The Ways of the World

The Ways of the World

In Preparation...

  • Read John 17.
  • Contemplate then write in your journal what it means to be in the World but not of the World.

Do you seek the love of the World or Jesus?

The World doesn’t want to hear it, but their ways are not the ways of life, but death. What does that mean? It means the ways of the World do not follow the good things that God says are good for human beings because God knows what is beyond this earthly existence. Like a wise parent guiding their children through childhood so they will have good habits when they become adults, God has tried to tell us how to do things so that when we grow beyond this mortal coil we have a good existence in what comes next.

22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:22-23 (NASB)

People have for the history of the universe failed to listen to wisdom. God granted mankind the ability to choose back in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve set the standard for bad choices. We have been doing it ever since. God told Adam and Eve what was good and what was bad. While they had encouragement from Satan in the form of a serpent, they still made their decision and suffered the consequences. That tradition continues to this day.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10 (NASB)

That is good news and bad news. The good news is that we each stand before Jesus on our own not having to answer for the deeds and actions of another. The bad news is that each of us knows what we have done throughout our lives, and Christ knows too what is in the hearts of God’s people so there are no hiding things from Him either. While that bad news seems to indicate there are no secrets meaning we are all condemned it also has some hope in it as well, which is how Paul ends chapter six of Romans, with hope.

Jesus Christ is the solution. While Jesus does sit in the judgment seat, Jesus also has a heart of love for all of God’s children. If we come to him with a contrite heart, bent on repentance from the things that offend God, we can find solace in Jesus. He shed his blood on the cross so that when we step before Him on that final day of judgment, He can open the Book of Life and find our name there in spite of what we may have done or not done. This is possible because He was the atoning sacrifice called for by the Law that died on our behalf and thus pays for those sins committed. It is our realization in this life that that event will take place in the next that should drive our actions while we yet live. We live in the World, but we are not of the World, and our actions should not be those that are approved of by the World either. It is in this way that we can try and help others enjoy the atoning salvation of Jesus as well, which is our calling from our Lord as Christians.

15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
17 “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
Luke 16:15-17 (NASB)

Digging Deeper

  • Research The Great Commission from Matthew 28:16-20 and Mark 16:14-20.
  • Look up Joshua 24:15.
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