Alba 7-7-2024
WHAT IN THE WORLD?
I John 2:15-17
Have you ever been in a situation that makes you say, “What in the world!” There are some crazy things out there that could cause you to say that. James Snyder in a sermon entitled, “What a Crazy World We Live In” shared some things that made him exclaim, “What in the world!”. He said this:
“What a crazy world we live in these days. Just when you think it can’t get any crazier, it does. We went shopping at the grocery store one day, and when we came out and got into our vehicle, I was laughing. My wife looked at me and said, 'What are you laughing about?'
“'That lady in there,' I said, still laughing, 'was wearing the craziest dress that I’ve ever seen. She sure was crazy.' And I laughed some more. She looked at me, smiled and said, 'You do know that was not a woman, don’t you?' The smile disappeared from my face, and I just stared at her and said, 'You got to be kidding?'”
He continued, “There appears to be a crazy virus, and it comes out just a little different for each individual.” He said, “There was some Hollywood celebrity; I don’t know who, but when they had their baby said that they would wait until the baby was old enough to make its own decision as to its gender.”
Then he said, “When I first heard that, I thought they were making a joke, but then I found out they were very serious about it. When I heard that, I felt sorry for the baby that had to grow up in such a crazy family. If they are crazy about this, what else are they crazy about?”
Indeed! There is a lot in this world that is out of joint with common sense. But that is nothing new. The apostle John gives us a warning about how things can go haywire. He makes it clear that many things in this world get in the way of good living. Here's what he writes in I John 2:15-17.
“Do not love the world or the things 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.”
There are things in this world that can cause us a lot of trouble. The worst of which is hurting our relationship with a loving God. So this phrase, “What in the world” becomes more of a question than simply being incredulous about something. In other words, these verses in I John chapter two should make us ask ourselves:
1. What in the world is keeping me from God's love?
Verse 15 says, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
That raises the question, does God hate this world? No! He has the whole world in His hands, and He called His creation “good”. Indeed it is! This planet was put together by God's loving hands. We know that “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” (Gen. 1:1) The orderliness of the universe is one of the evidences of Intelligent Design. There is not a chance it took place by chance. And since the very definition of Evolution’s creative power is “Time and Chance”, it’s an idea that is out of time, and there’s not a chance it’s true.
But another question could be asked, does God hate the people of this world? There are many times in scripture that God expresses frustration with the human population of the world. But He has always had a deep love for people. In Jeremiah 31:3 Jeremiah says, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.'”
And most importantly, we know that God so loved the people of this world (that includes you and me) that Jesus came and died on the cross in our place. (John 3:16-17) So when we are told not to love this world, it is not the planet, and it is not the people. It is the world system that operates as if God does not exist, or if He does, it doesn't matter. It is the idea that people can make up their own rules, live their own way and rebel against whatever God has said and there will be no consequences.
When anyone lives that way, it blocks out the love that God wants to give that person. And“The love of the Father is not in him.” What a sad place to be. Here is God who lovingly wants to provide good things. But the love of the ways of the world have shut Him out of that person's life.
It would be wise for each of us to ask ourselves the question: What in the world is keeping me from fully experiencing the love of God? Is there something that I love more than the Lord that is getting in the way of my relationship with the Heavenly Father? What changes do I need to make?
But if you can say, I feel that I truly love the Lord and all that He has done for me. I rejoice in sins forgiven through Jesus death on the cross. He is my Savior... But, if there are too many times when Jesus is just your Savior, but He is not also your Lord, then here is another question to ask yourself.
2. What in the World is keeping me from doing God's will?
Verse 16 probably covers whatever it may be. It says, “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.”
Most things that get in the way of doing the will of God are covered by this verse. When Eve was tempted in the Garden of Eden to disobey God and eat of the forbidden fruit (the one rule they needed to keep!) she knew what God's will was.
When the devil tried to get Eve to question what God had said she responded, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” (Genesis 3:2-3) In spite of knowing that, she quickly went down the path of disobedience.
The devil lied saying, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” What was Eve's reaction to this temptation? Genesis 3:6 says, “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.”
Look at this list again: The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. So when it says, “the woman saw that the tree was good for food (it was lust of the flesh), that it was pleasant to the eyes (it was lust of the eyes), and a tree desirable to make one wise (it was the pride of life).”
These are the same things that keep us from doing the will of God as we live our lives. For example, there are many things that satisfy the flesh but don't keep us close to God. The desires for food, companionship, sex, and security are legitimate when we keep them within God’s limits and when we do not allow them to usurp His rightful place in our hearts. But they become sinful when we seek to fulfill them in selfish and ungodly ways.
