Living for God in a Godless World

Transcript S3E9

Living for God in a Godless World

[00:09]

Hello, I'm Tony Kostas and welcome to Led into Love.

[00:13] 

The thing I would like to focus on with you right now - and it's very much on my heart because of the days we live in, the times we live in, the world we live in - are the simple words of the Apostle John in the Bible. 1John, chapter 5, verse 19:

“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”

And immediately in that one sentence you have a graphic picture. On the one hand, those who can say, “I know that I'm one of God's children, and the world I live in is under the control of the evil One”.

[01:08] 

This is very personal. This is real. This is not something distant from any of us. Because, firstly, everybody who is alive on this world right now is living in the only world that there is. The only world that the human race knows. And it's the world that is under the control of the evil one.

But amongst the people in this world are those who by their choice have opened their hearts to God. Those who by their choice know what it is to truly know God. And they are the ones that John is addressing, as one of them, when he says, “We know that we are the children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil One”.

[02:00] 

I've said it before and you'll hear me say it again: All relationship - all true relationship - the only relationship any of us can have with God - is experiential!

I don't mean a relationship that relies on some kind of particular experience that you may have at a certain time, or from time-to-time. I mean that you experience God.

Just like in any normal relationship, if you are relating to another person, you are experiencing them and they are experiencing you, however you're expressing your relationship.

But here we're talking about something far, far deeper - because you were made to know God at the very core of your being. To know the living God, the only true God - the living God - and to know Him. God, who sent His son Jesus into this world so that you would know Him. So that you would be forgiven for your sins. So that you would turn from living your own life without God and cry out to God - and turn around from the way you're living and believe in Him and ask Him to be your God. And God wants that more than anybody. Far more than you do. When you ask Him, He does that. 

[03:26]

Okay, well, I'm assuming that most of you listening to this already know that you have made some sort of response to God like that. If you don't, you need to start right there.

If you seek God, you will find Him. If you come to God, you'll discover Him. If you open your heart to God, He will reveal Himself to you. You don't have to see Him because right on the inside, of the depth of your being, you are already that person who needs God and knows it … if you will face it. 

Okay, so assuming that you can look me in the eye right now - if you could look me in the eye and I could look you in the eye - assuming that you can say to me, “I know that I belong to God. I know I'm one of His children. I know that I know Him.”

I'll say to you, then face the reality that all of God's children, like the rest of the human race, share a common situation - or if you like, a common setting, or environment that we live in. We live in a world that is under the control of the evil one - the devil.

[04:42] 

From the time that Adam and Eve turned their back on God. Because God had created - had not only created Adam, but He created Him as the crowning glory of everything else - every other creature that He created. And He gave Adam dominion … He gave Adam power … He gave Adam the rule of all of the other created beings. And when the devil succeeded in tempting, luring, deceiving Adam and Eve into disobeying God - at that point Adam lost his relationship with God. And from that time, by default, he handed over his position to the devil.

The devil is the usurper. He gained what Adam lost because Adam believed him instead of believing God. And from then on, the devil - who is very real and very powerful - the devil has ruled over the human race. That's this world. 

When the Bible speaks of the world, it speaks about the world of humanity. When it speaks of the earth, He's speaking about the physical earth - this planet that we live on. The earth is still God's. God is the King of the Earth. God is the Creator of the earth and of the whole universe. Always was, always will be. That's the inanimate creation that has no mind of its own. God created it. God rules it. God owns it.

[06:30] 

But because God made us with a free will, because we're made in His image, it was like … if you like to think of it this way … it’s like a built-in flaw. But it wasn't a flaw. It is a necessary aspect of being made in God's image.

He had to be created with the power to choose. When it's used against God, like Adam did, and like the people of this world. So many … most of the people of this world ever since then, continue to choose their own way, not God's way. They're simply exercising the power of choice that God will never take away from anybody.

But when you turn to God, when you respond to God, when you love God, when you believe God, then you're using the power of choice that God gave you - that you were born with. You are using that power of choice to live for God, to do God's will, to glorify God. And that's what we were made to be. 

It's interesting in these days, with even world events - that we all get swamped with every day, whether it's online or on TV or any other way - we know this world is becoming a more and more unpredictable, fearful place.

[07:48] 

And because of this, more and more people in this world are becoming increasingly insecure and fearful. And that's kind of, like, inevitably the way the world goes. 

You have to realize that the devil - as Jesus spoke of him at one point - is like a thief who breaks into a place, where the sheep are penned in and under the protection of a shepherd. But the shepherd comes in through the gate, and he loves the sheep and he cares for the sheep and he leads the sheep.

But a thief and a robber who wants to use the sheep for his own ends, he breaks in through some some other way. And Jesus said, the thief comes just to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly”.

[08:37] 

Jesus came to bring each one of us back to God, to have the life that is our gift from God. And the other choice is that you're under the power … you're under the control … of the evil one who is a thief and a robber - who comes to steal, to kill and to destroy.

The destructiveness that is rampant in this world, that shows itself in all kinds of ways, that has not only Christians, but so many people. Fearful people have always tried. People who live without God … societies that live without God … countries that live without God … cultures that live without God … are always seeking to create a more secure environment - to provide for themselves, to defend themselves, to protect themselves, to have something that gives them a sense of a secure life safe from all danger and harm. But it's impossible without God.

When Jesus prayed for His disciples the night before He was crucified - the night before He laid down His life for them and for you and for me - He prayed for them and He asked His Father, not that the Father would take them out of the world, but that He would keep them. That he would be with them in this world.

