Kosmic Thinking:
Your Subtle Enemy; John 15:17-18
In verse 18 the focus shifts.
Verses 18-25 deal with the enemy of the believer who is
abiding in Christ. There are three enemies of the spiritual life in
Scripture. Two are outside of us and one is inside. These are the devil and the
cosmic system on the outside, and the internal enemy is the sin nature which
has an affinity and attraction to cosmic thinking. When Jesus
says, “If the world hates you,” He uses a very precise word in the Greek—KOSMOS [kosmoj]. There is a certain
type of thinking in Scripture called cosmic thinking. The root meaning of KOSMOS in Greek
thought was order, something that was orderly and thought out. It is used three
ways in Scripture: for the orderly universe, especially the earth; it is used
in a figurative way, the technical term is an economy, i.e. when you speak of
something that is a part of something else, the parts of a whole; but when we
speak of the world what we are really talking about is the inhabitants of the
earth, and that is when you speak of the system and that is what is inside the
system, so the whole stands for the part. So the world can refer to the
inhabitants of the earth, as in John 3:16. Third, it is used to refer to
Satan’s realm of evil—he is the god of this age, the leader of this cosmic
system. When we think of the term “evil” we often think in terms of something
heinous, but the Scripture uses the term in a different way. The most insidious
evil in all of history is religion. Any religion that emphasizes morality as a
way to God’s favour and approval is insidiously evil. The most evil people are
religious people because they teach that you can have a relationship with God
apart from Jesus Christ. The Scripture teaches that there is salvation in no
other name than Jesus Christ, and that we are saved by faith and not by works.
Then to teach that one’s works can gain approval with God is a direct lie and
if it is followed it will end up in eternal condemnation. Nothing can be more
evil than that because it will cost a person his eternal destiny. So evil is
not necessarily that which looks bad, it may be clothed in the garb of
goodness, altruism, righteousness, generosity, welfare, etc.
Definition: The cosmic system
is Satan’s orderly, cohesive and multifaceted (they may be opposite one
another, e.g. different world religions may teach what appear to be opposing
points but nevertheless are part of Satan’s cosmic system because they promote
this often as an agenda) system of thinking which include a purpose, a policy
(based on works, so there is a direct distinction and antagonism between
biblical Christianity and all the world’s religions), and a structure of
authority designed to subvert the human to gain control over the world he now
rules. This cosmic system includes the whole variety of world religions—all of
which are man’s attempt to gain God’s approval through his own efforts, his own
works, Christianity is a relationship with God based upon the finished work of
Jesus Christ on the cross. The cosmic system includes the whole gamut of
religion, philosophy, culture, political theories (the psalmist says it is
better to trust in God than in kings), economic theories, and ethical systems.
Here are a vast number of ways of organizing cosmic thought, but at the centre
of all of these competing philosophies and religions are two characteristics
which define cosmic thinking: a) arrogance, or autonomy, from the Greek words AUTOS and NOMOS meaning
self-law; that ultimately man centres authority in the universe in the creation
itself rather than in God. Man wants to be the one who defines the purpose and
meaning and significance of life, and he claims to be the one with the ability
to provide that. This is exemplified by Satan and his five “I wills” given in Isaiah 14. It is an assertion of
independence from God—that I can define the issues of life, solve
the problems of life, on my own and independent from God; b) an antagonism to
the truth: antagonism to Christianity, antagonism to doctrine, expressed in
John 15:18 by the word “hatred.” This is an important word because it tells us
that as believers the cosmic system around us that permeates everything that we
are involved in despises us as a believer, it hates us as a believer, and the
believer is walking around from the moment he trusts Christ as saviour with a
bulls eye right in the middle of his forehead and the world system is aiming at
him day in and day out. The problem with most Christians is that they would
rather compromise and assimilate with the world system to avoid being a target,
rather than relying exclusively upon God. According to the Scripture there are
only two competing ways of approaching life: God’s way, expressed in the Bible
and is called doctrine, truth, light, wisdom, and sometimes referred to as
divine viewpoint—on every issue of life from music, art, law, personal life,
marriage, etc.; every subject is addressed in the Word of God. So the Bible
presents God’s way of looking at life. Then there is man’s way which is called
earthly, natural, demonic, darkness, the lie, and foolishness. Again, the root
idea of cosmos is an orderly systematic approach to life, and so the cosmic
system, then, is antagonistic and hateful of you as a believer and continually
roars against you to get you to compromise with it.
“If the world hates you [and
it does], you know that it has hated me before it hated you.” Satan is the
ruler of this cosmic system and throughout history God has provided various
protections for the human race from the incursions of Satan and the demons so
that the human race can survive in the angelic conflict. God provided
protection in the Old Testament at Sinai when He gave the law, and before that
through the various covenants to provide a framework of legal protection so
that if man operated within those establishment principles there would be a
measure of protection from the evil that would ensue. In the period prior to
the flood there was the Satanic attack on the human race when the “sons of God”
[fallen angels] took for themselves wives in an attempt to destroy the genetic
purity of the race and thus prevent God’s plan of salvation. God had to judge
the earth at the flood, Later He had to judge it at the
The divine institutions