Last week, we continued to see that the attitude that rejects the senses and the body (and God’s Creation) as evil, and thus rejects the way that related human experiences such as sensuality, sexuality, and violence are presented in the Bible (Prov 5:18-19; Ezek 23: 19-21; Judg 3:21-22; 1 Sam 15:32-33; etc.) is due to a pagan system of thought known as Platonism, and not to anything in Scripture itself.

Platonism teaches that only non-physical things (like the human spirit) are good, and that all physical things (the human body, the physical world) are evil and to be despised. The system became influential (and continues to be so) in some areas of Christian thought because of a confusion about what the biblical terms “the world” and “the flesh” mean, a confusion that seemed to support Platonic conclusions. As we saw last week, a close look at the biblical use of the term “the flesh” not only did not support, but actually contradicted Platonic thought. Let us see if the same is true for Scripture’s use of “the world.” 1 John 2:15-17 saith: “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—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.” Does this mean the Platonists are right? Is the world itself of physical matter—intrinsically evil? No. This passage specifically tells us “all this is in the world, e.g., “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).

The Apostle John (who wrote this epistle as well as the Gospel that bears his name) uses the word “world” to denote the system of pride and rebellion that wishes to replace the rule of the Holy Triune God, not to denote the created order. The “world-system” (rather than Creation) is “not of the Father” (1 John 2:16), and is already experiencing the judgement which leads it inexorably to final destruction (John 12:31; 1 John 2:17; etc.).

Satan is called “the ruler of this world” in John 12:31, (as he is in John 14:30, 16:11; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2) because he tempted our parents, Adam and Eve, into committing the same sin of which he was guilty: wanting to be God himself (Isa 14:12-15). This lust resulted in both humanity’s bondage to sin and death (Rom 5:12-19) and in the three conditions that describe and define the world-system in 1 John 2:16—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Jesus has formally displaced Satan’s and sin’s rule over the world-system by His Redemption and the spread of His Kingdom, which is gradually displacing Satan’s rule in the lives and institutions of men (John 12:31; Rev 1:5; Matt 13:31-33, 16:18; Eph 1:20-23; Phil 2:9-11; 1 Peter 3:22; etc.). Doesn’t this still beg the question of the innate evil of the physical world? Nay.

St. Paul teaches us in 1 Timothy 4:4 that “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” In the earlier verses of this chapter, Paul even teaches that the belief that the material world is not to be enjoyed is a doctrine of demons. Remember that Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21), wrote these words long after the Fall of Man in Adam (Gen 3), a re-affirmation of God’s having confirmed His Creation as “good” in its beginning (Gen 1). “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,” as Psalm 24:1 says.

In the sense in which St. John uses the term “world” in the New Testament (and elsewhere by the other writers of Scripture), “world” means the sphere of life in which God’s Lordship is rejected, and where the things of this life become ends in themselves and/or are worshipped. Any created thing, brothers and sisters, can become an idol. This is the world-system.

It is not, however, the created order that we normally refer to as the world. The world, as opposed to the world-system, is good and is God’s. This includes every area of life that is not sin. Grasp this concept, y’all: If something is not sinful, it is good. There is no neutral zone—a thing is either sin or it is good (and if it is good, it’s a vehicle for righteousness).

Everything in the world that is not sin—even physicality, sex, and violence (in their God- ordained places), etc.—is good. This is an important point, folks, because of the implications for our worldview and how it impacts our subsequent view and practice of the Arts. Next week, we will (God willing) take up this viewpoint.

For additional teaching on the distinction of the world and world-system check out the “Windows to Glory” series by visiting www.patreon.com/KemperCrabb