A lot of the intramural debate in Christianity focuses on the word "world". The word, they tell me, is found some 187 times in the New Testament. You will find it in a variety of places. You will find that God "so loved the world" (John 3:16). You will learn that Jesus "is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). We are warned not to "love the world or the things in the world" (1 John 2:15), and that "all that is in the world ... is not from the Father" (1 John 2:16). We should not be surprised "that the world hates you" (1 John 3:13). Yet, we find that Christ did not come "into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:17). (That was three times in one sentence.) And that's just a sampling. Oddly enough, the New Testament almost never uses the word "world" to mean the Earth. It means something else. But that's okay. We all know what it is. It's ... what? "World means world," they tell me. I'm not so sure it's that easy, and I'm not trying to be difficult here.
Look at some examples. Take, for instance, John 1:10. Speaking of Christ, John says, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him." So, "world means world," right? So does it mean "the earth" or "all people" or perhaps "the sinful world system"? Because all of those can be meanings intended in Scripture and none of them fit in all three places.
"He was on the earth, and the earth was made through Him, yet the earth did not know Him." Well, yes, He was on the earth and the earth was made by Him, but there is no sense in which "the earth" can actually know anyone, so that doesn't work.
"He was amongst all people, and all people were made through Him, yet all people did not know Him." Well, He was sort of amongst "all people", except for all of us and, oh, I don't know, anyone outside of Palestine at the time or any other time. Sure, all people were made through Him, but it is not true that all people did not know Him. I mean, there are some who get saved, right?
"He was in the sinful world system, and the sinful world system was made through Him, yet the sinful world system did not know Him." The first and last clause, perhaps, work, but not that middle one. (I don't really like the first one, either.) The Incarnate Son of God did not make the sinful world system. That was our doing.
Nope, those don't work. Somewhere along the way each of those fails to fit.
How about John 3:17? "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."
"For God did not send His Son into the earth to condemn the earth, but in order that the earth might be saved through Him." No, the earth was not condemnable (No, I didn't just make that word up) because the earth is inanimate. Nor is the earth to be saved.
"For God did not send His Son to all people to condemn all people, but in order that all people might be saved through Him." That was working pretty well right up until "all people might be saved through Him" ... since not all people are saved through Him.
"For God did not send His Son into the sinful world system to condemn the sinful world system, but in order that the sinful world system might be saved through Him." Indeed, the sinful world system is condemned, and it is not going to be saved.
Here, consider this problem. In Rom 5:12 we learn that "Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned." See? There was no death prior to Adam's sin. But wait! In 2 Peter 3:5-6 we read, "For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished." Well, there it is, plain as day. Since "world means world", the "world" referred to in Romans 5 is not the same one as the one referred to in 2 Peter 3. The latter says there was a previous world ("the world that then existed") and that one was wiped out to make a new world, the world we now know. See? Easy answers for Evolutionists and against Young-Earthers! Never heard that one before, did you? But there it is in the pages of your Bible, so it must be true. That is, if you're willing to simply argue that "world means world".
As it turns out, there are multiple uses of the Greek term, kosmos, and while they are almost always translated "world", there is no sense in which you can claim "world means world". The word itself refers to any orderly system and may mean the universe, the Earth, the sinful world system, humans (sometimes as a whole, sometimes humans minus believers, sometimes a lot of humans but not all), the elect, the non-elect, Jews and Gentiles (in contrast to just Jews), or even the general public (as opposed to private individuals or groups). How is that for starters? So do your due diligence. Examine the text, the context, the sense of it. How does it correlate to the rest of Scripture? (It has to correlate, not contradict. Don't let your "worlds" collide.) Do your homework. As people of the Word, we owe it to God to properly understand His Word. And don't fall for that simplistic "world means world" idea as if "We're taking it literally; what are you doing?" The aim is to take it as written, and that's not always immediately obvious. Do the work. It's worth it.
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