Identifying the cosmic system, part 3; John 15:19; 1John 2:15; 2Pe 3:3-13.

Title: Identifying the cosmic system, part 3; John 15:19; 1John 2:15; 2PE 3:3-13.

 

2 Peter 3:3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,

 

2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."

 

That’s a silly statement.

 

GEN 1:1 shows God creating the heavens and the earth in a perfect order or cosmos, which is what the word means, however some unrevealed cause created chaos from which the earth had to be restored. Though the Garden and the two humans were perfect, within that Garden are the tempterdeceiver and the knowledge of good and evil. Chaos wins again, or so it seems.

 

Peter mentions three phases of the world or earth—(a) the world before the flood, or “the world that then was” (3:5-6);

 

2 Peter 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water [restoration; i.e. not as it always has been],

 

2 Peter 3:6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.[Noah’s flood]

 

(b) “the heavens and the earth, which are now” (3:7);

2 Peter 3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

 

2 Peter 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

 

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance [change of mind concerning the person of Christ].

 

When the NT uses the word cosmos it refers to this second stage of the earth - a time of a system of deception and evil but also a time of grace and patience from God.

 

 

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

 

2 Peter 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

 

2 Peter 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

 

And (c) the “new heavens and a new earth” that are yet to be (3:13)

 

2 Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

 

 

John 15:19 "If you were of [from] the world, the world would love [phileo] its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you

 

It is stated here that the world can either love or hate depending on whether a person agrees or disagrees with the system.

 

There are many examples in history of kosmic thinking people hating others over differences in thought.

 

Calvinists, Lutherans, and Catholics began the conflict of the 30 years war; Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland; Sunni and Shia; loyalists and rebels in the Revolutionary War; north and south in the Civil War; Hatfield’s and McCoy’s; etc.

 

Fallen man in the system designed by satan has a difficult time agreeing to disagree; he either affectionately loves or loathingly hates.

 

Societies range from the simple to the very complex. In days long past a wealthy man with a lot of land had his own society contained within the borders of his property. He had his own rules, his own economy, his own society with slaves, surfs, skilled workers (all of which could be called into a small army), family, and himself as a sort of small king who was completely independent of any government. Abraham had such a community. And many of these types of organizations existed at the fall of the Roman Empire.

 

Today this is rare. Societies are large and complex. Think about what it takes for America to function each day; economy, laws, law enforcement, markets, infrastructure, education, energy needs, military, local, state, and federal government, banks, currency, etc. and all of it flowing harmoniously, or not so much each day.

 

This is not the cosmic system of the Bible. These things are influenced by the cosmic system but they do not make the system.

 

“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society. But ________ abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.”

 

The kosmos is difficult to define in detail since it’s not one thought but many. In this way it’s much like grace. We have been defining grace by what it is not and using justice as the mirror that reflects the definition of grace.

 

So, what is the cosmos of the Bible that hates Christ and His royal family? It is not grace or ungrace.

 

The kosmos is a system of thinking that exalts man, rewards obedience, and rejects Christ’s authority and grace. It is an order of thought that exalts the power of man alone to realize his perfection or fulfillment apart from Jesus Christ.

 

The kosmos is dark and full of deception. Grace offers wisdom and light so that one may see the truth. The kosmos denies that there is any absolute truth. In fact the latest trend in the world is not to deny the existence of God but to accept all gods as one and the same and that their differences are only a result of the societies from which they were realized.

 

The post-modernistic trend states that absolute truth is unattainable since we are flawed and from different cultures and societies. What is true to one person may not be to another which is only the fault of the societies in which they were brought up.

 

As L.S. Chafer describes it:

The cosmos is a vast order or system that Satan has promoted, which conforms to his ideals, aims, and methods. It is civilization now functioning apart from God—a civilization in which none of its promoters really expect God to share, who assign to God no consideration in respect to their projects; nor do they ascribe any causativity to Him. This system embraces its godless governments, conflicts, armaments, jealousies, its education, culture, religions of morality, and pride.

