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Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4
Let us begin this chapter on the vision of the world by reading two portions of the Word. First John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him; because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever.” These verses show us that the world is against God the Father and that the things in the world are against the will of God. James 4:4 also speaks concerning the world: “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever determines to be a friend of the world is constituted an enemy of God.” The world is against God, and those who love the world are enemies of God.
If we would see the vision of the world, we need to have a clear definition of the world. How would you define the term world? It is not easy to give an adequate definition.
God created man to live on the earth, and man needs certain things for his existence. In the first chapter of the Bible, two things are mentioned as necessary for man’s existence—food and marriage (vv. 29, 28). Man must eat in order to live, and man must marry in order to multiply and replenish the earth. Clothing is not mentioned until the record of the fall of man in chapter 3 (vv. 7, 10-11, 21). Immediately after the fall, man sensed that he needed something to cover him. From that time onward, clothing has been necessary for man’s existence. The first mention of housing in the Bible is in Genesis 4:17. Housing is not mentioned until after the second step of man’s fall.
In the fall of man there were three steps. The first step was the fall from the spirit to the soul, the second step was the fall from the soul to the flesh, and the third step was the fall from the flesh to idols. After the first step of the fall, man realized that he was naked, that he was sinful, and thus there was the need of clothing. After the second step of the fall, man became preoccupied with the physical body, and there was the need of housing.
In the garden man and God were on the same level. Then man fell from the spirit to the soul. This means that man fell out of the spirit into the soul. Before the fall man was living mainly by the spirit, but after the first step of the fall, man started to live by the soul, which had been changed into the self. After the first step of the fall, man became sinful, but he was not fleshly, just soulish. After the second step of the fall, the fall from the soul into the flesh, man became fleshly (6:3), and this eventually brought in the flood. Finally, in the third step of the fall, which took place after the flood, man fell from the flesh to idols. Man lived not just by the soul and by the flesh but even the more by the idols. By the time of Babel man had fallen to the uttermost and could not become more fallen. Man had fallen from the spirit to the soul, from the soul to the flesh, and from the flesh to idols. Then God came in to call Abraham out of this fall.
What did man need for his existence before the fall? He needed only food and marriage. After the first step of the fall, man became soulish. His understanding was corrupted by sin, he became conscious of evil, and he felt the need for something to cover him. Thus, there was now the need of clothing. Then after the second step of the fall, man began to care mainly for his body and started to build houses for himself. Now man also needed housing.
Today the more people pay attention to their house, the more they are in the fall. In this country a great deal of time, money, and energy is spent on the matter of housing. It takes a lot of time to maintain a modern house. This is a strong sign of being in the fall. I am concerned that even Christians may devote so much time to their house that they have very little, if any, time for prayer. However, the more we are delivered from the fall, the simpler we will become in the matter of housing. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He could say of Himself, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20).
The more fallen we are, the more things we need. On the contrary, the more we are delivered from the fall, the simpler we become regarding what we need for our existence. This is a principle, and we need to keep it in mind. Consider the matter of clothing. Worldly people are occupied with clothing and spend much time and money on their adornment. A saved person, however, should simply care to have clothing that is proper, neat, and clean. The principle is the same with our need for food and transportation. If we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, we will see how simple He was regarding the necessities of human existence.
God agrees that we have all the things that we need for our existence. He has prepared food and the materials for clothing, housing, and transportation. However, there is a limit to what we need.
The things that we need for our existence are earthly things, but they are not worldly things. What, then, are the worldly things? Just as the flesh is the corrupted body and the self is the corrupted soul, so the worldly things are the corrupted earthly things. Concerning the origin of the flesh, the self, and the world, the principle is the same.
How were the earthly things corrupted to become the worldly things? The earthly things which are necessary for human existence have been corrupted by Satan with his systematic scheme. Satan has made a system out of all the things which we need for our existence. He has taken the earthly things and has utilized them to make a system. This system includes not only all things but also all people. This means that we have been captured by this system and have become occupied with the things in this system.
All the earthly things which are necessary for human existence have become preoccupying elements. For example, we must eat in order to exist, but eating has become a preoccupying element. Likewise, marriage was ordained by God for the existence and multiplication of the human race, but marriage has become a preoccupying element. Originally, clothing was allowed by God for human existence, but eventually clothing became another item utilized by Satan to occupy people. The same is true regarding housing and transportation.
We can become so occupied with these things that there is no ground in us for God. In our human life, there is no time for God. All of our human capacity is preoccupied with and occupied by the things of the world, so no capacity remains in us for God.
The body has been corrupted by the sin of Satan and has become the flesh. The soul has been corrupted by the mind, the thought, of Satan and has become the self. The earthly things have been corrupted by Satan’s systematic scheme and have become the world. The world is now a satanic system. In Greek this system is called the kosmos. In English this system is called the world.
