WORLD
In the Bible this term has different meanings that are important to distinguish.
(a) The universe. It is the entire world created by God, “the heavens and the earth” arising from his hands (Gen. 1: 1), which the NT designates by the name “kosmos.”
God has created, by his power, all the constituent elements of the dust of the world (Prov. 8:26; Jer. 10:12). He did so with His divine Son (Heb. 1:2), who existed together with Him before the foundation of the world (Jn. 17:5).
He gave birth to the world by His Word (Heb. 11:3; Jn. 1:10). This world belongs to the Creator of it (Ps. 24:1; 50:12). The world will not move as long as the Lord reigns (Ps. 93:1; 96:10; 1 Chron. 16:30).
It constitutes in the eyes of all men a demonstration of the invisible perfections of God, and is sufficient to establish their responsibility (Rom. 1:20).
(b) The inhabited land. “Hear this, all you people, listen, all you inhabitants of the world” (Ps. 49:1). The gospel will be preached “in all the world…to all nations” (Matt. 24:14).
It has generally been assumed that the knowledge of the world in ancient times was very limited (Gen. 10).
This seems to be true regarding the knowledge that the general population had of their world, but there is evidence that there were circles that preserved and commercially exploited a much greater knowledge than that had by the common people, and even by the merchants themselves. (cf. Hapgood, “Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings”).
The land commonly known in the time of the patriarchs and Moses seemed to extend from the Persian Gulf to Libya, and from the Caspian Sea to Upper Egypt.
It is possible that the lands of Italy and even Spain (Tarshish) were known. It also reaches southern Arabia, although it has been argued that in reality Solomon’s fleets reached India on the one hand, and the Canary Islands on the other.
Thus, the framework and axis of the history of the ancient world was in the Middle East. In the course of the development of OT history the boundaries of this “world” did not change much, despite the slight enlargement of the geographical horizon.
Before the end of this era, Media and Persia rose to nations of first importance. The Indus became the limit of the known land (Est. 1:1). The existence of Sinim was known (Is. 49:12).
To the west, and under the reign of Pharaoh Necao, there were navigators who circumnavigated Africa, without realizing the importance of their expedition, which lasted two years. What seemed very strange to them was seeing the sun rising on their right (Herodotus 4:42).
In Italy and North Africa the population was increasing and the organization of society was slowly developing. The merchants were the ones who gave news about the various towns.
Already towards the end of the OT period Greece, resisting the Persians, emerged into the light of history. Alexander the Great contributed greatly to increasing the geographical knowledge of his contemporaries.
To the east, his armies crossed the Oxus River (in our times the Amu Darya), reaching Afghanistan and southern northern India. The Romans followed in his footsteps.
In the time of Christ, the known world extended from the British Isles and Spain to Iran and the Indus; from the Canary Islands and the Sahara to the forests of Germany and the Russian steppes and Siberia.
It was known that beyond these limits there were inhabited regions, but there was not much interest due to the lack of means of communication. When Caesar Augustus ordered a census “of the whole world,” he meant by this the entire Roman empire (Lk. 2:1).
However, despite human ignorance, the Bible has never failed to consider the entire earth. God has given it entirely, as a gift, to humanity (Gen. 1:28); he secures to the Messiah “the ends of the earth” (Ps. 2:8), just as he promises the believer “the inheritance of the world” (Rom. 4:13).
In the same way, Christ’s disciples are called to go “into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
(c) The humanity whom God loves and whom he would like to save. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Jesus takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
He made his life a propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2). He is truly the Savior of the world (1 Jn. 4:14; Jn. 4:42). He offers himself as a sacrifice for the life of the world (John 6:33, 51).
The fall of the Jews has become the wealth and reconciliation of the world (Rom. 11:12, 15). God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor. 5:19).
(d) The sinful and wicked world, which turns away from God and rejects his grace. It is the environment in which evil entered through the fall and where, since then, death reigns (Rom. 5:12).
All sinners walk “according to the course of this world” (Eph. 2:2), which is entirely “under the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Satan is, in fact, called the Prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).
It is not surprising that the wisdom of the world considers the Gospel foolish, and vice versa (1 Cor. 1:20-21), since the spirit of the world is opposed to the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:12).
The world goes even further, openly hating Christ and his disciples while loving and listening to those who are his (John 7:7; 15:18, 19; 17:14; 1 John 3:13 ; Four. Five). The world has closed itself from receiving Christ, the Word and light of God (John 1:5, 10; 3:19).
In reality Jesus has come to illuminate and save the world (Jn. 12:4647) so the Spirit acts to convict him of sin (Jn. 16:8).
But the hardening of the wicked will cause the world to be judged along with its prince (John 16:8-11; 12:31). Jesus claims that the world cannot receive the Spirit of truth, and that He Himself no longer includes it in his priestly prayer (John 14:17; 17:9).
By not accepting the Savior, the world is then found entirely guilty before God (Rom. 3:19). This has profound consequences for the believer’s attitude toward the world.
This attitude has two aspects: (A) Separation. In the same way as Jesus, we are not of the world (John 8:23; 17:16). We must withdraw from the pollutions of this world (James 1:27; 2 Pet. 2:20).
We must flee from everything that is of the world and is not of the Father: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life; Thus, we cannot love the world, which passes away; but it would be equivalent to spiritual adultery and rebellion against God (1 John 2:15).
16; Stg. 4:4).
We must be on our guard, lest we be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). If we truly distinguish ourselves from the world, we will suffer its hatred and have tribulation; But we can be encouraged, because Christ has overcome the world (John 15:19; 16:33) and He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
He who is born of God triumphs over the world by faith (1 Jn. 5:4-5). However, this implies that the world is crucified for us, and we for the world (Gal. 6; 14). (B) The second aspect concerns the mission of the believer.
It would be a false position to adopt a negative attitude. Christ, having prayed to God not to take us out of the world, but to preserve us from evil, sends us into the world as He Himself was sent (John 17:15, 18).
Jesus, crucified and rejected by the world, has nevertheless given himself for it. He continues to pray for the unity of true believers, “so that the world may believe” (John 17:21).
The field to which believers are sent “is the world” (Matt. 13:38). The darkness is dense, but we must shine as lights in the world, carrying the Word of Life (Phil. 2:15).
If we fulfill our mission, we will be like Noah, who by his faith “condemned the world” (Heb. 11:7): in fact, he preached righteousness and warned his contemporaries about him (2 Pet. 2:5 ); He put the ark of salvation in their sight, also admitting animals, and leaving the ark open until the last moment (Gen. 6:7).
In contrast to his faith, his neighbors did not die because of the water of the Flood, but because of his own unbelief. If we ourselves have been faithful, we will one day take part in the judgment of the world (1 Cor. 6:2).
(e) The present century. In certain versions the term Gr. is also translated as world. “aïôn”, which means “age, period of time, century” (cf. the expression “forever and ever” in Rev. 1:1-18).
The “end of the world” (Mt. 13:39; 24:3 in the Old KJV) does not mean the end of the cosmos that will come later, but the end of the present age. A certain sin will not be forgiven in this world (“age,” KJV) nor in the world to come (Matt. 12:32).
The cares of this age prevent the seed from bearing fruit (Mt. 13:22). The same expression century shows us the brief and passing nature of our current world.
(f) The world to come.
It is the same term “aïõn” applied to the “age to come”, that is, to the future world, to the eternity that is approaching (Lk. 20:35; Eph. 1:21; 2:7; Heb. 6:5) .
The believer must carefully consider the joy of belonging to Him whose kingdom does not share in the character of this world (cf. John 18:36). Having already tasted the power of the world to come, the believer knows where he is going.