glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the form of this world is passing away "John predominantly uses "world" to designate the people of the world, but in doing so he highlights their subjection to evil, so that he announces that the entire world is under the power of the evil one ( 1 John 5:19). The devil is characterized as "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), which signifies that human beings are in thrall to wickedness. The world failed to recognize Jesus as God's Word and the agent of salvation (John 1:10). Indeed, since the world is under Satan's rule, it hates Jesus (John 7:7) and his disciples, who have been called out of the world (John 15:18-19; 17:14-16; 1 John 3:13). Because the world does not know Jesus, it does not know his disciples either (1 John 3:1). The calling of the disciples out of the world indicates that they too were once part of the world, and hence those who are now believers were also once under the world's influence. Disciples formerly were part of the world, but now they have been rescued by Jesus from the world. Now the disciples are in the world but not "of the world" (John 17:13-16), since Jesus has freed disciples from the world's dominion by choosing them out of the world (John 15:19) and by overcoming the world (John 13:1; 17: 6, 9). Disciples overcome the world through their faith-that is, by believing that Jesus is God's Son (1 John 5:4-5)-and the subsequent verses indicate that they conquer on the basis of his death. Jesus, therefore, did not manifest himself to the world after his resurrection in the same way that he revealed himself to his disciples (John 14:22; 16:20). Nevertheless, the disciples were sent into the world to proclaim the message of salvation (John 17:18, 21), so that the world would come to believe that God sent Jesus. The world's evil manifests itself in what it desires and its fierce pride (1 John 2:16). False prophets proclaim the world's message, and their content is celebrated by those in the world, but the message is that of the antichrist (1 John 4:1-6). The world does not have any capacity to receive the Spirit of truth (John 14:17) and does not know the Father (John 17:25), and hence people in the world are wakened out of their slumber only by the convicting work of the Spirit (John 16:8-11). The world cannot grant true peace, for peace in the midst of trouble comes only from Christ (John 14:31). Jesus came into the world to bear witness to the truth even though his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36-37). He was sent into the world so that it might live (1 John 4:9). The five thousand fed by Jesus believed that he was the prophet sent into the world (John 6:15). Jesus is God's bread that grants life to the world (John 6:33; cf. 11:27), and the life bestowed on the world is available through his death (John 6:51), so that the world lives on the basis of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Propitiation-the satisfaction of God's wrath against the sins of the whole world-is accomplished by the death of Jesus (1 John 2:2). The only light for the world is Jesus (John 8:12; 9:5; 11:9:12:46), for without him the world remains shrouded in darkness. These texts suggest that John often uses the term "world" to refer to the entire human race without distinction. John recognizes often that not everyone believes, and hence he is not teaching that the sins of every single person in the world are actually removed by Jesus' death. Nor when he says that Jesus is the Savior of the world should we conclude that every single person in the world is saved by Jesus. What John emphasizes, rather, is that the whole world without distinction, both Jews and Gentiles, is the object of God's saving love in Christ. Jesus also came to bring judgment onto the world, since those who refuse to believe him are condemned (John 9:39). What Jesus says in John 9:39 seems to contradict the claim that Jesus came not to judge the world but to save it (John 12:47), but the contradiction is superficial. Jesus' intention in coming into the world was to save it, but those who refuse to believe in him were thereby judged, and so he came to judge in a secondary but not a primary sense. His explicit intention in coming to the earth was to save the world, but those who refuse his salvation must come under judgment, even though salvation was Jesus' primary intention. Jesus' death spells salvation for the world, but it is also the case that Jesus by his death judges the world and evicts its ruler (John 12:31). Therefore, John's theology of the world should also be understood eschatologically, for believers enjoy salvation in the midst of an evil world that is opposed to God and his Son. The devil rules the entire world, but Jesus has come to save his own in the world. His saving work has liberated believers from the evil of the world, the false teaching of antichrists, and the work of the devil. The world and its influence are passing away (1 John 2:17), and the final victory is sure because Jesus has triumphed over the world via his cross." pp.91-93 Thomas R. Schreiner from his book "New Testament Theology Magnifying God in Christ" 3:20 p.m. - 2008-06-22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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