Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The World According to Pastor – Part 1


1 John 2:15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Not so long ago, I asked Pastor Rick if he could write a message that I could post on the subject of “the World”. He replied: Here are a few thoughts from a few different resources followed by some thoughts of my own:

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 

1)When John talks of ‘the world’ he means human life without God. If we don’t know the love and purpose of God, we devote all our time and energy to getting what we want. We are consumed by the things we strive for, lust after and boast about. But the world’s possessions can’t last and its achievements are short-lived. The person who lives for God has the lasting treasure of salvation, and the promise of eternal life. - Knowles, Andrew. The Bible Guide. 1st Augsburg books ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001.

2)God’s love provides the way for us to be called “children of God” (tekna theou). God’s love transforms those who exercise saving faith into His children. They are now “called,” or bear the name, “children of God.” Furthermore, those who believe take on more than a mere title, for they actually become God’s children (kai esmen). The words express a fact, a reality of relationship. We are members of a family; we are “God-children—a divine progeny.”

A difference of opinion exists as to the antecedent of the pronoun in dia touto (“for this reason” or “on account of this”). A literal translation would be, “For this reason the world does not know us because [hoti] it did not know him.” The NIV translates the phrase as looking ahead to the hoti clause. On the other hand, most commentators seem to understand the pronoun as looking back to that which has already been stated. Because Christians are partakers in the Divine love and have been designated the children of God, the world does not understand them. This latter view appears to be more appropriate in the immediate context. The child of God is unknown by the world because they have different fathers (i.e., God and Satan).
The “world” (kosmos) refers to the evil humanistic system that dominates the society around us, a hostile order that stands in opposition to God. Therefore it only makes natural sense that those in the world do not know (understand, comprehend) those who are born of God. The "children of God" are radically different from the "children of this world". Let me explain more ...

Come back tomorrow to read the conclusion of the World according to Pastor.
In Christ, Brian

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