"The World"

by STONER, C. R. | Category: General | Nov 1964

"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" JOHN 3.16.

"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" 2 CORINTHIANS 5.19.

"Love not the world." 1 JOHN 2.15.

"The world hath been crucified unto me... " GALATIANS 6.14.

The two latter verses seem in contradiction to the first two it is unthinkable that God would ask us not to love that which He Himself loves so dearly. There are three Greek words translated as 'world' in our English Bibles but this does not resolve our difficulty, for the Greek word is the same in all the above four quotations - 'kosmos'. We suggest that the apparent contradiction is resolved when we realise that the first two Scriptures refer to the inhabitants of the world as individuals whom God loves and longs to save from a lost eternity. The second two quotations refer to the world as an organisation, dominated by Satan, 'the god of this age' and opposed to God and His Christ.

Like Paul, we must reckon ourselves crucified to the world, taking our place with the crucified Saviour. Scriptures (such as 1 Peter 2.17) make it plain, however, that we have responsibilities in the organised world. We are to be law-abiding, fulfilling cheerfully every obligation placed upon us provided these are not contrary to God's will.

We must share God's love for individuals in the world, whilst realising that we have no part in promoting the world-order of things. Individuals in the world are in great need. First and foremost, they need the ministry of reconciliation mentioned in our second quotation. Many organisations and individuals calling themselves Christian have become so concerned with the ignorance, poverty and material need in the world that they have forgotten the greatest need and have become only social workers. We need to share in the Lord's anguish and compassion as when He saw the people of Jerusalem turning away from Him and heading for fearful disaster (Luke 19.41). Nevertheless, Scripture makes it plain that our love for fellowmen and women should also lead us to do them good in a practical way.

(See Galatians 6. 10. Hebrews 13.2, and Genesis 19.2-8).

The story of the Good Samaritan, whilst it portrays so wonderfully the work of Christ, was told as an answer to the question, "Who is my neighbour?" It has often been found that sympathy and help have opened up the way for the Gospel.

The two aspects of our attitude to 'the world', which we have been considering, are brought together in James 1.27.

This epistle has also a very solemn word,

"To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him

it is sin"(James 4. 17).

No doubt this applies both to the opportunities to present the Gospel which we miss and also to the occasions when we might have helped a needy one in a material way but were too selfish to spare the money or time or thought.

STONER, C. R. | Nov 1964
General