[10:03] 

Now, if you know that you're one of God's children and you're living in this world, and you - because you're one of God's children - you're also very aware of … much more aware of … the evil and the insecurity and the fearfulness that grips this world - then you can also be very intimidated by that. And you can look around you and think the devil's winning. And you can become fearful and you become insecure. And, you know, you either want to kind of just crawl away somewhere and pretend it's not happening, or you want to fight against it or whatever … you want to speak against it. 

But I tell you, God knows what He's doing. And all He needs is that you are faithful to Him.

You see, when Jesus died on the cross and when He rose from the dead, He set the wheels in motion for the devil's total destruction and defeat, and for this world to become God’s again. 

God, who rules the earth, who made the Universe, God also by right, is the Ruler of this world.

The devil has usurped that role because Adam surrendered it to him when Adam turned his back on God. 

I don't want to get complicated about this. And the last thing I want to do is get theological! I want to translate this into real life.

The reality, the scenario, that we have in this verse that I read out to you: “We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Know that. Understand it. Don't resign yourself to it. Don't feel intimidated by it. Be thankful that as the same John who wrote these words, wrote, “that which is born of God overcomes the world”.

[12:04] 

We who are God's children. We who have made, by our choice, made God our Father, Jesus our brother, because He died for us. We know that we are the light of this world.

But better than that even, we know that Jesus came to restore this world of humanity to the Father God, who loved this world enough to send Jesus to die for this world and who will have His world back.

So don't be surprised that you look around you and what you see is evidence everywhere that it looks like the devil is having his way. Yeah, wherever people are allowing him to have his way. And I tell you that the devil doesn't ask permission! When the devil's got you and you are in his power, you are under his control because you have not given control of your life to God, then yeah. There used to be a saying that ‘the devil looks after his own’. He doesn't. 

The devil is that thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy. The devil only knows how to do that. The devil is a liar. He's a destroyer. And everything that he touches will be destroyed. And ultimately, he's going to be destroyed.

Don't be afraid, because if your life is in God's hands and you live for Him alone, and you trust in Him alone, not only will He be with you in this world, but the day is coming when you will share in His glory in this world.

And in the meantime, He is with you. You know, you're not an orphan. You're not at a distance. You're not abandoned. If you keep living close to God and you keep seeking God with all your heart, you're going to find that God will be involved in every part of your life. 

And it won't be because you're trying to be different. It won't be because you're trying to be one of God's people. It'll be because you are one of His people, and because you're wanting to live for Him.

And you'll be real about the world around you. Not in a condemning way. Not in a way that makes you feel like, “Wow, I'm great, and look at them. They're so bad!” But in a way that enables you to look at this world and the people around you with the same eyes and the same heart that God looks on them. And the same heart and the same eyes that Jesus looked on them with when He came and gave Himself - firstly to people as a man amongst them, and then finally as the One who died for the people of this world. And He knows how to have His way in your life while you live in this world.

[15:16] 

It's a shame that so many Christians - often churches and church organizations and Christian organizations - think they know how to do God's work. They think they know how to bring in God's kingdom. And all they're doing is building an alternative to what God is doing.

From the day that the Holy Spirit filled those people on the Day of Pentecost (and I've talked about this in other podcasts), the day the Church of Jesus Christ was born in Jerusalem - that's known as The Day of Pentecost - from that day, God simply needed people like you and like me, not to live outside of this world, but to live in this world. Not to be blind or even to be unaffected by the fact that we live in a world that's under the control of the evil one. But to know that we - we - can and should be shining like lights in the darkness of this world. Not because we're trying to. Not because we're trying to prove something about ourselves or convert people or do the things that Christians do to prove something about themselves. But you can, you will - simply by allowing God's Holy Spirit to be Lord of your life. God Himself, by His Spirit, dwelling inside you.

This is the thrill. It might feel like a dangerous thrill, and it is because the world is not a safe … it's not a safe place for anybody! But the one who rules this world - the evil one, the devil - of course he's not going to make it a safe and comfortable place for you.

Look at those early Christians. Look at what they faced and what they suffered, and many of them laid down their lives for. But they loved it! Why? Because they were masochists? No! But because they were living for God in this world. And through them God began this church of Jesus Christ - the Body of those that belong to God.

And to be one of His people in this world, to give yourself to God, to not be looking over your shoulder, to not be looking down on everything around you and bemoaning the state of the world like so many Christians do ... Yeah, it's a sad, sad place and it's an awful place in so many ways.

[17:38] 

But God is going to have His world back. But He'll have His world back as a result of people like you and like me who give ourselves to God for Him to be glorified in our lives, for him to be glorified through our lives. And in the meantime, to give God the joy of having people like you and like me, that instead of expressing what this world expresses - which is so awful and so against everything that matters to God - you can give God the joy of being what John said here. Children of God. Children of their Father. 

As you live for God in this world, don't live for God with a persecution complex. Don't live for God with some kind of attitude that is not the attitude that He has towards this world but live for God with a desire to please Him - to give Him joy, to do His will. And if you want to do His will, he'll show you what His will is.

And in the meantime, understand that, though this world lies under the control of the evil one, that evil one will not have his way. But he will be destroyed - while God's people will live forever.

[19:09] 

There's a beautiful verse in the Bible that says this world passes away. Everything that's to do with this world that's so temporary, so passing, will pass away with it. The lust of this world - this world that is always seeking its own - that will all pass away. But the one who does God's will lives forever.

You already have eternal life as God's gift. If you belong to Him. You don't have to worry about your future. You can live for God in this world and give Him glory, give Him joy, and give Him your life. And understand that all this that’s passing away, was meant to pass away.

The thing that is going to last forever is what you are already a part of.