THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

John 17:14-16,

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them,

because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,

but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

The word WORLD is the Greek word kosmos and it has three common uses:

THE "MATERIAL" WORLD
The earth we live in

• God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it.  
• The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein (Psalm 24:1).
• One of the uses of the word WORLD is the earth wherein lies the material things.  God created it and made man its stewards.
• God created the world for man and for man to properly manage it.  But because of sin, man deviated from what is good to what is evil.
• There is nothing wrong then in enjoying God’s creation… albeit properly.

THE WORLD AS “GENERATION OF HUMANS”
The age we live in

The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 commands the disciples to preach the gospel to the “world” unto the ends of the “world,”
“19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

• We must not separate ourselves from humans because the very nature of the command was to reach out for them.
• We must love the sinners, even as God loved them, by proclaiming the gospel.
• The church, in the middle ages, made that mistake and built monasteries and convents to separate themselves physically from the world.  As a result they lost their love for the world and misunderstood and hated the very world they were sent to make disciples from.

THE “SYSTEM” OF THE WORLD

The regiments and its way of life

This is what the bible commands us to refrain from loving,

“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)”

“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness (1 John 5:19).”

• We must not immerse ourselves in the system of the world or the way of life of those who are not of God.  We are to NOT LOVE this world or this system of life of the world.  We must separate ourselves from it.
• Loving the world means doing the things which are evil and not fulfilling the commands and will of God.

Conclusion

We live and move in this “material” world.  There is no prohibition in enjoying God’s creation… albeit properly.  We should go to the world, the earth and make disciples of the “world of humans” but we must not immerse ourselves in the “system of the world” or the way of life of those who are not of God.  We are to not love this world or this system of life of the world.  We must separate ourselves from the world without separating ourselves from humans.  We must become good stewards of this world.

Prepared by Pastor Raymond Mangahas

Sunday Service - January 11, 2015