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The world is an evil system arranged systematically by Satan—1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4:
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God created man to live on the earth for the fulfillment of His purpose, but His enemy, Satan, in order to usurp the God-created man, formed an anti-God world system on this earth by systematizing people with culture, education, industry, commerce, entertainment, and religion—Eph. 3:11; Gen. 1:26-28; 2:8-9; 4:16-24.
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All the things on the earth, especially those related to mankind, and all the things in the air have been systematized by Satan into his kingdom of darkness to occupy people and frustrate them from accomplishing the purpose of God and to distract them from the enjoyment of God—1 John 2:15-17.
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The world is against God the Father, the things in the world are against the will of God, and those who love the world are enemies of God—vv. 15-17; James 4:4.
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“The whole world,” the satanic system, “lies in the evil one”—1 John 5:19:
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The whole world comprises the satanic world system and the people of the world, the fallen human race.
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Lies means remaining passively in the sphere of the evil one’s usurpation and manipulation; the whole world and the people of the world are lying passively under the usurping and manipulating hand of Satan, the evil one.
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The Greek word rendered “evil” in 1 John 5:19 refers to one who is pernicious, harmfully evil, one who affects others, influencing them to be evil and vicious; such an evil one is Satan, the devil, in whom the whole world lies.
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Satan is utilizing the material world and the things that are in the world to eventually head everything up in the kingdom of Antichrist; at that hour the world system will have reached its zenith, and every unit of it will be revealed to be anti-Christian—2 Thes. 2:3-12.
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Satan’s evil world system, the kingdom of darkness, was judged through Christ’s work on the cross—John 12:31-32; 16:11:
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Through His death on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin, the Lord destroyed Satan, who is in man’s flesh—Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14.
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By judging Satan in this way, the Lord also judged the world, which is hanging on Satan—John 16:11.
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The Lord’s being lifted up on the cross caused the world to be judged and its ruler, Satan, to be cast out—12:31-32.
Morning Nourishment
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.James 4:4 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.
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 we are delivered from the fall, the simpler we become regarding what we need for our existence….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….If we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, we will see how simple He was regarding the necessities of human existence. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” pp. 200-201)
Today’s Reading
The earthly things which are necessary for human existence have been corrupted by Satan with his systematic scheme….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.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 earthly things have been corrupted by Satan’s systematic scheme and have become the world. The world is now a satanic system….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.
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.
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….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. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” pp. 201-202, 204-205)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” ch. 5; Life-study of John, msg. 26; CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” ch. 5