We all need to have a clear vision of the world. To us the things which we need for our existence may simply be earthly things, or they may become a world, a system of Satan. When you are preoccupied with eating, eating becomes an item of the world to you. When you are preoccupied with marriage, marriage becomes an item of the world to you. When you become preoccupied with clothing, housing, and transportation, these also become items of the world to you.
However, we do not need to be preoccupied with the things we need for our existence. For instance, instead of being preoccupied with food, we may simply use food for us to live for God’s purpose. We will then be able to say with Paul, “Foods are for the stomach, and the stomach for foods; but God will bring to nought both it and them” (1 Cor. 6:13a). We are not occupied by eating or preoccupied with eating. The capacity of our human life is not for food—it is for God. To us eating is not an item of the world but merely an item of the earthly things which are necessary for our existence. Eating does not frustrate us from the will of God, and it does not hinder us from realizing God’s will.
The situation should be the same with marriage, clothing, housing, and transportation. Marriage is necessary for our existence on earth. We need marriage, but we should not be occupied with marriage. Our marriage should not frustrate us from God’s will. If it does, marriage becomes to us an item of the world. Likewise, clothing, housing, and transportation are other necessary items of our earthly life, but if we are preoccupied with these things, they will become items of the world to us.
We are here on earth for God, not for food, marriage, clothing, housing, and transportation. Any of these things that contradicts God’s will or hinders God’s purpose is an item of the world. None of these things should frustrate us from God’s will. If eating does not hinder us from realizing God’s will, then for us eating is not an item of the world. Likewise, if marriage does not frustrate us from God’s will, then for us marriage is not an item of the world. But once marriage frustrates us from the will of God, it becomes for us an item of the world. If the members of our family hinder us from realizing God’s will, then, according to the Lord’s word in Luke 14:26, we should hate them. We need to pray that we would see the vision of the world and be delivered from every kind of preoccupation.
Man’s body became the flesh, man’s soul became the self, and the things of the earth were systematized to become the preoccupying world. As a result, man’s entire being has been usurped and deadened by Satan. Now there is no possibility for God to accomplish anything for His purpose because man has been deadened by the flesh, the self, and the world.
The human spirit is deadened by the flesh in the body, by the self in the soul, and by the world. The more you live in the flesh and according to the flesh, the more dead you are in your spirit. In like manner, the more you live by the self, the more dead you are in your spirit. Furthermore, living in a worldly way will deaden your spirit. This was our history. Living according to the flesh, by the self, and according to the world, we were deadened in our spirit and were utterly finished with God’s purpose.
The Lord Jesus has come to redeem us, to bring us back to God. He has come to deliver us from the three damaging elements: the flesh, the self, and the world. He begins by quickening, enlivening, our deadened spirit. This means that He has regenerated us, making our spirit alive, and now He dwells in our spirit to be life to us. It is by His being the life within us that we are gradually emancipated, released, and liberated from the flesh, the self, and the world. According to our experience, first we are delivered from the flesh, and then we are gradually delivered from the self. Then, with difficulty, we are delivered from the world.
The deliverance from the flesh, the self, and the world is actually a cycle that is repeated again and again. You may think that you have been thoroughly delivered out of the flesh, the self, and the world. However, you will soon realize that you need a further deliverance from a hidden aspect of the flesh. Thus, you need the liberating Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17) to release you again from the flesh. Following this, you will see that you need the liberating Spirit to release you more from the self and the world. This cycle will be repeated, and with each repetition you will be delivered further from the three elements—the flesh, the self, and the world—which damage humanity as the materials which God created for His building.
Eventually, the Lord’s recovery will reach the crucial matter of building. If we would realize the building up of the Body, we need to be delivered from the flesh, from the self, and from the world.
In our experience the liberating Spirit becomes the transforming Spirit (v. 18). The Spirit’s liberating work is also the Spirit’s transforming work. Eventually, we will be transformed into the image of Christ. This is why in Romans 12:2 Paul says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” To be fashioned according to this age is to be conformed to the present course of the world. Instead of being conformed to the present age, we should be transformed by the renewing of the mind. The more we are transformed, the more we are delivered from the flesh, the self, and the world.
Are you clear about what the world is? Anything can become an item of the world to us, if that thing occupies us and preoccupies us. You need to be fully emancipated from every occupying and preoccupying thing. The time must come when you are able to say, “Lord, I praise You that I have been liberated. I have been fully emancipated from every kind of preoccupation. On this earth there is nothing occupying me or preoccupying me.” When this is your situation, you will have nothing to do with the world, yet you will still be living on the earth. You will continue to need food, marriage, clothing, housing, and transportation, but none of these things will occupy or preoccupy you.
If we see the vision of the world, we will realize that we should not love anything worldly. We should not love any occupying or preoccupying thing. Rather, we should give our love fully, wholly, and absolutely to the Lord. All our capacity is for Him. All the ground, all the room, in us is for Him.
We all need the vision of the world that we may see what the world is and how the enemy uses the world to keep us from realizing the Body. Only when we have been liberated from the world will we be fully built up to realize the Body life.
