God Gives Inner Stability in the Chaos of the World

To be prepared for the challenges of the future, we need to understand the world in which we live. What do we know about this world? Let us list some of its characteristics. It is

· chaotic

· violent,

· fleeting.

Why chaotic? Because in this world people are really fools, even if they think they are wise, and therefore do things that make no sense (Romans 1:22; Acts 19:32). Why violent? Because these fools think they can acquire the property of others through economic exploitation (James 2:6; 5:4) or even through military raids (James 4:1). Why temporary? Because the curse of God is on this world, which has given it over to vanity (Romans 8:20).

The first commandment we must follow is to take the opportunity to get out of this world system in a spiritual sense (Gal. 1:3-4), even as we continue our physical existence in it. The means to do this is faith in Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:12-15). What will be the result of this step? We incur the intense displeasure of the world.

Joh. 15:19: If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

NASB 1995

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Just before his death on the cross, Jesus Christ said to his disciples: "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). The Son of God reminds them of earlier promises of peace, courage, and victory over all evil and all the powers of this world. The whole theme of Jesus' farewell discourse in the Upper Room is the sharing of the secret of how he himself could feel the peace of God the Father, even though he knew that he was about to be cruelly killed. The right inner support in the midst of the overwhelming power and violent hostility of the world could only come from God Himself, as the Psalmist puts it: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea" (Ps 46:1-2).

Peace is the inner certainty of being protected and preserved by God. Man needs a divine power behind and within him to face the tremendous adversity that confronts him in the mysteries of life, in the temptations of the devil, in the weakness of sinful desires, and in the resistance of the world.

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