Words are the units of thoughts, and the bricks of conceptual construction. Any study of Scripture, therefore, must commence with a study of words…[1]
A good starting point then would be to define two important terms that all believers should understand clearly: the world and the Church (to be considered in Chapter 2). The purpose for this would be to make as clear as possible what is meant by these terms within this present study based upon the understanding of their usage in the Bible.
World Defined
The following is a contemporary definition of the word ‘world’ taken from the Internet’s Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
The world is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth.[2]
Webster’s dictionary defines the world thus:
1 a: the earthly state of human existenceb: life after death -- used with a qualifier //the next world
2: the earth with its inhabitants and all things upon it
3: individual course of life: CAREER
4: the inhabitants of the earth: the human race
5 a: the concerns of the earth and its affairs as distinguished from heaven and the life to come
b: secular affairs
The modern understanding of the word is basically the earth and the sum of mankind’s experience. Note that the #6 definition in Merriam-Webster refers to the world as “the system of created things.” The questions we could ask are: Does modern man truly believe in the created order of the universe? And, do they know who the Creator is? However, the Scriptures state that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.”[4] This being true, we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ must recognize this opposition which works to neutralize our efforts at spreading the Gospel and glorifying Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, the predominantly used Greek word translated ‘world’ 186 times in our English, is cosmos [κόσμος]. Bishop Trench explains the classical usage of this word:
‘Ornament,’ and obtaining this meaning only once in the New Testament (1 Peter 3:3), where we render it ‘adorning’…from this it passed to that of order, or arrangement.[5]
It’s primary usage according to the Greek Lexicon:
In philosophical usage the world as the sum total of everything here and now, the (orderly) universe.[6]
However, this word, according to the lexicon, in used in a different sense in many other passages of the New Testament (John 8:23; Ephesians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:19):
The world, and everything that belongs to it, appears as that which is hostile to God, i.e. lost in sin, wholly at odds with anything divine, ruined and depraved.[7]
Biblical language scholars have observed cosmos to mean an orderly opposition to God:
The present world, the present order of things, as opposed to the kingdom of Christ; and hence, always with the idea of transience, worthlessness, and evil both physical and moral, the seat of cares, temptations, irregular desires.[8]
Also,
The kosmos (understood as the world of men) constitutes a uniform subject which opposes God in enmity, resists the redeeming work of the Son, does not believe in him, and indeed hates him (John 7:7; 15:18ff). It is ruled by the prince of this cosmos (John 12:31; 16:11), i.e. the Evil One (1 John 5:18).[9]
The common idea in all these definitions is ‘order.’ There is order in our world. However, the New Testament writers make it clear that this order is at odds with anything divine, of which we are commanded to avoid being stained by (James 1:27), becoming friends with (James 4:4), and influenced by its lusts (1 John 2:15-17).
The Ruler
The significance of this word ‘world’ describes the culture in which we live. It is a culture that is cleverly structured. While most people believe it is the sum of all its parts, all the varying ideas and personalities, all of the different races and sexes, the Scriptures state otherwise. They reveal that there is a ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), and that “the whole world lies in the power of” this ruler, described as “the evil one” (1 John 5:19). This ‘evil one’ is a real person, the ruler of this world, Satan, “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).
In the wilderness temptation account the devil stated to Jesus:
“I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:6).
This is an undisputed statement, boldly asserted by Satan himself of his controlling powers over the world.
Lewis Sperry Chafer sums it up succinctly:
The cosmos is a vast order or system that Satan has promoted, which conforms to his ideals, aims, and methods. It is civilization now functioning apart from God – a civilization in which none of its promoters really expect God to share, who assign to God no consideration in respect to their projects; nor do they ascribe any causativity to Him. This system embraces its godless governments, conflicts, armaments, jealousies, its education, culture, religions of morality, and pride. It is that sphere in which man lives. It is what he sees, what he employs. To the uncounted multitude it is all they ever know so long as they live on this earth. It is properly styled the satanic system, which phrase is in many instances a justified interpretation of the so-meaningful word, cosmos. It is literally a cosmos diabolicus.[10]
He adds
It is this, the specific study of what is one of the greatest doctrines of the New Testament, which many worthy men have failed to pursue; and, because this body of truth is so little apprehended, the great company of believers are unaware of the enmity which the world system sustains towards God and His people.[11]
The present culture has ridiculed the idea that there is a real devil, i.e. Satan. The producers of Hollywood films consistently make light of the god of this world by presenting him in various non-menacing characterizations, or in horror films as the horned, red-skinned creature carrying a trident. Of course, they have also repudiated the fact of the God who is their Creator. And the truly sad commentary is that many who claim to believe in Jesus Christ have rejected the doctrines entailing the reality of Satan and his world-wide rule.[12]
The Occupants
Two categories of people occupy the world: (1) those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and (2) those under the controlling influence of Satan. There is no third possibility. This observation is based upon the absolute authority of the Word of God. Men either walk in the light or walk in darkness. John wrote: “Men loved darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). This is true even though the Light had shone into the darkness of this world (John 1:5). We have identified Satan, the Evil One (1 John 5:18) as the ruler of this world. He is working in the background, while men go about their lives oblivious to his reign. He has blinded their eyes so that the light of the truth of Jesus Christ is obscured.
