The World and Its Ways
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15–17)
The physical world upon which we have our feet planted is visible. It can be measured. It can be felt. It has color and odor and texture. It’s tangible . . . obvious. What is not so obvious is the system that permeates and operates within lives on this earth. It is a world-system manipulated by the pervasive hand of Satan and his demons, who pull the strings to achieve the adversary’s wicked ends. If we are ever to extricate ourselves from those strings, we must be able to detect them and understand where they lead.
So what is this system? What is its philosophy? What is the frame of reference of the cosmos—its thinking, its drives, its goals? The first thing we need to know is that it is a system that operates apart from and at odds with God. It’s designed to appeal to us, to attract us, to seduce us with its sequined garb of fame, fortune, power, and pleasure. God’s ways are often uncomfortable, but the world-system is designed to make us comfortable, to give us pleasure to gain our favor, and ultimately to win our support. The philosophy of the world-system is totally at odds with the philosophy of God.
You want to know what we’re inhaling? Pay close attention to the commercials on television and observe what they’re advertising and how virtually every word, picture, and sound is designed to pull you in, to make you dissatisfied with what you have and what you look like and who you are. The great goal is to make you want whatever it is that is being sold.
But it’s not just on television. The world-system, the cosmos philosophy, is everywhere. It’s going on all the time, even when you can’t see it, and especially when you’re not thinking about it. It’s whistling its appeal, “Come on. Come on. You’ll love it.” “This is so much fun. It’ll make you look so good. It’ll make you feel so good.” It motivates us by appealing to our pride and to that which pleases us, all the while cleverly seducing us away from God.
And over all this realm, don’t forget, Satan is prince.
Taken from Hope Again by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1996 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
