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The Choice
By Edgar JonesIntroduction
Jesus presents us with the most radical dualism that it is possible to imagine. It is not a dualism involving two earthly realms and conceptions, such as democracy and communism, the ancient and the modern world or Eastern and Western cultures. It cannot be defined in terms of anything within the world because the entire reality that men call "the world" is at one pole and includes absolutely everything that is contained within the world. At the other pole stands the alternative realm of the radical dualism of Jesus. It is apart from the world.
We are tempted to refer to it as "the alter-world" or "the other world." That would be a mistake because its reality transcends the reality of the world so that there is no similarity between them, and Jesus never referred to it as a world. The world is a created arrangement of elements whereas its antipode is the uncreated and eternal reality to which all of creation owes its being, wherefore it does not fit the definition of a world. But Jesus had a word for it. He called it "heaven."
He had other words for it: the throne of God and my Father's house. He sometimes utilized other terms to distinguish them, but always at the heart of his message stands the radical dualism that operates between the world and heaven.
As for this world, when the focus of attention is the human race, Jesus used the term "men" to designate it. He also spoke of it as "the earth" and "this age." These terms have meanings that are self evident, but in the message of Jesus they generally, perhaps always, stand at at the antipode of heaven.
I. Not of This World
The radical disparateness that distinguishes this world from heaven stands in its stark clarity in the "not of this world" sayings of Jesus from the Fourth Gospel:
John 8:23John 8:23 above was spoken to his enemies. They are "of the world" but Jesus is "not of this world." John 15:19 was addressed to his disciples. They are not of the world. In John 17:14,16, he addresses the Father and speaks to him of his disciples; again the disciples are "not ot the world," precisely as Jesus himself is "not of the world." John 18:36 was addressed to Pontius Pilate, the governor of the kingdom of this world, whereas the kingdom of Jesus, which is the kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of God, is "not of this world."
He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world."John 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, therefore the world hates you.John 17:14
I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.John 17:16
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.John 18:36
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingdom is not from the world."II. Distinguishing Features
1. Above and below
Jesus issued several features by which we distinguish between the options in this radical dualism, as in John 8:23 above:
He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.His enemies among the Jews were "from below" and they were "of this world." Below and above then clearly distinguishes them. This world is the earth below, as contrasted with heaven above.2. Light and darkness
Luke 16:8Here the distinction points to the children, the sons of this world and the sons of light. the ultimate distinction here is that between darkness and light, which helps to explain the other utterances utilizing darkness and light:
The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.John 12:36
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them.Luke 22:533. Life and death
When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."John 3:19
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."John 12:35
Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes."John 12:46
I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.Matthew 8:22People exist in this world under the illusion that they are alive. The world itself is real enough, but its life is a lie and all people are dead while their affections are focused on this world. The only true life is eternal life that springs from heaven.
But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."Matthew 22:32
. . . 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."Matthew 23:27
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.John 5:25
Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.4. Time and eternity
Jesus viewed the people to whom he spoke as dead. It is only the few who hear his voice and believe that are alive, as stated in John 5:25. This brings us to yet another distinction that closely connected to life and death, and that is time and eternity. This world is temporal, heaven and everything associated with heaven are eternal. So Jesus uttered his Great Principle against the background of this world and heaven:
John 12:25So we see that life in this world is not life at all; it is only the illusion of life that must pass away into the death that it really is, whereas life in heaven is eternal life that does not pass away.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
III. The Hostility
There is no compatibility between the two options that face all human beings. Jesus made the clear pronouncement that the children of this world bear only hostility for the children of heaven, whom Jesus designated "sons of light." Hear him again:
John 15:19As the darkness hates the light and refuses to coexist with it, as the lie hates the truth and refuses to coexist with it, so likewise the dead world hates the living heaven.
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, therefore the world hates you.John 17:14
I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
III. The Values
Jesus defined the different values in the following utterances:
Matthew 6:19-21The vastly different value sets of the world and the children of the God accounts for the hostility just defined. The children of this world are easily threatened by anything or anyone strange because they fear an adverse effect on the things they value. They cannot possibly understand the children of the kingdom whose valuables are in heaven, and they will inevitably suspect hidden agendas designed to take away the things they value.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.Matthew 19:21
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.To give a specific example, the patriotic person is a person of this world whose values are all interwoven with his loyalty to the state that protects the valued things, both tangible and intangible. The patriot will fight a foreign enemy who threatens the valued things, and will assume that anyone else who does not react similarly is sympathetic to the enemy and is to be destroyed along with the enemy. But the child of the kingdom, whose treasure is in heaven, is not threatened in the least but rather loves the enemy. This only heaps fuel on the fires of patriotic passion!
In short, the children of this world value the things of this world; the children of God value the things of heaven, and never the twain shall blend!
IV. The Conduct
Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king, and Jesus responded:
John 18:36The servants of Jesus do not fight because of the fact that their kingdom, and their king, is not from this world. Therefore their patriotism is not from this world, and they do not fight. They did not fight to deliver Jesus from crucifixion, nor do they fight, violently, in any earthly cause, including the cause of the nation into which they were born of woman.
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingdom is not from the world."V. The Two Kingdoms
It follows that there are two fundamentally different ruling authorities, two kingdoms, with which we have to deal. Everyone is familiar with the one that has it capital situated in a city of this world. It claims us from birth -- mind, body, and soul. It is of this world and all its citizens are of this world.
The other one has its capital in the heavenly city and it is not of this world. It is absolutely invisible to human beings and, except for the voice of Jesus, no one on earth would know of it. Even so, although the multitudes of this world have heard and read the utterances of Jesus, they do not take it in and so do not hear and do not believe. There are always a few
among them who do hear, however, for the Father in heaven will not be denied the love and devotion of his own. The light will not be overcome by the darkness. And so we hear Jesus as he concludes his testimony to Pilate:Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.The choice is yours! He is speaking -- do you listen?
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