Sermon Title: What’s wrong with the world?
Scripture: 1 John 2:15-18
Cosmos has at least 3 meanings as well.
Planet earth - “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen.” (Romans 1:20)
Humanity - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
Culture - “For everything in the world —the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16)
“A culture; the pattern of beliefs, social forms, dispositions, and values that are institutionalized in a people’s collective life.” - Cornelius Plantinga
The twin sins of culture:
Rebellion. To seize autonomy & self-assertion, you don’t have to be under God, you can be LIKE God.
Redefinition of what is good & evil based on the voice in our head and the desires in our own heart.
The history of religion in the West (Philip Reiff):
1st Culture - pre-Christian culture: Rome, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa before the gospel
2nd Culture - Christian(ized) culture - Britain in the 19th century, Americas in the 2nd Great Awakening until the 1950s
3rd Culture - post-Christian culture - Europe & Americas today.
1 John 2:15-18
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Warnings Against Denying the Son
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.