Overcoming the world
April 30, 2021
14:1 – 15:17 Being in Jesus, just as Jesus is in the Father
Read John 14:30-31
The Greek word kosmos occurs 78 times in John’s gospel. It means world but in three different senses. It refers both to the planet God made which we live on and also, by extension, to the people who live on it and who are loved by God (3:16). However, because humanity, in general, rejects God, the New Testament also uses world to refer to humankind in opposition to God (14:17; 1 John 2:15-17). All three senses are found in John 1:10: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him”.
The kingdom of Jesus is “not of this world” (18:36) but is made up of people who live in obedience to his kingship and who are therefore opposed by "the world" (15:18-19). The devil is the head of this opposition to God, which is why Jesus called him "the prince of this world" (30; cf. 2 Cor.4:4). Now, it seemed that the devil was about to win a mighty victory because the moment of Jesus’s destruction was at hand. But Jesus knew that ultimately the devil had no power over him, for everything which would take place was within the will and purpose of God (30; 13:2-3).
The outcome would, in fact, turn the devil’s expectation on its head, for through Jesus’s obedience “even to death on a cross” (Phil.2:8), the world was judged and the prince of this world was defeated (12:31; Col.2:15). This triumph over the world and the devil was achieved though the love which Jesus has for the Father, out of which he did all that the Father had commanded, utterly trusting that the Father knew what he was doing (31). For his followers likewise, love, obedience and trust are the keys to overcoming the world (1 John 5:3-5).