanderers and weary pilgrims.
Alas, we live too much according to the world-system to be brought into conflict with it. The result is that we become disloyal subjects of Christ, and we escape the cross and its reproach. There is a narrow way; may we be of the “few” who find it. We carry our passports with us. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit, waiting for the shout to be caught up into the air, to meet our Lord and be for ever with Him – What a blessed hope!
Sosthenes
June 2015
For original see Union in Incarnation, the root error of modern theology.