27. The World Hates Me

Speaking Christ our life is (almost) always positive. Why would we bring such a strong negative into our picture? The real question, however, is why does Jesus say so much about the world in the critical chapters of John 15, 16, and especially 17? Why does “I do NOT pray for the world” factor as a significant part of Jesus speaking the New Creation into being?

These questions then enable us to reach for God’s answer as He shares with us, even if we don’t have a clear or full understanding at present.

Our Limiting Focus. As I consider these things, I see that I could write many chapters, in answer to these and other similar questions, in a book that could be titled Why the World Hates Jesus. Thankfully we have a focus, and that is the boxes on the Jesus Secret page. For that reason we must bring in the statements of faith so we know how to limit this lesson.

Now remember that these statements of faith are drawn from all three chapters. As I look across these statements, I see several significant avenues of thought, and so I must spend time pondering the connections and rearrange them accordingly.

I Am Not of the World. ~ I am not of the world, for Jesus chose me out of the world for Himself. Yet I do remain in the world that I might bear witness of Jesus. Jesus is always with me. But I do not belong to the world, neither do I pray for the world. I am in the world so that the Father might be known through me. ~

~ The world hates me without purpose or cause. The world hates me, denounces me, and hunts me down in the same way it hates Jesus and hunts Him down. Yet I am not of the world in exactly the same way that Jesus is not of the world. The world hates me because it is the Father, revealing Himself through me that they hate. ~

God Keeps Me. ~ I remember always what Jesus speaks to me, especially when I am being persecuted, and even if I am killed for His sake. I bear with all pain, grief, and pressure, for I know that life is coming forth from me. I am never ensnared. God keeps me away from evil and from the evil one. God always KEEPS me. No one can take my joy from me. I am filled with all courage, for Jesus and I together have conquered the world. ~

Our New Seeing. Now, let’s position “the world” in our new way of seeing all things complete, all things brand new.

All iniquity died upon the cross. All humans live and move inside of God and come out from the good-speaking of Jesus. All are reconciled to God. Those who have received that reconciliation, that is, believers in Jesus, possess and are possessed by the full reality of all-Salvation. Yet, in spite of this overwhelming, glorious, and absolute reality, billions of little bubbles of self, living in God and in All-Salvation now, continue to accuse God, themselves, and others of falseness. Each one lives in a false story of his or her own creation, that is, hades.

A Vapor or Fog. Then, because humans still retain authority inside heaven-earth, demon spirits are enabled to provide a spirit-connection between and among these bubbles of self who are accusing the God in whom they live. This spirit-connection is ruled over by “the prince of the power of the air,” yet it is not real, that is, it is not the definition of any “place.” Rather, this spirit-connection is as a vapor, a fog that is passing away the moment the sun rises.

We call this transient and unnatural spirit-connection among humans and demons “the world.”

Without a Cause. But as I have pondered one line, that line has grown in my understanding until I see it as the definition of everything that is contrary to God and to reality. They hated Me without a cause.

Let me show you an example of that which will show up in Symmorphy VII: Completion. – And [everyone] hid themselves… and they said… “Fall upon us, and hide us away …from the WRATH of the Lamb…” (Revelation 6:17). Their hatred of Jesus is without cause. That means that the “WRATH” does not exist. They are screaming nonsense.

Silence. That was the sixth seal removed; then look what happens immediately after, with the elimination of the seventh seal. And when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence… (Revelation 8:1).

They ALL shut their mouths. WHY? – Because overwhelming evidence is presented that proves all the horrific accusations against God to be completely and absolutely FALSE. That overwhelming evidence is what the gospel is all about. That every mouth might be closed (Romans 3).

The Fulness of Accusation. Consider the wicked and violent men who control this world and who are right now engaged in the murder of billions of people. These perverts exist for one purpose right now – to be PROVEN, not just wrong, but absolutely false. To take in hand the removal of billions of “useless eaters” from this world is to accuse God like God has never been accused before. We are living in the fulness of accusation.

Showing Jesus to the world, then, is also showing to the world its own falseness. But, as Jesus said, it’s really God whom they hate – without any reason whatever.

The Apocalypse. Here is what I just wrote elsewhere concerning the apocalypse, a term that could fit here.

~ I am a true human, just like the Lord Jesus Christ, that means that I am the Apocalypse. As Jesus said, we are the light of the world. My calling and yours is to make the Truth and the Lie visible. I make the Truth visible. I make the Lie visible. I am the Apocalypse. I am the removal of that which hides; I am the bright shining of the Light. These are not two separate actions. To show Jesus to all is to demonstrate the utter folly and delusion of not-Jesus. ~

The Topics for the Page. We have set out these things for our own understanding, but the page itself goes in a slightly different direction. The first box will be titled “The World.” Our emphasis will be that the world is utterly evil, existing solely to prevent God from being known. As such, Nicene Christianity is very much part of the world. John Calvin burned Michael Severus at the stake to keep God from being known. The second box, “My Travail,” will be God’s purpose for the world towards us – “you don’t belong here.” The third box will be “God Keeps Me.” These boxes draw the meanings of John 17 into the prior statements of Jesus.

