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Seven Worlds of the Bible
- There are seven things in scripture called the “world”, which are:
- The universe as a whole
- The earth
- The world system
- The entire human race
- The reprobate/unbelievers
- The Gentiles
- The elect
- The need to rightly divide the scriptures.
- If the word world is always taken to mean all the inhabitants of the earth, the Bible will be nothing but a book of contradictions and absurdities.
- In order to understand the word of God, it must be rightly divided (2Ti 2:15).
III. There are a few primary definitions of the word world.
- World –
- Human existence; a period of this. 1. a. Chiefly this world, the world: the earthly state of human existence; this present life.
- The earth or a region of it; the universe or a part of it. 7. a. The earth and all created things upon it; the terraqueous globe and its inhabitants.
- The inhabitants of the earth, or a section of them. 14. a. The human race; the whole of mankind; human society.
- The Bible uses the word in all three senses.
- The seven worlds of the Bible
- The universe as a whole (Act 17:24)
- The earth (Joh 13:1; Eph 1:4)
- The world system (Joh 12:31; Eph 2:2; 1Jo 5:19; Ecc 3:11)
- The entire human race (Rom 3:19)
- The reprobate/unbelievers (Joh 15:18)
- The Gentiles (Rom 11:12)
- The elect (Joh 1:29; Joh 6:33; Joh 12:47; 2Co 5:19)
- The worlds of John 17
- The earth (Joh 17:5,11-13,15,18,24)
- The entire human race (Joh 17:6)
- The reprobate/unbelievers (Joh 17:9,14,16,25)
- The elect (Joh 17:21,23)
- For which world did Christ die?
- Did He die for the universe as a whole?
- He didn’t die for planets and stars.
- Did He die for the earth?
- He didn’t die for rocks and dirt.
- Did He die for the world system?
- Satan is the prince of this world system (Joh 12:31) and he has nothing in Christ (Joh 14:30.
- This world system is set in contradistinction to God’s children who are of Him (1Jo 5:19).
- Did He die for the entire human race?
- – First Proof
- Those for whom Christ died are saved eternally (Joh 10:15 c/w Joh 10:27-28; Rom 5:9-10; 1Pe 2:24).
- Most of the human race are not saved eternally (Mat 25:41; Rev 20:15).
iii. Therefore, Christ did not die for the entire human race.
- – Second Proof
- Jesus died for the sheep (Joh 10:15).
- Some are not His sheep (Joh 10:26).
iii. Therefore, Christ did not die for them.
- Therefore, Christ did not die for the entire human race.
- Did He die for the reprobate?
- First of all, Jesus wouldn’t even pray for them, let alone die for them (Joh 17:9).
- Secondly, Jesus said rhetorically that the reprobate children of the devil cannot escape the damnation of hell (Mat 23:33 c/w Joh 8:44).
- If he died for their sins, they would escape the damnation of hell (Rom 8:1-3).
- Therefore, Christ didn’t die for them.
- Did He die for the Gentiles?
- Yes and no.
- Jesus died for some of the Gentiles out of every nation, but not for all of them (Rev 5:9).
- Did He die for the elect?
- Christ died for the elect, and only the elect (Eph 1:4; Eph 5:25-27; Rom 8:29-30; 1Pe 1:2).
VII. Who then is the world that God loved and gave His only begotten Son to be a propitiation for (Joh 3:16; 1Jo 2:2)?
- It was not the universe as a whole, the earth, the world system, the entire human race, the reprobate, or all of the Gentiles.
- By process of elimination, it must therefore be the world of God’s elect, which is in keeping with the primary definition of the word world which is: The inhabitants of the earth, or a section of them.