Friday, 23 February 2024

The Upper Room Discourse 74

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John 17:14-15 I have given them Your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.

Here is Yeshua's second thought in these two verses ... John 17:14b and the world hated them. Why would the world hate followers of Yeshua. When Yeshua speaks of "the world," this is not just a reference to God's terrarium, it is a reference to the kingdom of Satan. All of us started out as citizens of that kingdom.

Ephesians 2:1-3 You were dead in your trespasses and sins. At that time, you walked in the way of this world, in conformity to the ruler of the domain of the air - the ruler of the spirit who is now operating in the sons of disobedience. We too all lived among them in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind. By nature we were children of wrath, just like the others.

The first six words of the next verse change everything ... Ephesians 2:4a But God was rich in mercy ... The hate of the world is unreasonable. To understand (reason with) what is unreasonable, we have to know this ... people tend to hate what they don't understand. Followers of Yeshua turn the world upside down through love. The kingdom of Satan can't comprehend that, so we become the objects of their hate.

By God's mercy, our citizenship changed from Satan's kingdom to God's kingdom. Satan does not create, he only steals from God's creation. The Son of God has set us free from sin. Romans 6:22-23 But now, having been set free from sin and having become enslaved to God, you have your fruit resulting in holiness. And the outcome is eternal life. For sin's payment is death, but God's gracious gift is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.

So, we are left with Yeshua's words, words that admonish us from previously in the Upper Room Discourse, to have a proper (His) perspective on our situation. John 15:18-19 If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hates you.

Now that we understand the hate we experience in the world, let's remember that the love of God is greater. 1 John 4:16 So we have come to know and trust in the love that God has for us. God is love. Now whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Now that's living.