Epic (World in John Sermon Part 1)

This is the first part of the message. It is written more for speaking than reading at points.

EPIC


For several months I have been thinking about the world in John. Specifically, started by just thinking on and pondering the word "world" in John 3:16. The verse goes as follows, "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life" (King James Version). In my life I have heard a lot about John 3:16 in reference to forming a personal relationship with Christ, and my personal value to God. And, that is definitely a part of what John 3 is all about. But in John 3 there is also a global concern, a concern for all humanity as a collective group. When I was younger, I was encouraged to where the word "world" came in to substitute my name. This taught me an important truth, a truth we will discuss toward the end of this message. But specifically I started thinking about what it meant that God loved THE WORLD.

As I continued to think on this I started to read the Gospel of John starting in chapter 1. I came to realize that I heard the word "world" a lot in the gospel of John. It actually shows up 69 times through the gospel. Sometimes Jesus is critical of the world. Jesus is real about the difficulties in the world. Yet, in the gospel of John one of the overarching themes is that God loves the world. God has a purpose for the world. In fact, the world John uses for the world is cosmos. The word cosmos shows God�s global concern for the well-being of the entirety of creation. It is not a coincidence, then, when we see that is where John starts us off at in the Gospel of John. The Creation of earth.

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God". This immediately refers us to Genesis, and the beginning of creation. And, we can see the God�s love is first evident in the Garden of Eden. God creates in a process of days�however you interpret that�and at the end of each day God says what�he says "it is good". God creates. He loves what he creates. He is glad he created what he created.

Soon though, we see that God�s desire to love us in made more difficult by our desire to sin. Adam and Eve, whose job was to be in relationship with God and obey him, decided that they wanted to play God by having the knowledge of good and evil. They fruit of the tree that they were forbidden to eat, convinced by the serpent that God did not have their best in mind. The force of sin in the world was set in motion. Like a snowball, sin that started out looking like a small and insignificant pebble gains size and momentum until it is like a boulder rolling downhill, destroying everything in its path. Brother kills brother in a jealous rage. Then jealousy and pride drive men to kill more and more. By the time we get to Noah, the bible says that every thought of men were bent toward evil. It also that the world was becoming a very violent place. In other words, after Adam and Eve, sin the world begins to become more and more of an influence.


At the same time in the garden of Eden we see Satan at work. It is not long before we come to realize that there is a battle in the world. From then on we see that the universe is at war. Satan and other angels that have rebelled against God begin to incite an epic battle with God for the souls of women and men.

Back in John, the battle is described, much like in Star Wars, as the evil forces being the "dark side" and "darkness". While Christ is referred to as the light. John 1:5 is shows the battle starting right away and continuing through time, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it." Unlike Star Wars, often people surrender to the dark side passively. They go with the flow of evil in the world. Like cancer, sin and evil kills because it grows and reproduces. This is especially true when it lies undetected and un-removed from its host. Eugene Peterson describes the situation as follows, �God is for heaven and against hell. There is no neutral ground in the Universe. Every square foot of space is contested.�

So, God decides to mobilize a liberation force. It is made up of people he finds receptive. We see that God enlists for himself a community of people to be �lights to the world�. God sets apart Abraham and his decendants so that he can bless the world through them. God�s goal from the beginning was to love and bless the world. So, God loved the world enough to set up a community of people that were called to show God�s love for all humanity through them. John Eldridge, a Colorado Springs based writer and counselor puts it this way.

Things are not what they seem
The world is at war
Each of us has a crucial role to play

We see God fighting for the world he loves over and over again through Scripture�in the Old Testament primarily through the Hebrew people.

Here are some examples

Joseph--God uses Joseph and the Hebrew people to bless all of Egypt during a time of worldwide famine.

Danie--God uses and blesses the people around him in Babylon. He uses Daniel to show his justice, truth and power to those who Daniel served and served with.

Jona--God sends him to the heart of the evil empire, this time the Assyrians. He preaches in Nineveh. Jonah wants them killed and for Israel to be special all to itself. God wants to save those in other nations and other parts of the world.

Throughout Scripture, there continues to be a remnant of faithful people set on being lights to the world. Then the world comes down to a remnant of one with a special mission�..