Galatians 1:3-4 “3Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:”
So as we continue with our definition of the word “world” to which we are delivered from, let’s quickly look at the statement of Jesus;
“Jesus answered (to Pilate), My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36).
In ((John 17:11-16). He already stated that His disciples are IN the world, but not OF the world.
The Kingdom, likewise, is IN the world, but not OF this world.
Meaning it’s not established by the world’s methods or operated by the world’s standards. It does not function by the politics of the world.
The Kingdom of God does not contain a Republican or Democratic platform or any form of man instituted government. It is established and maintained on a different basis from the kingdoms of this world. It doesn’t take its economic principles from this world.
So, when we enter the kingdom for instance, we are not taken out of these earthly realms, the planet earth around us; but we are rescued, delivered from the jurisdiction of darkness, the hateful spiritual world empire that energizes the governments of earth for which mankind is entangled with.
We have been removed into that other spirit realm whose Monarch is God’s beloved Son and our Elder Brother.
One of the key words translated “world” in the words of Jesus in our English Bibles is the Greek word KOSMOS.
The word originated in Classical Greek, and it denoted principally one underlying thing: a harmonious order, system or arrangement. Out of this meaning it may be applied to the earth, the inhabitants of the earth, society, the whole race of men alienated from God and thus hostile to the ways of God, the universe, worldly affairs such as worldly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, customs, ways, methods, organizations, systems, institutions, governments, etc.
The idea of orderly arrangement or organization lies behind all of the aforementioned categories.
The earth, the solar system, the universe, society, government, commerce, education, social institutions, finance, entertainments — all these and many more operate by precise laws, order, arrangement, systems and methods as we may know them, all organized systems of men that they want to live by; that is the world.
None of it is of the Spirit of God. None of it is established along the lines of God’s ways, God’s righteousness, God’s nature, God’s word, or God’s will.
The Spirit has an altogether different standard and order out of the invisible realm. That is the Kingdom of God. Therefore every organized system of the visible realm is the “world” in contrast to, and set apart from, the Kingdom of God out of the invisible realm of God’s Spirit.
Genesis 3: “1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Cain Killed Abel.
Genesis 4: “1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground… 8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him… 16And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.”
The world began with Cain. Cain built the first city — organized society, civilization — which typifies the worldly system of independence from the SPIRIT and presence of the Father.
Cain built a city — as did Nimrod after him. “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he (Cain) builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch” (Genesis 4:17).
There was no city in Eden, no fleshly system, no external order, no carnal arrangement of things. Not system, but LIFE!
He who makes God’s house of living stones depend on mere outward forms; he who confounds Truth with the shibboleths of sects and denominations, or the usurpation of preachers, builds upon the baseless and shifting sands.
The world did not exist when man was created (except in abstraction), but developed gradually after the fall, as man began to walk away from the presence and glory of God, to become more independent of God.
Everything as heavens and the earth were all already created before the man was formed. The universe already was in existence, but that which is called the world didn’t exist.
So when we read in Ephesians 2:2;
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
We are talking of natural man walking in relation to the spirit of the serpent after Adam has been driven from the Garden. As he began to multiply on the earth he began to give direction and definition to the “new world order” of man independent of God.
The 3 Primary Needs of Man.
For man to survive and live well on earth, three primary needs must be met which are centered on;
Provision = food, clothing and shelter etc.
Protection = means of defense from adversaries and,
Pleasure = things that gives him joy and happiness.
Jesus Was Tempted in 3 Areas – So Are You.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan! After 40 days of fasting, when Jesus was at his weakest physically, Satan came to Him. He tempted Him in 3 areas where you and I are most tempted. Why would the Father require this? Jesus needed to affirm to Satan who He was and from whom He gained His authority and provision.
1) Our Identity
“‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you,” and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”‘ Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'”
Jesus understood His identity and refused to allow Satan to redefine Him. Do not allow Satan to define your identity from anyone or anything other than God.
2) Our Authority
“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”
Jesus’ authority was rooted in doing only what He saw the Father do. He did not use fleshly authority.
3) Our Source of Provision
“And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Today, realizing your identify resides in being a son or daughter of your Heavenly Father. Your authority resides in being led by the Holy Spirit. Your provision comes from your Heavenly Father.
Before the fall, you can bet that all these were available in the Garden as provided by God. And they were in abundance in the Garden of Eden.
Now when the first man that built the city left the presence of God. Here is how he was described;
1 John 3:12 “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.“
The preposition “of” is from the Greek EK meaning “out of.” “Cain was OUT OF that Wicked One” — the seed of the serpent!
We know the parents of Cain were Adam and Eve, so why is he being referred to here as the seed of the serpent; it is simply because he was a product of the fallen man, the seed from his parents.
Meaning this serpent seed is in the nature of the fallen man, the fallen man in Adam.
Genesis 4: “17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. {Enoch: Heb. Chanoch} 18And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. 19And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.”
So we found that out of the products of Cain, Lamech by whose name is the seed of the serpent preceded three sons who became the founders of man’s own system of the three needs or essentials of man.
Jabal was the father of tent dwellers and cattlemen (Genesis 4:20). Tents and cattle are for the supply of mortal man’s living and therefore belong to the category of provision.
Jabal represents man’s own efforts, apart from the life of God, to make provision for himself.
But God‘s provisions for man in the beginning included even the tree of life in the Garden. The tree of life as we know was to cause us to be united with the Father and He to be our total supply.
In the beginning God revealed Himself to man as his provision, making Himself available to man in the tree of life, that in union with Him we should have all things, even the supply of God Himself.
To be continued…