Jesus warned us against being a part of this world system. He teaches not to love the world. When He speaks of the world in this sense, He is not talking about this earth. He is referring to a world order, a world system or philosophy.

This is the world that denies God. It is almost everywhere spoken of in the New Testament. But nowhere is it more eloquently expressed than when Paul wrote these words to the Corinthians:

Christ (is) the power of God and the wisdom of God. For
the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
(1 Corinthians 1:24-25)

God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ is superior to all the human plans that man has imagined or created. The world system says that salvation through the cross for every person who believes is foolishness. Paul says God’s foolishness is better than human wisdom. The message of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is weakness and defeat according to the world. Paul says God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Christians are called to stand against the world’s system and order. That is what the Apostle John spoke about when he said:

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 desires of the flesh and the
desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father
but is from the world. And the world is passing away along
with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
(1 John 2:15-17)

In John 17, Jesus prayed that the Father would keep those (us) who have been given to Him from the world. This prayer of Jesus was not for the Father to take us out of the world but rather to take the world out of us.

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