I’ve never really believed that the world had all that much to offer. Therefore, I used to think that all religion was a manmade attempt to believe in something “bigger”, so that we lowly mortals might find purpose in this unkind, lonely universe. Such an optimist, I know. But then I started hearing more and more about Jesus, and what’s more I met some people who claimed to follow Him. At first I thought these people were great, some of the best kind of people, but they were clearly fooled into believing this great cultural myth about Jesus. But as I heard and read more about the Bible and Jesus Himself, I became irrevocably convinced that Jesus is in fact who He says He is.
One of the most compelling arguments for me was made by legendary British author, C.S. Lewis. He basically says that Jesus is either a liar—like a devil of hell, Lord—which is who He claims to be, or a lunatic—with the same mental capacity as one who claims to be a piece of toast. No great moral teacher could falsely claim to be God Himself and still be known as a great moral teacher. Neither could a loony have the kind of historical credibility that Jesus has. So by my great powers of deduction Jesus must be Lord—just as He claims in the Bible.
As a Christian now, my entire world is shaped by the reality of the person of Jesus and the unequivocal authority of Scripture. And although my whole world changed, and I do mean my whole world, one thing has remained the same. I’m still not convinced the world has much to offer. The Psalmist writes it most eloquently, “Who have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides you.” (73:25). Not everyone necessarily believes this about the world; in fact I would say that the majority of Americans live as though the world owes them something. They instinctively believe that things can and even should go well for them. Comedian Louis CK went on Conan O’Brien and did an entire segment about how we have everything, but all we do is complain (you should watch it, its hilarious).
It’s because we as humans have a tendency to have a crush on the world. Yes, you read that correctly, a crush on the world. When you have a crush on a person everything he does is somehow awesome and probably an indication that he can’t live without you. We do the same thing with the world. When stuff goes wrong it’s an exception and every positive interaction means that I can be fully satisfied by the world. The problem with crushes is that they tend to hurt. If they didn’t they would probably be called something else. It must be all the manifest destiny crap we learned in grade school from School House Rock because most of us walk around as though we still live in the Garden of Eden with only minor hiccups to disrupt our otherwise picturesque world. Hello, have you taken a look outside your little world?!?! This world is desperately falling apart at the seams. Not that I mean to be all doom and gloom, but seriously why is anyone surprised when things don’t go according to plan. We should be surprised when they do!
The truth is when Adam and Eve ate from that infamous tree everything changed. The world broke. It was no longer under the consistent protection and care of the Loving Creator. Not that God took off; He just (in His infinitely perfect and sovereign plan) allowed Satan to run rampant. Paul refers to Satan as the “god of this world” who “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers” in 2 Corinthians 4:4. He also writes in Romans 8:20-21, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that itself will be set free from its bondage of decay and obtain the freedom of glory of the children of God.” So if even the trees are aware that things are off, you’d think we might have gotten the same hint. The world is jacked up. Yet somehow we continue to believe the lie that it can satisfy. I’m not surprised though that most people have crushes on the world. Despite the hard evidence that things are broken (poverty, disease, war, destruction), we were made for perfection, we were made for Eden.
And nature was not the only thing discombobulated in the fall, people were too. Instead of trusting God implicitly, we began to trust our own thinking to find truth. With a little help from that darn serpent, Adam and Eve convinced themselves that they knew better than God. As soon as they chose to do things their own way, they became their own little gods; it was the beginning of the first and deepest sin, one that penetrates every heart -- Idolatry. And less than one chapter later in the Biblical timeline idolatry turned into murder when Cain killed Abel. You can see how the fall had real consequences on the way we live and treat one another. So we have this deep longing for perfection, but live in a fallen world, full of fallen people and we ourselves are fallen…that doesn’t seem like such a great situation, because it isn’t. All of this causes us to want to believe that things can be great; the world can be everything it’s supposed to be. Because we want it to be true we are inclined to believe the advertisements that suggest a new car will change my whole life or that energy drink will give me the abilities I’ve always desired (and probably deserve).
We want the world to work for us, we want to never be cut off in traffic, we want to find the perfect sweater on the clearance rack, we want to meet the person who bring fulfillment to our lives, and we want to win the lottery. Things are simply not this way. If you’re nice you won’t always get what’s coming to you, if you work hard you won’t always be rewarded. Your life probably won’t be easy. Conflict and trial are a part of the human condition. When the author of Hebrews wanted to convey Jesus’ humanity he wrote, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (4:15). The author did not write, “We know His humanity because just like us, everything went well for Him.” If that were the case we wouldn’t need Jesus. There would be no need for redemption. But there is.
It is clear that we desperately need redeeming. God always knew that Adam and Eve would choose to disobey Him and eat the fruit, and He had a plan to bring His people back to Him. See God is holy, without an imperfection and cannot by His nature be with sinful people. We were made to be in relationship with God, so in order for us to have that relationship with God we have to get rid of our sin. Romans 6:23 says that what we owe for our sin is death. The only way for our sin to be paid for is to be “purchased” by death. Isaiah 53:5 speaks of Jesus saying, “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” When a man dies his death pays what is owed for his own sin. He will spend eternity paying, separated from all of God’s goodness. Because Jesus never sinned He didn’t owe anything when He died, so His death is sufficient to cover all the sins of the world. This is and has always been God’s plan of redemption. Every person who confesses with their mouth and believes with their heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead will be covered by Jesus’ death.
You might be asking the question, “If Christians have been made right with God through Jesus shouldn’t the world go well for them?” Good question. The answer is no. The entire New Testament continues to repeat what Jesus says in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble” Maybe even more trouble than those who choose not to follow Jesus. Jesus says harsh things like, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,” “Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me,” “Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” (Matthew 10: 16, 38, 39). The truth for us as believers is we are going to face many trials and persecution. Peter encourages us in his first epistle, “Behold, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (4:12-13). Not only will we suffer, maybe even die for the sake of the Gospel, but we are to do it joyfully.
Paul writes a letter to the church at Philippi while he is in jail yet the major theme of this letter is joy. Clearly this joy in the midst of suffering is not some sadomasochistic worldview, but it is the lifestyle of someone who sees purpose and has grander vision. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians he writes, “For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (4:17). Throughout the book of Acts we read over and over of Paul’s near death shipwrecks, beatings and imprisonment—that doesn’t seem very slight and momentary. It isn’t that these things aren’t a big deal or that we should suck it up and deal with what’s thrown at us, but the significant part of what Paul is writing is that this world is getting us ready for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison! Heaven! Eternity with God forever—no sin, death—just perfection, can you even imagine? The lie we believe is that things are supposed to be good here and now, so even though they are not, we settle for today. We convince ourselves that the world is really going to come through for me. Instead of putting all our energy toward making this reality easy for us, we should be working out things that have eternal significance. It is said that only three things are eternal—God, His Word, and the souls of men. Rather than looking to see how we might benefit from the world we should seek to know God, His Word, and to love people like Jesus does. We should stop having a crush on the world—it’ll never work out anyway—and work toward the one relationship that changes everything. It may cost your life, but it’s the only way to true life everlasting.
