August 30, 2011

23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
John 8:23 (KJV)

“Not of This World” Performed by Petra

 

When I was a young girl, I had many encounters with church folk who made a big deal about being “sanctified.” The word sanctified, and sanctification as it is used in the Bible means, “set apart” or “not of common or profane use.” In other words, the people of God are sanctified; therefore, they are set apart for the purposes and glory of God. When I was growing up, sanctified folk wore plain clothes, long dresses, no makeup, did not attend dances, didn’t smoke or drink. These things are not bad, but they are limited, in that the set apart function has an emphasis on the outer appearance. Short dresses, makeup, pointy-toed shoes, dances and cigarette smoking were “of the world” and the sanctified look was designed to show that one was not of this world.

In today’s scripture, Jesus declares He is “not of this world.” Yet when we look at the original meaning of the Greek word that was translated as “world” we see plainly that He was talking about something far more profound than what we think about when using the word and concept of “world”. According to Strong’s talking Greek and Hebrew concordance, the word used in today’s scripture was κόσμος meaning “kosmos.” In today’s English, it would be spelled cosmos. Immediately, the word cosmos lets us know that the implications of what Jesus was talking about are far more broad than what we consider to be the world. The earth is a world, but the cosmos is the deep unknown, and for the most part unreached, universe- or worlds. To walk around on the earth is easy. Everything and every one capable of  mobility can do it. But to stroll around in the universe, or in between worlds is a whole ‘nother ball game.

Strong’s Talking Hebrew and Greek Dictionary gives the specific meaning of kosmos as it is used in today’s verse:

“probably from the base of (komizo); orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitant, literal or figurative [moral]) :- adorning, world.”

In other words, Jesus was describing Himself as being not of the orderly arrangement or decoration of the world that we humans inhabit. What He said has profound implications, and explains much of why 1st Century folk found Jesus hard to take. The order and adornment of this world includes earthly hierarchies and bureaucracies, such as king-ships, priest-hoods, courts, laws of earthly behavior and property ownership. Things and people that are high in the hierarchy are adorned as such. For example, kings wear the robes and crowns adorned with the jewels of this earth. Earthly kings also use and abuse the laws of the land as well as those they govern. People saw Jesus, and people still see Jesus, only as an arbiter of the riches of this world. They see Him as having need of the adornments and arrangements of this world for validation. This is why the people wanted to force Him to be king after He fed the crowd with the 5 loaves and two fishes. This is why 1st Century followers of Jesus expected Him to overthrow the Roman government. He superseded Roman authority: this they could sense and know. So why wasn’t He bearing arms and gathering real world soldiers instead of riding on a donkey? Because He is not of this world. He came from Heaven and was sacrificed so that the world thru Him might be saved.

I suspect that some Christians say in their hearts: “Well, that’s all very good for Jesus to throw stuff like earthly adornment away. He could do that cause He IS the Son of God. But I LIVE here. I have a job and a family to take care of so I have to look out for my own advancement and strive for all the good stuff I can get right here and now.” “Good stuff” in and of itself, is not a bad thing. But when we seek to gather our inner values, our moral order and arrangement of priorities outside of the Lord’s value system, then we are in defiance of God’s law, and we suffer accordingly. Any Christian who seeks to bathe him or herself in the riches and values of this world will soon find themselves spiritually bankrupt. That’s a wasteland you really don’t want to be stranded in.

It is true that we were born into this world, but we are instructed to come out of it. We are to be in it as the “salt of the earth,” the “light of the world” and “the city on a hill” that cannot be hid. Christians are commanded to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” It is written:

Mark 16:15 
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

So what is the gospel that we must preach? The gospel is simply stated in John 3: 16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The default condition of mankind is sin the consequence of which is eternal death, damnation and separation from God. Jesus is salvation from sin. Faith in Jesus translates men and women, boys and girls from the default condition of sin and death into new life in Christ, the consequence of which is eternal life, living water, the ability to be an overcomer in this life and eternity with the Father in Heaven. BAM- there it is. Life in Christ changes your inner order and adornment in a way that is literally out of this world.

So now that I see these things, what then is my prayer? My prayer is: Gracious and loving Heavenly Father, forgive me for having been blind to the world that you offer me. Forgive me for having limited myself to the order and things of this world, and looking past the Savior, Who is King of kings and Lord of Lords, and the Author and Finisher of our faith. Help me to worship you in spirit and in truth. May Christ be the order of things in my life. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may I walk in newness of life this day. These things I ask in Jesus’ mighty and precious name. Amen.

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