FRIEND OF THE WORLD


Nations, cultures, and families spar over the teachings of Jesus and especially His divinity. The message of Jesus and the lifestyle change He requests on behalf of His Father is no less than drastic in the eyes of the world. Jesus said of this disturbance -
  • Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12:51-53)
Why the division? James says it nicely when he stated -
  • ...don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4) 
The word - "world" - in the original Greek is kosmos. This word means orderly arrangement or decoration. Figuratively or literally when you apply this to a global scale of people and nations you get world systems and world trappings - both of which are not eternal. The systems of the world - political, economical, and judicial are flawed in that they are controlled by flawed humanity. As soon as there is a threatening view to this world-machine, the world tries to snuff it out. Even if the new view makes all the sense in the world, the challenging ideas and people associated with them receive hate. Such was the case with Christ. Jesus warned if you are associated with Him, the world will continue to hate you -
  • If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
This decision to take on the hate of the world if one chooses to accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior is not something I hear taught or preached from the pulpit. Maybe it is a given to some, especially those already in The Fold/Kingdom, but it is not even in the fine writing. This message is in regular sized type and Red Letters. For a prospective Christian, the Good News that God was willing to pay such a high price to secure my eternal salvation is always good to hear. It is also a good thing to know what life would be like without Christ, here on earth and eternally. However, it is also a healthy thing to teach what it will mean to be a follower of Christ - a friend of God (John 15:15) or an enemy of God - A Friend Of The World.

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