NOT OF THIS WORLD

NOT OF THIS WORLD

The title sounds like it belongs on a science fiction novel. It might bring to mind strange looking creatures in other-worldly surroundings. But a similar caption can be found in the New Testament book of John 8:23, “And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” (the words of Jesus).

And again, in John 18:36, “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

Is Jesus speaking in metaphors, or is this to be taken literally? Is He really ‘not of this world’?

Then in John 17:13–19, “But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given those you have given Me, Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world (kósmos; literally, “something ordered“; an “ordered system”, the world. ), just as I am not of the world. I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

Are those who profess to become Christians really not of the world? (I mean, they were born into the world of natural parents.)

Then, in Romans 12:2, we are told that the believer is not to be “conformed to this world, but (to) be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Again, are these verses to be taken literally, or is it metaphorical?

It is a peculiarity of becoming a Christian that a transformation takes place. I suspect, unfortunately, that most people consider this transformation to be a natural cognitive process. Is it a natural process being described by metaphor or hyperbole, or is it something that literally happens with a believer?

Again, 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that, “If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creature; the old has passed away; behold, new things have come.” (Some Bible versions have altered that word to read, “If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation.” After all, becoming a new creature or a different creature is a bit out of this world.)

The Bible talks about being born again, of being made new, being transformed, being filled with the Spirit of God. Are these just exaggerations, metaphors, hyperboles or similes, used to get a point across? If so, it is odd then, that on the one hand, the Bible talks about unexplainable events, out of this world events, as miracles, then on the other hand would reduce the transformation of a human being into a child of God and a child of light, to a metaphor? Or is it both?

Is it possible that it is we – those of us who read the Bible and profess to believe in God – who are ascribing the miraculous to events which happen to others or miracles in nature, as being possible and literal? But are reducing those things that happen to us – individually – as metaphorical?

Or, are you and I just unwilling to believe such out of this world things can literally happen to us?

Or, perhaps, we are unwilling to do the literal, that is to die to our old lives and our old selves in order to literally become Christlike and to literally follow Jesus? (Before you answer, consider the Apostles and read Hebrews chapter 11.)

Please consider these events and decide if they literally happened or if they were just metaphors and hyperbole:

• Jesus, having been crucified, killed and buried, literally coming back to life.
• About all believers, at some point, being raised from the dead when Jesus miraculously appears in the clouds of the sky and His angels will gather His elect to be raptured into heaven.
• About the lame being healed; the blind given sight; the dead raised back to life; axe handles that float; a donkey speaks;
• Then there is the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14).
• Jonah and the big fish (Jonah 1:17).
• The virgin birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:18–25).
• Daniel’s survival in the den of lions (Daniel 6:21–22).
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s preservation in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:25).
• Jesus’ walking on water (Matthew 14:25–27).
• Jesus’ calming of the storm (Matthew 8:23–27).

Miracles of healing

• Jesus’ healing of the nobleman’s son (John 4:46–47), a leper (Mark 1:40–45), a paralytic (Matthew 9:1–8), and a woman with an issue of blood (Luke 8:43–48)

Miracles over demonic forces

• Jesus’ casting out of many unclean spirits (Mark 1:23–28; Matthew 8:28–34)

Miracles of provision

• God’s provision of manna (Exodus 16:4).
• Jesus’ turning of water into wine (John 2:7–9).
• Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes (Matthew 14:19–20; 15:36–37).

Miracles of resurrection

• Elijah’s raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17–24).
• Elisha’s raising the Shunamite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:18–37).
• Jesus’ raising of the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11–18), Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:52–56), and Lazarus (John 11).
• Peter’s raising of Tabitha (Acts 9:36–43).
• Paul’s raising of Eutychus (Acts 20:7–12).
• Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:1–7)

Could it be that becoming a Christian is more than just adopting a religion, and a new world view? Is it possible that something ‘supernatural’ actually takes place in your own mind, body, soul, spirit and life? Something OUT OF THIS WORLD?

It is interesting that the Greek word used for ‘transformed’ or ‘transformation’ is metamorphóō; it translates to “metamorphosis” and “metamorphize. (Metá, “change after being with” and /morphóō, and means “changing form in keeping with inner reality”; transformed after being with; transfigured.

A creature that has gone through a metamorphosis is radically and permanently changed from one thing into another. It is a process, when taken literally, that cannot be undone.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 says, “Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

So, why all this talk about miracles, metaphors, and hyperboles? I use it to help us focus on the idea that the Bible is not a religious book, nor is it a book about religion. I am wanting to ask and ponder the question “what if the Bible is indeed a book breathed and written by God, describing Himself, His plans, purposes, methods and His Kingdom – and about us as His creation, who came from another world to inhabit earth? SOMETHING TRULY OUT OF THIS WORLD!

The Bible is a book that not only answers all the questions of life but directs us to ‘rise up out of the dust of this earth’, to be born again and to be transformed into a new creature to inherit the coming new heaven and the new earth. God intends us to take our place as His children, as joint heirs with Jesus over all that God has created. It is entirely plausible and practical that our experience of a natural birth and our life on this earth is nothing more than God’s incubator for our maturing into the image and likeness of Christ Jesus in preparation of our eternity with Him.

I hope this gives a new urgency and meaning that “The gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it”, because there are literally very few who call themselves Christian, willing or able to see the Bible as a literal call from God to come out of this world and its ways. They fail or refuse to see that if they are truly born again and transformed, they are NO LONGER OF THIS WORLD and should not simply be adding the benefits of being a Christians (such as going to heaven receiving answered prayers, etc.) to living like they are of this world! They must stop entangling themselves with the concerns and matters of this world and follow Jesus in His inexorable march to the consummation of this age!

I hope this gives incentive to re-read the Bible with new eyes that can see.

Furthermore, I pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, so that we will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. (see Ephesians 1:18-19).

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

(Next:  The Prophetic Words of Jesus)