Spiritual Strength For Each Day
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16).
When we consider the fourth effect of the death of Jesus on this world, we have to ask ourselves who the ruler, the god of this world is. The god of this world is Satan. But it was in this world, at the central point of the earth, that the Son of God died on the cross and overcame Satan, the god of this world. So whoever believes on the crucified Lord and His death, has died to the world and is shielded from the spirit of this world. This is the purpose of the death of Jesus, as Galatians 1:4 says, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world.” Isn’t it a terrible thing, then, when children of God reject their deliverance from the world? All deliberate entanglement with the spirit of this world is crucifying Jesus anew. A child of God has come into a new dimension through the new birth, for it says, “Our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). On the grounds of the death of Jesus, we are in the world, but never of the world.
