The World part 1 - The god of this World

Do not love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the father but is of the world. And the world is passing away and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1John2:15-17 NKJV

The world is spoken of in scripture in three ways; the world as the physical planet, the world as the people of the earth, the world as a system of thinking and a way of life. John in the above scripture is speaking of the world as system of thinking and way of life. In earlier lessons we explored the three pronged attack of the enemy which is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life that was born in Eden. The enemy uses this three pronged attack to establish the system and way of life that john speaks of as the world.

In Geneses 1:26-28 we see that human kind was given dominion over the earth and every living thing in it. This dominion given by God was never taken away because to do so would change the original created nature of humans. God made humans in his image and likeness with free will and dominion. The only way for the enemy to rule in the earth is through human beings. The enemy can do nothing in the earth unless it is through the rightful heir and holder of the title deed to the earth human kind. In 1Corinthians 4:3-4 the enemy is called the god of this world because he is the controller and ruler of the system and way of life established to blind and manipulate humans through the three pronged attack. The enemy cannot rule without doing it through humans. We hear people ask why does God allow all this pain and suffering in the world. The real question is why do humans allow it. God gave us the dominion but we use our authority to serve the system of the enemy.

The enemy uses this system to blind the minds of humans so that we unwittingly serve him and his purposes and ignore the Gospel. The Gospel, or good news, is God restoring humans to their rightful place through Jesus Christ. Humans through Jesus can again have the dominion and authority over the earth. With this authority we can overcome the world system and it’s ruler and begin to establish Gods way of living for ourselves and those we touch. This is our original responsibility and our only freedom.

Next Week: The World - The Nature of the System

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