The Lord gave us sexual desires, but He designed them to be used in ways that don't hurt us or others. There are news reports about the illegal immigrants who have committed horrible crimes of rape and murder against innocent women. Apparently they feel they can satisfy their desires no matter what happens to others.
I Corinthians 6:13 says, “the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” And verse 18 says, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”
And there are other ways we can hurt our bodies, whether it's drugs, alcohol, or overeating. Each one of those things have its own way of causing hurt to ourselves, and often to others. No wonder then that God warns us against the things of the world that tempt our flesh, our eyes and our pride.
By the way, pride is a word that is used today to be proud of doing things God has condemned. Everyone should take heed to the verse in Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and haughty spirit before a fall.”
But everyone experiences temptation. Someone might say to the Lord, “Lord, you don't understand. There are things that I can't give up. I've even tried, but they have a hold on me. These temptations are too strong. And you are perfect, so how could you understand?”
That's where Jesus steps in. He knows what it is like to be tempted in all of these ways. Hebrews 6:15 says of Jesus that He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”.
Scripture proves it. Turn to Matthew chapter four.
There it tells us that after fasting 40 days and 40 nights Jesus was hungry. One might understand that, but then came the lust of the flesh. The devil tempted Jesus to use His power in a selfish way and turn the stones that looked like a loaf of bread into actual bread to satisfy His hunger. But look how Jesus responded to that temptation. He said in verse four, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Then the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and tempted Him to throw Himself down so that angels could swoop Him up. This is the temptation of the pride of life. In such a public place, such an act would be seen by many. But also, this could have been the devil's way to try to get rid of Jesus before He could offer Himself on the cross to pay for our sins. But Jesus' response to this temptation was to say in verse seven, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Not yet giving up, the devil then takes Jesus to a high mountain where He could see all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. That is the temptation of the lust of the eyes. The devil said he would give all of this to Jesus only if Jesus would bow down and worship him! Jesus' response to this is found in verse ten where He says, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
So if someone says, “Lord, you don't understand what I am facing.” The Lord can come right back and say, “Oh, I sure do! I've been there Myself.” And the Lord could also say, “But I found a way to avoid the traps the devil was trying to set for me. I relied on scripture to answer all those temptations and keep me in My Father's will.” And you know, we have God's Word available to us as well, like a sword to fight the devil's attacks on us.
Jesus never lost sight of the purpose of His coming to this earth. Hebrews 10:7 says, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ ” And then verse ten says, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
We all need to follow Jesus' example and realize that even though temptations come, and come regularly in this world, we don't have to be victims of the devil's schemes to keep us out of the will of God.
Again, it would be wise for each of us to ask ourselves the question: What in the world is keeping me from doing God's will? Is there something that I am doing that is getting in the way of my relationship with the Heavenly Father? What changes do I need to make?
And here is one more question you should ask yourself.
3. What in the world will I be keeping when I die?
The answer is: Not much! Verse seventeen reminds us that “the world is passing away, and the lust of it.” There is nothing on this earth that we will be able to take with us when we die.
One day Christopher Arch, a minister in Iowa took his middle school son to the dump and asked him, “What do all these things have in common?” His son answered, “They are in the dump.” Then this father said, “Someone thought they were valuable. Someone worked for them. Someone bought them. Someone thought they would bring happiness. Today they are literally on the trash heap of life. It doesn’t mean that people can’t enjoy, or purchase, or like nice things. But just remember these were all once new and someone worked hard to purchase them. Now, they are sitting in a dump.”
So are we really in our heart and minds keeping the most important things first? Verse seventeen ends saying that, “he who does the will of God abides forever.”
That's God's promise. So the next time you hear or say the phrase, “What in the world?” remember, only God's love and what we have done according to His Will, will last forever.
CLOSE:
If we know that the things of the world are temporary, and that the way of the world will lead us away from the things of the Lord, why in the world do we still do what we do?
James gives us an answer as to how this works in James 1:14-15. He writes, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
Many are like this woman. She is a school teacher who lost her life savings in a business scheme that had been elaborately explained by a swindler. When her investment disappeared and her dream was shattered, she went to the Better Business Bureau.
The official asked, “Why on earth didn't you come to us first? Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?” “Oh, yes,” said the lady sadly. “I've always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it.”
When God says that there are things that we should not do, He does so for our best interest. He does so out of His love for us. Our prayer should be, as it says in Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
