Just as we Christians do, the Scriptures refer to the world
rather loosely to mean the universe (God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth
— Acts 17:24 (KJV)), but most often as something we don’t want to be a part of. When speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world
(John 8:23). And of His disciples He said, They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world
(John 17:16).
One of those disciples (John) admonishes us to
1John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. … . For all that is in the world … is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Note that whatever is in the world is not of the Father,
indicating that the world comes out of the mind of man, not God.
John also assures us that
1John 5:4 … whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
When man recognizes that he came out of God and is one with God, the world of his own making is overcome. Though he continues to live in
it, he is no longer of
it —not subject to its laws and limitations.
We have many Scriptures which refer to the foundation of the world.
Paul says that God chose us in Christ (that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love) before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Matthew tells us that Jesus told us things which had been kept secret from the foundation of the world (13:24) and Jesus speaks of the kingdom being prepared for us from the foundation of the world (25:34). And most of us know the Scripture concerning the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
(Revelation 13:8). This all implies that there was a time prior to this world’s existence, a time when nothing was kept secret, when the kingdom was already ours and didn’t have to be prepared for us,
a time when the Lamb had not been slain.
I submit to you that this was the time of the original creation when there was no time, when man knew that he was born of God, was God in expression with dominion over all the rest of creation, when man had no thought of separation from God and no belief in two powers (see Belief in Two Powers)—hence no need for the laws and regulations telling him what he needed to do and not do (choosing the good over the evil) to get back into right relationship with God. It was when man enjoyed just being —where all was righteousness, peace and joy, with no judgment or condemnation of any sort. It was when the Lamb (innocence) was still alive, before it had been slain by the belief in separation from God.
As soon as man entertained this belief, he developed a conscience; he lost his God consciousness and took upon himself a sin consciousness, or what the writer of Hebrews calls conscience of sins
(10:2). Thus was the world
founded, a world void of righteousness, peace and joy, a world of good and evil, judgment and condemnation, a world where man was always trying to close the gap between him and God by doing good and eschewing evil, only to find that the more he tried, the less he succeeded. He was under the law
and soon discovered that the strength of sin is the law
(1Corinthians 15:56). He was without Christ
[without the knowledge that he was one with God] having no hope
(Ephesians 2:12). For it is the knowledge of Christ in you
that is the hope of glory
(Colossians 1:27).
This was the world
that God so loved (John 3:16) that He Himself descended into but never became a part of. He took upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh
(Romans 8:3) yet without sin
(Hebrews 4:15). He became one of us who were of
this world, believing that we were separated from our Father, even becoming sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him
(2Corinthians 5:21). He took that sin consciousness (human consciousness; body of sin
; old man
) to the cross to be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin
(Romans 6:6). Thus He overcame the world
(John 16:33). This is the world Paul is speaking of when he says:
Colossians 2:20-22 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
This is what God, in the form of Jesus, came into the world to do:
Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world [not appease the wrath of God against us or our sins], according to the will of God and our Father,
This was God restoring to us our lost innocence. This was what John the Baptist was referring to when he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world
(John 1:29). This was God taking away the sin consciousness and replacing it with a righteousness consciousness. Now we are again able to hear, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased
(Matthew 3:17). Now we can reckon ourselves dead unto sin and alive unto God
(Romans 6:11), knowing that
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Jesus said:
John 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
The same is true for us. We also came forth from the Father
just as did the prodigal son; and, like him, we can leave the world
and return to Father’s house from whence we came. Like Jesus, we can be in
the world, but not of
it (John 17:14-16). We can, like Jesus, be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14 ) Ye are the light of the world.) once we have become enlightened ourselves (John 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world). We will take this good news (gospel) into all the world (John 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.), never judging and condemning …
- John 3:17
- For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
- John 12:47
- And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
… never judging and condemning, but rather showing forth the love that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us
(Romans 5:5). Though we experience tribulation
(John 16:33) while being lights in this world, we will love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us —that we may demonstrate that we are indeed children of our Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:44-45)— thereby letting them know that He is also their Father (Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven) and is waiting with open arms to embrace them as they come to themselves
and return to Father’s house (Luke 15:20).
As more and more of us who are in
the world cease to be of
it, we shall experience the fulfillment of this Scripture:
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
For we will, like Jesus, be glorified with the glory which we had with our Father BEFORE THE WORLD WAS
(John 17:5).