 

It is that sphere in which man lives. It is what he sees, what he employs. To the uncounted multitude it is all they ever know so long as they live on this earth. It is properly styled the satanic system, which phrase is in many instances a justified interpretation of the so-meaningful word, cosmos. It is literally a cosmos diabolicus.

 

Karl Marx took the Hegelian heresy that every thesis has an antithesis and that the two would eventually come together to produce synthesis. He applied this philosophy to the Communist program, the bourgeoisie — the body of “oppressive” middle-class property owners —becomes the thesis. The proletariat — the “oppressed” wage-labor working class — becomes the antithesis. And the predestined struggle between the two classes will produce as the synthesis a perfected New Order — the Communist society wherein all men will be equal and live in complete harmony. This theme is so central to Communism that it is immutable.

 

The driving force to this synthesis was attributed by Hegel to spiritual forces, but Marx changed this to economic determinism which is a fancy way of saying redistribution of wealth.

 

Marx didn't come up with anything new. Economic redistribution is a much older cause and in fact none of his ideas were original. He borrowed from German, French, and English radical philosophies and blended them into one Manifesto.

 

His motivation was clear and not unusual. He wanted fame and power. The kosmos is a system of lust of the flesh and eyes and boastful pride.

 

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

 

1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

 

Some have thought this should motivate asceticism, but that’s a deception and kosmic. There is nothing evil in itself it is only in how it is perceived. Is there anything wrong with looking at something pleasing or enjoying something that makes your flesh feel good? Absolutely not, God has provided these things.

 

GEN 2:9

And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

God continues to provide these things, but now in a fallen world these things are perverted. God has provided them in their place and time and that brings glory to him.

 

Lust is an inordinate desire.

 

Grace                                      Kosmos

God works                    Man works

God glorified               Man glorified

Man receives                          No free lunch

Compassion                           Natural selection

Giving                                    Hording

Forgiving                      Justice

Sinners made +R                   Evolution

EPEO                                     DNA

Tranquility                             Stress

Divine love                            Attraction love

Peace                                      Fear

 

Just think of anything that God does for you and then change that to you or others (including government) doing that for you.

 

Therefore, it’s the cosmos order of thinking that drives the institutions of our complex society to be evil. The institutions themselves are not inherently evil.

 

Take the government for example. It is necessary to protect the God given rights of every individual, which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet greed and power lust has damaged it terribly.

 

Under grace God will share His happiness for me, but under cosmic viewpoint I have to supply my own happiness, someone else must make me happy, or the government must make me happy.

 

Do not think that satan desires to destroy man. satan desires to coordinate a system by which man can prosper without God. satan wants his own millennium, his own perfect environment in which man prospers and lives in harmony AND in which he is worshipped as the savior of mankind.

 

Luke 4:6-7

 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours."

 

It is an amazing truth stated here that the world system has been handed over to satan and he can give it to whomever he wishes. But we must also understand that satan doesn’t own any of the materialism. It’s all God’s stuff. The Matthew account shows us what has been handed over to him for a time.

 

 

 

Matt 4:8-9

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world [kosmos], and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."

 

Glory means essence. What is the essence of the kingdoms of the kosmos? Is it the buildings, the money, the stocks, the markets, the infrastructure, the schools, the type of governments, or anything like that? The true essence of kosmos kingdoms is the system of thinking, the attempt to elevate, prosper, harmonize, and reconcile man in the total absence of God.

 

The offer to Christ to rule the kingdoms of the kosmos was an offer to reconcile or “save” man without the Father’s plan.

 

It shows us that satan doesn’t care for the materialism or the glory of these kingdoms as much as he cares for being worshipped at the highest level.

 

If satan’s offer was to have Christ rule the kingdoms of the earth and bypass the cross and satan offered to worship Him then satan would have accomplished the destruction of the Father’s plan and presumably the God-head altogether, but he’s not willing to worship anyone, especially the Christos.

 

Again, satan wants his own millennium, his own perfect environment in which man prospers and lives in harmony AND in which he is worshipped as the savior of mankind. So, if you'll excuse the pun, he's having a devil of a time pulling this off. Throughout history he has tried the same schemes in different ways but he lacks the power, the intelligence, and the virtue to provide it.

 

ISA 14:14

'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.'