The
Bible uses the word world over 250 times. What does the Bible mean when it uses
the word world? I ask that because, if we don’t understand how the Bible uses
that word, it can become very confusing.
When
the Bible uses the word world it can mean one of three very distinct things.
It
can mean the people who live on this planet.
It
can mean the system of values that characterize this fallen humanity.
It
can mean the physical earth.
Romans
1:20 is an example of the world referring to the physical earth. It says, “For
His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that
have been made. So, they are without excuse.”
The
creation of the earth & all the things on the earth show us there is a God
& so we are without excuse for believing in God.
Raise
the Roof & Remove the Walls is about see the physical creation & knowing
there is a Creator God.
The
world can refer to the people who live on the earth.
John
3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
God
loved the people of the world & He sent God the Son, Jesus, to be the
Savior so that, by placing our faith in Him, we would have eternal life.
Raise
the Roof & Remove the Walls is about knowing that God loves us as His human
creation & acknowledging our need for Jesus, the Son of God, to be our
Savior.
The
question then arises: Why do we need a savior? That brings us to the third
meaning of world, the value system that characterizes this fallen civilization.
The
world is fallen because of sin. We come into life with a spiritual bent toward
sin. Adam & Eve passed the sin tendence on to us & Jesus is the only
cure for our sin nature.
We
are told several things about the fallen value system.
2
Peter 1:4 tells us that the world is corrupt because of sin.
1
John 2:15 tells us not to love the world.
Romans
12:2 tells us not to be conformed to the world.
James
4:4 tells us that we cannot be friends with both God & the world.
1
John 3:13 tells us that the world hates us as followers of Jesus.
Raise
the Roof & Remove the Walls is about not loving the world & not being
conformed to the values of this fallen world.
So,
how are we to relate to this fallen world?
Matthew
5:14 tells us to be the light of the world. We are to allow the Light of the
world, Jesus, to shine through us.
1
John 5:4-5 tells us that faith in Jesus overcomes the world. John 16:33 tells
us that in this world we will have tribulation, but we have hope because Jesus
has overcome the world. We are to relate to the world through faith in Jesus as
Savior & Lord, knowing that He has overcome the fallen world.
Raise
the Roof & Remove the Walls is about shining the light of Jesus into this
fallen world & knowing that Jesus has overcome the world & shares His
victory with us, His disciples.
In
John 17:14-17, which is part of Jesus’ praying for His disciples, He gives us
truths about living in a fallen world.
Jesus
prays, “I have given them Your word and the world has hated them because they
are not of this world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You
take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They are
not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth;
Your word is truth.”
We
relate to the fallen world by being in the world, living as disciples of Jesus
based in truth & living out that truth, but not being of the world, not
buying into & living based on the values of the fallen world system.
Raise
the Roof is about being in the world but not being of the world just as Jesus
was in the world but not of the world.
Raising
the Roof & Removing the Walls by Being Jesus’ Disciples in the World,
Joe
