The World
What is the Gospel? • Sermon • Submitted
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This evening we continue our study of John 3:16. It’s been a few weeks, so let me remind you of what we are doing here.
John 3:16 has been called the gospel in a nut-shell or the poster verse for American evangelicalism. The problem is that many of the words used in this verse are placeholder words or what I like to call “code words.” You can fill in the meaning of the word with other means that a Christian meaning.
So far, we have discussed the concept of God and of His love. Tonight we move on to the next code word. Let us read together
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The Greek word used here is τὸν κόσμον, derived from ὁ κοσμος. What does this word mean?
Four Uses of ὁ κοσμος
Four Uses of ὁ κοσμος
The lexicon defines four major uses of the word. Although there are more possibilities, these are the main four. So which of these four uses is Jesus/John using in this verse?
The System of the World
The System of the World
In 1 John 2, the apostle wrote
15 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. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
This is the word kosmos, the same word John/Jesus used in John 3:16. Here it is apparent that John is warning about loving the system of this world. In this passage, the world refers to a system that is opposed to the biblical system of God. It brings the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of one’s lifestyle. All of these are opposed to God and His ways. In fact, John gives two reasons not to love this world’s system. First he says that you can’t love God and the world at the same time. Just as Jesus said you can’t serve two masters at once, for either you will love the one and hate the other. There is a choice that must be made between loving God’s system or loving the world’s system. You can’t love both. So he says not to love the things of this world system because everything that is of this world - the lust of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life, is opposed to Father. It’s source is the wicked ways of the world’s system, not God’s ways.
Furthermore, all of these things are temporary. The world with its pleasures are not permanent, but are passing away. These momentary pleasures won’t last, but God’s ways are eternal. You can find enjoyment in God for all time. Therefore, reject the world’s system and embrace God’s system.
So based on this brief exposition of John’s use of the term in 1 John 2, I think we can safely conclude that God does not love this world’s system. It is opposed to His ways. So that can’t be the meaning of the word used in John 3:16.
The Planet Earth
The Planet Earth
Another option for kosmos is the idea of the place of habitation. In other words, the physical planet earth on which we all reside.
This is the use the term translated world in
15 Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Note that creation is a different Greek word here.
Paul used this in
10 There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning.
and by Peter in
9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
So it is referring to the place in which we all live. This asks the question, “Does God care about the planet Earth?” Does He care about the land?
I think this is one thing we tend to miss in our modern or postmodern American reading of the Bible. We want to spiritualize everything, but God’s promises to Israel was connected with the erets, the land. Notice in the emphasis on the land as a blessing to His people in
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
At each point in the creation of the physical place of earth, God said it was what? Good. He created the planet as a good place. He gave it to whom? Humanity was to be the steward over the planet and its resources. That’s why we see
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.
The land was good because God made it. He gave it to mankind to cultivate and preserve. I alluded to this idea this morning that Israel was not to give the land to others. The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his descendents.
23 “The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land. 24 You are to allow the redemption of any land you occupy.
Israel was given the land to be managers of it, understanding the it was Yahweh who owned it, not the individual. Not even the nation of people, but God owned it all. So it was not theirs to buy and sell, but belonged solely to the Lord.
God gave rules for living in his special, holy land. Such as
33 “Do not defile the land where you live, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it.
19 “When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. Do not cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege by you?
10 “Sow your land for six years and gather its produce. 11 But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat from it and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Look at the tie of blessing and curse to the land for Israel in
1 “Now if you faithfully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all his commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. 2 All these blessings will come and overtake you, because you obey the Lord your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 Your offspring will be blessed, and your land’s produce, and the offspring of your livestock, including the young of your herds and the newborn of your flocks. 5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
and
15 “But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all his commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you: 16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. 17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. 18 Your offspring will be cursed, and your land’s produce, the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks. 19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 20 The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me. 21 The Lord will make pestilence cling to you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought, blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish. 23 The sky above you will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your land into falling dust; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
So I think yes, God is concerned with the land and the planet earth. But I am not sure that this is a good fit for the context of John 3:16.
The Orderly Universe
The Orderly Universe
The idea here being of the whole of creation. In John 17:5, Jesus speaks of being with the Father before the world began. Paul used the same word in Eph. 1:4 to speak of before the foundation of the world and in Romans 1:20, speaking of before the world began. In other words, before creation. Does it make sense to put this view of the meaning of the word in for John 3:16 For God so loved the creation that He gave His only begotten Son to die?
I think there could definitely be an argument here for the idea that God loved all of creation so much that He gave His only Son to die for it. Look with me at
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Paul gives us a great theology of the physical realities of spiritual truth. We tend to have a Gnostic understanding, thinking the physical is completely bad and the spiritual is the only good. But what Paul is saying here is that all of creation was affected by mankind’s sin back in Genesis 3. When Adam and Eve broke God’s one command to them, it didn’t just affect them. The world was cursed. Not just the physical land, the planet of Earth, but the whole of creation was subject to the curse of sin. So it is all of creation that is awaiting the return of Christ Jesus. Adam subjected the whole of creation to bondage and decay, but Christ brings the hope of freedom and restoration to the whole of creation.
Therefore, all of creation waits, groaning within itself, for the day of redemption of what? Our souls? Our spirits? No, it is not some spiritual matter that creation awaits. It is the redemption of our physical bodies. Just as Christ experienced a physical resurrection, so all the saints will experience a physical resurrection as well. This is our hope that we await with patience. The glorification of the physical creation. It will be a return to the way creation was supposed to be, the way it was in Genesis 1-2.
But does this fit with the overall message of John 3:16?
Humanity in General
Humanity in General
Many times the term world is a general term referring to humanity as a whole. In order to understand John 3:16’s meaning, I don’t think you have to look much further than the very next verses.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
The only kosmos capable of belief is humanity. The planet cannot believe. The whole of creation cannot believe. It is the humanity that stands under scrutiny for breaking God’s command. Notice the terms speak specifically about people. If anyone believes in him, he is not condemned. Anyone who does not believe is already condemned. It is speaking about people.
But we must make it clear that Jesus is not making a universal claim about salvation. It is only those who believe in Jesus who are going to be saved from perishing.
A Special Use of κοσμος
A Special Use of κοσμος
There is a special usage of the word kosmos used in some passages to refer specifically to the group that belong especially to Jesus. Look at:
6 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
There is not universal acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. John makes it clear throughout his writing, as well as the rest of the New Testament. The only ones freed from the condemnation of their sin are those whom have given their lives to Christ Jesus. He has revealed God to us. Those who accept His word place faith in Jesus Christ. Those no longer stand under the condemnation of their sin. God’s righteous judgment is not on them, for it came in full force upon Jesus. He bore our sins and sorrows. He took the punishment upon Himself so that we might not perish, but have everlasting life.
Understanding ὁ κόσμος
Understanding ὁ κόσμος
Jesus died for the sins of the world because God so loved the world - that is, the people He created, the people who rebelled against Him and became His enemies. God loved us so much He wasn’t willing that any should face His judgment. So He sent a Suffering Savior who took our place.
But the day will come when Christ shall return. All creation waits, longing for that day. On that day, all will be set right.
9 They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”