Navigating a World of Lies

Navigating a World of Lies

SCRIPTURE

Colossians 1:9-23

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 


OBSERVATIONS

Truman was born into a world of deception.  

Truman saved himself through curiosity and courage.

Don’t shift from the hope of the Gospel.


When we study God’s Word, it should lead us to both rejoicing and repenting. 

  • What stands out to you from the text?
  • What questions or comments do you have about it?
  • In what ways did you find yourself encouraged and/or rejoicing when you heard the message?
  • In what ways were you challenged to repent or change when you heard the message?
  • How did the teacher connect this passage to Christ? What other connections do you see between this message and the redemptive work of Christ?

CONCLUSION

  • What is one thing that you want to remember from this sermon?  
  • Why is that important to you?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

World. The biblical concept of world falls into five categories: the physical world, the human world, the moral world, the temporal world, and the coming world.

The Physical World. The physical world at its largest extent includes the whole universe, the cosmos (John 1:9; Acts 17:24) or the creation (Rom. 8:20). When biblical writers refer to the world, however, they usually mean the earth itself, not including sun, moon, and stars. No clear Old Testament references appear to the world as a planet, although Isaiah 40:22, “the circle of the earth,” is suggestive to some. Many Old Testament uses of world or earth (ʿereṣ, in poetry sometimes tēbēl) could refer equally to the planet or the ground. When Old Testament writers wanted to refer to the universe, they used an expression like “the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1) or an expansion of that expression (Exod. 20:11; Neh. 9:6).Scripture affirms first of all that God created the world (Gen. 1:1–2:4; Acts 4:24; 14:15; Rev. 10:6). Because he created it, he owns it and may be addressed as its Lord (Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21; Acts 17:24). The whole world is full of its Creator’s glory (Isa. 6:3). Because God is Creator and Lord of the earth, it holds only secondary value; a believer must not swear by it (Matt. 5:34–35) or accumulate treasure on it (Matt. 6:19).God designed the world to be fruitful. His creation includes provision for animals as well as for people (Ps. 104:10–22).God’s judgment encompasses the physical world. He flooded it in Noah’s time and it lies ready for his judgment at the end (2 Peter 3:7, 10). The world’s permanence is only relative. At the end God’s angels will gather his chosen ones “from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:27 nrsv). Until that time the earth is the arena of God’s activity through his people. Christians are to witness to Jesus “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Human World. The human world includes dry land where people can live, the inhabited earth where they do live, and by metonymy, the people who live there.The dry land appears in contrast to the sea in Genesis 1:9–10 and Revelation 10:2. Much of this dry land makes up the inhabited earth. The inhabited earth was created with delight by God’s wisdom (Prov. 8:27–31). Before Jesus’ birth Caesar Augustus attempted to take a census of “the whole world” (really only the Roman Empire; Luke 2:1). The tempter offered Jesus “all the kingdoms” of the inhabited world (Luke 4:5; cf. Matt. 4:8). Jesus predicted that the gospel would be preached to the whole world (Matt. 24:14; 26:13; cf. Rom. 10:18), a prediction so successful that the early church, in its opponents’ opinion, upset the whole world (Acts 17:6). The whole world is deceived by the devil (Rev. 12:9) and will experience great trouble before the end (Luke 21:26; Rev. 3:10).The people of the world are called simply the “world” or the “earth” occasionally in the Old Testament and frequently in the New Testament. “Yahweh will judge the world,” or a similar statement, means he will judge the world’s inhabitants (Pss. 9:8; 96:13; Isa. 13:11; 26:9). Similar New Testament references to the Christ’s or his apostles’ authority appear. The Son of Man “has authority on the earth,” authority over the people of the world (Matt. 9:6; parallels Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24). The apostles have a derived authority, the power of “binding and loosing” (Matt. 16:19; 18:18).In the Johannine literature the “world” often means the people of the world. The world did not know the Word (John 1:10), the Lamb who would take away its sin (John 1:29). God loved the world, sending his Son into it to save rather than condemn it (John 3:16–17; cf. 12:47; 1 John 4:9). The Son of God is the “Savior of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14), giving life to it as the “bread of life” (John 6:33, 51).

The Moral World. The moral world includes people indifferent or hostile to God, the God-hostile environment generally, and in the widest sense, corruption and evil summed up under the general term “the world.”If the people of the world can be spoken of as “the world” in a neutral sense, “the world” can also refer to the subclass of indifferent and hostile people who reject God and his ways. Before the flood nearly all the people of the world became corrupt (Gen. 6:11). In Jesus’ time the world hated him (John 7:7) and will hate his followers (John 15:18–19). The world, ungodly people, cannot receive the things of God (John 14:17, 22; 16:8–9; cf. 1 John 3:1) and is not even worthy of the people of faith who live among them (Heb. 11:38).In the New Testament the world also appears as a hostile environment. Because of the hatred of the world’s people, the Son asks the Father to protect his followers rather than remove them from their alien surroundings (John 17:14–16). Paul expresses his indifference to the world by saying he “is crucified” as far as the world is concerned (Gal. 6:14). Seven times in 1 Corinthians 1–3 Paul refers to the world’s ignorance of God and its powerlessness to find him without the cross of Christ.Because of the world’s hostility to God, it is full of corruption (2 Peter 1:4) and stands as a symbol of corruption. One cannot be friendly with the evil world and love God at the same time (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15–17). Believers by their faith must “overcome the world” (1 John 5:4–5), killing whatever belongs to their “earthly nature” (Col. 3:5) and denying “worldly passions” (Titus 2:12).

The Temporal and Coming Worlds. Although the Old Testament presents the idea that the present world is temporary (Ps. 102:25–27), the distinction between this world/age and the world/age to come does not appear clearly until the late intertestamental and New Testament periods. By the time of the New Testament, the distinction is clear and frequent.Satan rules only this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4), not the next one, while Jesus’ kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36) but belongs to the coming age. Jesus warns that a person may “gain the whole world” (the material things of this passing age) yet lose life in the next (Matt. 16:26; parallels Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25). Paul expresses concern that believers may become so caught up in the affairs of this world that they will experience undue hardship in living for Christ (1 Cor. 7:29–35).The present world is passing away even now (1 John 2:17). Living in this transient world, one must not love it (2 Tim. 4:10), become conformed to its ways (Rom. 12:2), or fall in love with its godless “wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:6; cf. 3:18–19; James 3:15). Instead one must live a godly life (Titus 2:12), avoiding the snares of the “present evil age” from which Christ’s death has set his people free (Gal. 1:4). The believer may look forward to the new world, “a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13; cf. Rev. 21:1–5).

Carl Bridges, Jr. Bridges, C., Jr. (1996). World. In Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (electronic ed., pp. 836–837). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

John 3:19-21  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

John 8:42-47 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” 

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Ephesians 2:1-5 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

1 John 5:19  We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.