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Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 016 – If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?
Review and Tie-Up of Last Week: 1 John 2:12-14
A “Worldly” Word Study—A First Look at 1 John 2:15-17
Different Uses of the Word World in the New Testament
- κοσμέω (kos MEH oh, kosmeo –> cosmetics)
- Pre-New Testament Greek:
- setting troops in order
- women “putting themselves in order”— clothing, make-up, etc.; adorn
- regulating
- New Testament Usage:
- Put in order
- (in the sense of trim): Matthew 25:7—Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
- Matthew 12:44—Then [the unclean spirit] says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. (|| Luke 11:25)
- Adorn, decorate
- 1 Timothy 2:9-10—Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing…
- Revelation 21:2—…made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
- 1 Peter 3:3-6—Your adornment [κόσμος – kosmos – this is the noun form; see below] must not be merely external…For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn…
- Do credit to
- Titus 2:9-10—…so that they will adorn [do credit to] the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.
- κόσμος (KOHS-mohs, kosmos –> cosmos –> cosmonaut)
- Pre-New Testament Usage:
- That which is well assembled or ordered (e.g., Homer: Trojan Horse); well-integrated into the whole
- From Greek philosophy: a developing concept—the order around us –> the earth and what it contains –> all of creation –> the universe (even “ideas”). Some philosophers maintained a distinction between kosmos and ouranos (οὐρανός, oo-rah-NOHS, heaven), while others combined the two.
- Earth, humanity, the inhabited world.
- New Testament usage:
- Half of the uses of kosmos are in John’s writings (78 times)
- Earth (or perhaps a larger scale, creation)— John 1:10— He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
- Mankind: John 3:16— “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
- That order (perhaps we should say world-order) that is now alienated from its Creator and Lord, the stage of salvation history:
- James 1:27— Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
- James 4:4 (and see entire context)— You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
- John 15:19— “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
- The Church, the ekklesia, the “called out” ones. Called out of what?
- Our relationship to “the world”—strangers, exiles, aliens (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11 [& 12]); also ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:19-20; Ephesians 6:20).
- Our present passage: 1 John 2:15-17—”Love not the world[-system]…”, etc.
- Hangovers from the King James—when a word other than “world” should have been used.
- οἰκουμένη (oy-kou-MEN-ay, oikoumenē) — the inhabited earth (compare Luke 2:1 KJV with NASB) or the “Roman world,” that is, the Empire.
- αἰών (ay-OWN, aiōn –> eon) — a very long segment of time; an age or era; even (in certain contexts) eternity. The adjective is αἰώνιος (ay-OWN-ee-os, aiōnios)— without beginning or ending; eternal.
- Romans 12:2—And do not be conformed to this world [lit. age], but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (nasb)
- 2 Timothy 4:10— …for Demas, having loved this present world [lit. age], has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
- Hebrews 1:2— [God]…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world [literally, the ages].
- Hebrews 11:3— By faith we understand that the worlds [literally, the ages] were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
- Matthew 12:32—“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age [kjv=world] or in the age [provided by translators] to come.
- Matthew 28:20—“…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age [kjv=world].”
- Luke 20:34-36— Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age [kjv=world] marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age [kjv=world] and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage…
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-8— Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age [kjv=world] nor of the rulers of this age [kjv=world], who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages [kjv=world] to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age [kjv=world] has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory…
- 2 Corinthians 4:3-4— And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world [lit. age] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- Not the god of this world, that is, the earth, but the god of this age of the rebellious world-order
- This Is My Father’s World!
- So if “God so loved the world,” why am I not allowed to love it? Because:
- God so loved all the people in His Creation.
- We’re commanded not to love the world-order and the things it prizes and offers.
- Now that we have this background, next week we’ll look at these three verses more in depth – the warning, the dangers, and the mindset and heart-change that allow us to walk free of the world-order, the world-system.
Related Messages:
Kernels of Wheat Episode #1—Words We Think We Know
Reminder:
- Read through the First Epistle of John once a week
- Remember to substitute the phrase “the Anointed One” for Christ or Messiah for the next few weeks, to get in practice.
Next Week: Why the Impossible Is Impossible
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Jim, Gail and I are visiting Elisha in Co. Springs, and I saw your posting on Gail’s facebook and see that you and Denise are celebrating your 40th anniversary. That is great and I want you to know that you two are wonderful examples of God’s love and grace. Congratulations and many, many more.
Also, I listened to your Kernals of Wheat pod cast 016 and it was great. I will definetly listen to more in the future. May God bless you and your family.
Much love from us to you and Denise. Joe and Gail
Joe,
How great to hear from you and Gail! We saw Elisha’s engagement-party photos online, so congratulations are in order going your way as well.
Thanks for the encouragement about the Kernels of Wheat podcast. It’s proving to be a blessing to many. And it’s one of those serendipitous quirks of the Internet that we pick up a new Upstate New York listener who happens to hear us first in Colorado. I’ll be following up with an e-mail.
Jim