We Are Opposites!
Our Lives Must Oppose the World Around Us
People are content when they find themselves surrounded by others who act as they do. Wenaturally mimic others. Anyone who has had children knows this: a baby copies what an adultdoes. You smile at him, and he smiles back at you. That is how they learn as they grow. We are“hard-wired” to be that way, and it is how we learn from our parents and peers.
Thus, we grow up to be like those around us, to mimic the words and actions of those withwhom we associate. One might say we become part of a “herd” that behaves a certain way, andwhen one of us deviates from that standardized herd behavior we stand out because we are different. We may even be persecuted or ostracized by others in the herd because we are different.
Such is the case for all of us. We are born into a society over which we had no control. Itgreeted us before we can even remember, and continued to teach us through the examples ofothers with whom we associated as we grew up.
This is not denying that there were inborn proclivities to our behavior and moral code whichare sequestered deep within our consciences, that somehow convicted us concerning right andwrong. Yet, the influence of our peers — and of all of those around us — has been profoundlypowerful in shaping our moral certitude. We grew up as products of the world, taught by forceseither good or evil, which God has called the “old man.”
“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taughtby Him, as the truth is in Jesus; that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the oldman which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts …” (Ephesians 4:20-22).
“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds …” (Colossians 3:9).
The Scriptures speak of this “old man” asbeing the person that you became before yourcalling. It is the person that was moulded by theforces of society all around us, a society whosefoundation is built upon the shifting, unstablesands of Satan himself, the god of this world (IICorinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). It is this powerful spirit who opposes our heavenly Father thathas fabricated a world and society in which virtually everything is tainted and corrupted by hisinfluence: “… the Devil and Satan, who deceivesthe whole world …” (Revelation 12:9), a spiritwhose wiles we wrestle with, against his principalities, rulers of darkness, and spiritual hosts ofwickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians6:12).
The World’s Standards
With the entire world being deceived by this spiritual power of darkness, we see as a result astandard of morality that penetrates every facet of our civilized world.The Adversary’s tentaclesare everywhere, and have influenced people to construct the world we now have: our government,education, business, religion, entertainment, construction, agriculture … every aspect of our worldYet, in spite of — or because of — these standards we are told to “Put on the whole armor of God,that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).
With a world designed and built around Satan’s patterns — cities, farmlands, schools, media,roadways, businesses, and the like — it may be discomforting to be told, having been called outof this world, to not participate in it … to be in it but not of it (John 17:14-16). That is a very difficultcalling, since we by nature are hard-wired to follow the example of leaders and others around us.
Yet, for us, the elect, there is a remedy. We have been given the complete blueprints to builda new house … one built upon a rock, not upon sand. We are told to tread a pathway that is narrowand difficult to negotiate, but which is possible to tread because the Eternal Living God is holdingour hand.
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is theway which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Let us examine these many ways in which we are to be opposites of the world, to think, speak,and act in ways opposed to the present culture’s standards. We will try to break these “opposites”down into categories for the sake of discussion.
Be An Opposite
We see in this world an overreaching power — Satan the devil — who has infected every nookand cranny of society worldwide, injecting deception and death wherever he goes in his quest tosubvert and demolish the illustrious plan of the Father for all of us … those made in His image,whose purpose is to replace this evil Adversary who rules the world and is trying to install his ownsystem … one based on his carnal and dictatorial system. He wishes to destroy the health, joy,and liberty of mankind made in the Eternal’s image. He hates this glorious plan, and will do everything he can to annihilate it, focusing his wrath especially upon the hopes and dreams of the electwho will join Jesus Christ in rebuilding the earth to an Edenic wonder once Christ returns.
The Adversary achieves his ignominious ends by progressively influencing civilization overthe centuries to serve the false gods that he creates. Thus we have a record of the Baals, Ashteroths, and other false gods that people have been coerced into worshipping rather than the trueGod of Israel. In fact, the cult of humanism — “man is god” — has ascended to a lofty pinnaclewithin modern education, which really is little different than the course Adam and Eve took when they took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-6). Man deciding for himselfwhat is right or wrong is the source of all of mankind’s suffering since the beginning of this eon.
Nowhere is the curse of man making himself into a god more flagrant than within governments.These constructs have consistently devolved into dictatorships and other forms of authoritarianrule. They have in common the characteristic of the few ruling the many, through fear and force,striving to enslave people to the dictates of the leaders who act as gods over them, enticing thepopulation to look to them for safety and protection amidst threats of war, disease, and otherplagues.
To be a servant of the living God is to combat the temptation to fall prey to making a god ofoneself, or to following a dictator, whose motives are patterned after Satan himself. It is thus theobjective of those professing God’s spirit to oppose one’s own selfish desires to become a god,and to object to leaders who attempt to force people to worship these leaders. Rather,
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lies in me; and thelife which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gaveHimself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
As Paul states in Romans 6:6, we crucify the old man that the body of sin may be done away,and we are no longer slaves to sin. Having died with Christ we are freed from sin, and death nolonger holds dominion over us (Romans 6:7-9). As we read earlier in this paper, the old man is putaway, along with its self-serving lusts, and we are a new creature.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).
As we oppose this world of sin, and governments that try to coerce us to follow the ways ofselfishness, suffering is an inevitable result. Such grief and suffering is an essential part of ourlives, for we are joint-heirs with Christ of eternal life, “… if indeed we suffer with Him, that we mayalso be glorified together” (Romans 8:17). Everyone on earthsuffers to one degree or another, the good as well as the evil,and “… it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doinggood than for doing evil” (I Peter 3:17).
As we oppose the world and its ways, we will continueto be plagued with trouble, but that is to be expected.
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me beforeit hated you. If you were of the world, the world wouldlove its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but Ichose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you…. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you”(John 15:18-20).
Remember that the sufferings caused by being an opposite in this world are not worthy of being compared to theglory in the spirit realm that will be revealed in due time. Letus wait patiently for the return of our Savior, and experiencethe unspeakable joy that will accompany His arrival to initatea new age of peace and abundance!