This World is Not My Home
This world is an astounding place. Immense oceans, majestic mountains, enormous canyons, and fertile plains exist in an abundance of vibrant colors. The planet is populated with living things which are alike in kind but distinctly individual. This is true of snowflakes, grains of sand, blades of grass and of people. God is due the credit for all of it. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 NKJV) “The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.” (Psalms 24:1 NKJV) “He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. When He utters His voice, There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” (Jeremiah 10:12-13 NKJV)
God pronounced His creation as “very good”. (Genesis 1:31) All creation demonstrates the glory of God. “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalms 19:1 NKJV) Of all that God created, mankind has fallen short of that design. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 NKJV) God’s love for His creation prompted Him to provide a solution to man’s failings. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17 NKJV)
The issue with man is not a flaw in design but rather in motivation. “Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29 NKJV) Proper motivation depends on knowledge. Lack of instruction and forgetfulness impede our understanding. “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:10-11 NKJV) John goes on to identify Jesus and His purpose. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”! (John 1:29 NKJV)
The Pharisees struggled with Jesus’ teaching about His return to heaven. This again demonstrates that lack of knowledge obscures the ability to recognize spiritual truths. “And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”” (John 8:23-24 NKJV) The solution is to reset the mind and change one’s behavior. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV)
We must relinquish our affection for this life and see past it to eternity. “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, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–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.” (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV) Faith is the tool that allows us to accomplish this. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”? (1 John 5:4-5 NKJV)
Enjoy living but do not love the world. Love God and enjoy eternal life!