What in the world is the “world”?

This is asked because of the ways the Bible uses it, especially Jesus.

He is the Light of the world, of course. He brings to it joy. He brightens the darkness.

It is a testing place, with every minute its own sort of challenge: joyous ones when we conquer them.

But the Lord also had some strong words against it.

Look at 1 John 5: “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Or 5:4 where it says, “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

To most, the “world” means our planet. What we see all day. The sky. The seas. The land. But by “world,” Jesus was referring to the constructs of man and false spirits; the materialistic aspect; the human philosophies; the billionaires who populate the landscape at every turn.

In the news: one spending millions for a wedding, having proposed on a $500-million yacht.

What does it mean to be in the world (we can’t avoid that) but not of it?

An important message from the Manger, is this.

As Christianity.com adroitly observes: “As a part of Jesus’ prayer in John 17, He prayed for his disciples and those who would come after them. In this prayer, he expressed that his disciples were not of this world any more than he was.