For those who walk in the light, those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, their eyes have been opened “so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). This was the directive that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. It wasn’t a new directive, for men throughout the ages have been commanded to seek their Creator. He has always been accessible through faith. For by faith, Abraham was accounted for righteousness, based on his belief in the revealed plan of God for his life. And so, it is true for this age that men have been charged to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
The Purpose
When we consider the purpose of the ‘world,’ we are evaluating the actual aspirations of the ruler of this world, Satan.[13] As already stated, his chief aim is to blind the “minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). This statement by the Apostle Paul is a summation of the satanic activity which takes place in our culture today. Satan’s intention is to instill in the minds and hearts of men a disbelief in the existence of the Creator and the work of the Son of God which was accomplished on the Cross. The world today ridicules these beliefs and attempts at every level (historical, archeological, and hermeneutical[14]) to disprove the truth of Christianity. This Satanic Cosmic System has infiltrated every area of society with its godless world view, including religious organizations, some of which even dare to claim to be Christ’s.
The Future
The Apostle John recorded this indictment of the world: “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts” 1 John 2:17. Note that John states that truly this world is in the process of passing away right now. Previously in this passage John had already asserted that the “darkness is passing away (same verb and tense), and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).
Peter writes, echoing the words of Isaiah 40:6-8, concerning the perishable conditions of men and the world:
All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever (1 Peter 1:24-25).
Therefore, we see that there is a temporal nature to this world and man. What becomes of them? Of Satan? The judgment of the Creator will fall upon them. In fact, the Lord Jesus spoke of this while He was still on the earth:
Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out (John 12:31).
And regarding the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus stated:
…and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged (John 16:11).
‘Has been judged’ is a perfect tense verb in the Greek. According to Wallace, the perfect tense may be used to emphasize the results or the present state produced by a past action.[15] So what Jesus was saying is that the ruler of this world (Satan) has already been judged and this judgment still stands today. When was he judged? The answer is found back in the Garden of Eden, recorded in Genesis 3:15. The Lord God said to the serpent:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.
This is not just a nice little Sunday school story. This event occurred in real space and time, so that if you had had a digital video recorder you could have taped the whole incident of the Fall of Adam and Eve and the judgments that the Lord God placed upon them as well as the serpent, who is none other than Satan (Revelation 12:9). The judgment proclaimed was that He (Christ) shall bruise the head of Satan, to bring his reign of evil upon this world to an end. This scene demonstrates a remarkable similarity to our present day judicial trial proceedings: the judgment phase was in the Garden of Eden; the sentencing phase is yet to come.
Again, John records the final sentence executed for the ruler of this world, Satan:
And the devil who deceived them (the nations, i.e. the world) was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).
There is also a judgment for all those who have followed Satan and refused to recognize their Creator. It follows Satan’s judgment in Revelation 20:11. It is called the Great White Throne Judgment. They will be judged “according to their deeds.” They will be sentenced to the lake of fire, if their names are not found written in the book of life (Revelation 20:15).
This judgment of those living and dead will take place. It is not science fiction or some tricky religious device to scare people to Christ. There may well be some of our loved ones in this judgment who will refuse to heed the Gospel regardless of all our efforts and those of fellow believers in presenting the truth to them of Jesus Christ. They will love darkness rather than light, because their eyes are blinded.
Conclusion
It is past time for the visible Church of Jesus Christ to realize that this world, our culture, is not a very nice place. It is considered normal only because it does not vary from the norms and standards which the consensus believes to be normal. It is a very foul place because of its ruler who blinds the eyes of the world and has also been doing a rather nice job of blinding the eyes of God’s people. Satan does not work alone. He has his minions, his children of wrath who live indulging themselves with the lusts of the flesh and of the mind (Ephesians 2:2-3). With Satan, they “unite as the ‘world’ to oppose the course of the believer.”[16] But just as he is not alone in his efforts, we too are not alone. For John writes:
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he [Satan] who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
The hope and assurance of the Church of Jesus Christ is that we can overcome the corruption of this satanic world system. We must take a candid look at our surroundings and become unified in our efforts to confront the ‘world’ according to the directives which have been given to us in God’s Word on how to live in this world even though we are not of this world.
[1] Ramm, Bernard, Protestant Biblical Interpretation (Boston, MA: W.A. Wilde Company, 1956), p.129
[2] Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, “World”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) (7 January 2020)
[3] Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, “World”, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/world (6 January 2020)
[4] 2 Corinthians 4:4 NASB (Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update, La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation)
[5] Trench, Richard C., Synonyms of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975) p.214
[6] Arndt, W.F., Gingrich, F.W., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1957), p. 446.
[7] Arndt, W.F., Gingrich, F.W., p.446
[8] Zodhiates, S., The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000), G2889
[9] Joachim Guhrt, “earth”, in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Colin Brown, Ed., (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1986), 1.525
[10] Chafer, L.S., Systematic Theology, (Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1976), 2.77-78.
[11] Chafer, Systematic Theology, 6.180
[12] The Barna Group Research: (October 8, 2002) More than half of adults (59%) “reject the existence of Satan, indicating that the devil, or Satan, is merely a symbol of evil. Catholics are much more likely than Protestants to hold this view –75% compared to 55%.” https://www.barna.com/research/americans-draw-theological-beliefs-from-diverse-points-of-view/ [17 June 2021]
[13] Matthew 12:25ff
[14] Hermeneutics is the study of the methods employed in the interpretation of Scripture.
[15] Wallace, D. B., Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), p. 574
[16] Barnhouse, Donald Grey, The Invisible War (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1965), p. 81