WORLD
WHAT RELATIONSHIP DOES GOD WANT US TO HAVE WITH THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE?
BIBLE READING: Matthew 5:13-16
KEY BIBLE VERSE: You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world-like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. (Matthew 5:13-14)
WE ARE TO HAVE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE.
If a seasoning has no flavor, it has no value. If Christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God. If we are too much like the world, we are worthless as “seasoning.” We should not blend in with everyone else. Instead, we should affect others positively, just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food.
GOD WANTS US TO BE A LIGHT TO THE WORLD.
Can you hide a city that is sitting on top of a hill? Its light at night can be seen for miles. If we live for Christ, we will glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like. We hide our light by (1) being quiet when we should speak, (2) going along with the crowd, (3) denying the light, (4) letting sin dim our light, (5) not explaining our light to others, or (6) ignoring the needs of others. Be a beacon of truth-don’t shut your light off from the rest of the world.
BIBLE READING: John 17:6-19
KEY BIBLE VERSE: I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. (John 17:15)
CHRIST WANTS CHRISTIANS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.
The world hates Christians because their values are different from its own. Because Christ’s followers don’t cooperate with the world by joining into its sin, they are living accusations against the world’s immorality. The world follows Satan’s agenda, and Satan is the avowed enemy of Jesus and his people.
Jesus didn’t ask God to take believers out of the world but instead to use them in the world. Because Jesus sends us into the world, we should not try to escape from the world, nor should we avoid all relationships with non-Christians. We are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16), and we are to do the work that God sent us to do.
BIBLE READING: Romans 8:18-28
KEY BIBLE VERSE: All creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. (Romans 8:19-21)
OUR VIEW OF THE WORLD AND OUR ACTIONS IN IT OUGHT TO BE MOTIVATED BY OUR AWARENESS OF GOD’S PLAN.
Sin has caused all creation to fall from the state in which God created it. So the world is subject to frustration and bondage to decay so that it cannot fulfill its intended purpose. One day all creation will be liberated and transformed. Until that time it waits in eager expectation for the resurrection of God’s children.
GOD HAS MUCH GOOD FOR US TO DO IN THE WORLD AS WE WAIT.
Christians see the world as it is-physically decaying and spiritually infected with sin. But Christians do not need to be pessimistic, because they have hope for future glory. They look forward to the new heaven and new earth that God has promised, and they wait for God’s new order that will free the world of sin, sickness, and evil. In the meantime, Christians go in Christ’s name into the world to heal bodies and souls and to fight the evil effects of sin.