A Larger Picture. We are seeing a much larger picture now. You see, 1 John continues to expand this clash between the life of God inside of us and the hatred of the world towards God-known. It is John’s vision, however, where we see the final showdown between these two forces, God manifest in the flesh, and a world of falseness and horror.

The word “overcome” (Greek nike) is found in our passage, but we will not expand on it until 1 John, and then, several times over when we get to Studies in John’s Vision. Jesus’ purpose here was not towards the final victory, but to put courage and understanding into His disciples for the long centuries ahead. – God KEEPS you.

The World and the Kingdom. Understanding is coming to us now regarding so many questions I have held before God for years. Here is a slightly different definition of the world. The world is any combination of men and demons working together to prevent God from revealing Himself through human flesh.

Then we see that the Kingdom is that new ecosystem birthed out from the opposition of the world. The opposition of the world is essential to the meaning and nature of the New Creation. I hope that this lesson will give us a clearer view of why.

The Son of Perdition. Finally, we understand the meaning of “the son of perdition,” that is, “the child born out from lostness.” Judas knew Jesus, walked with Him, even loved Him a bit. Yet Judas’s decision was slow and calculated.

Listen, Judas watched Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead; he helped collect the overflow of food from feeding the multitudes. We could go on and on. Judas KNEW that Jesus was out from God, the Messiah. Yet Judas weighed the consequences of allowing God to be manifest in the world through flesh and chose for the world against God, that Love would not penetrate the darkness.

Normal versus “the Looney Bin.” Jesus said that they will put you to death thinking they are “serving God.” To the world “God manifest in the flesh” is blasphemy and insanity.

I just heard that bit again on a TV show, spoken with contempt. “You can talk to God all you want, but the moment God ‘talks to you,’ you’re for the looney bin.” I thought, “Oh, okay.” I have just set the pattern of my life across the years of God speaking to me, and I have just expressed the realization that this was the same voice speaking to Abraham. To me, this is just normal, as it was in the move fellowship, but to the world and to most Christians, it is FALSE.

The World. ~ The world is any combination of men and demons working together to prevent the revelation of Jesus Christ as every word God speaks fulfilled. I recognize that the world is always evil, that is, at war against God, even when it appears “good.” God and I together love the people of the world, yet I am never ensnared by their causes. I know that the world hates me without a cause. I know that all governments of any kind in this world are at war against the Lord Jesus. I know that it is Father with me whom they hate. Even though I do not belong to this world, I know that God has placed me here as a testimony of Jesus for others. ~

A “Season” versus “Not Belonging.” When I think about leaving any situation inside my Christian experience, I see it as the completion of a season for me in God teaching me of Himself. Lakewood Church is a good example. We did not stop going to Lakewood because we no longer “belonged” there, but because I knew that season was finished.

The world has always been a different experience for me. All my life I have been profoundly aware that I do not belong in the world. My departure from Sheldon ISD, for instance, was in the line of “You don’t belong here, get out.”

The Womb. The womb is both. For a season, the womb is the right place for the growing infant to be. Then there comes a moment when the womb becomes the enemy. “Get out of here. You don’t belong here anymore.” Being rejected by the womb is a very pressing and disturbing experience. Then everything changes, and the child has no idea of anything in the new light.

You see, God’s metaphor of the reproduction of life really is the only way we can understand the Christian life. At the same time, – Jesus is always with me – makes God’s travail shared with us utterly personal to us.

The Central Picture. Here again is our confession of faith.

~ I remember always what Jesus speaks to me, especially when I am being persecuted, and even if I am killed for His sake. I bear with all pain, grief, and pressure, for I know that life is coming forth from me. ~

We are the woman bringing forth life; we are the child coming into God’s world. This is the central picture of everything John writes. Yet this is truly God’s own travail, shared with us. It is God first who wants to be seen and known, and it is God first who is rejected by the world.

Our Definition. This shared travail, God and me together, is the center of our definition as humans. God and I together want something that is almost impossible. We want life to come forth among humans on this earth. And we know that such an impossible thing can begin only with the winning of each heart by the Spirit.

Yes, this statement defines my agony since I was a little boy, that is, it shows what my life (and yours) has been all about. To know that my agony has always been for others, and to know that my agony has always been my Father sharing all with me, such knowing makes my whole life more valuable than I can imagine. – And yours in the same way.

My Travail. ~ God my Father suffers long and is kind. He covers and carries all in spite of all the accusation and hurt. God groans, deep inside Himself, to bring forth life, that is, to be known as He is through humans. Every joy and every good thing I have known has been God sharing with me the goodness of a universe of life. And every sorrow and loss I have known in my entire life has been God my Father sharing with me His great travail to be known. I give thanks inside of and for the sake of all things because I share with God the birthing of this New World of knowing God. I bear with all pain, grief, and pressure, for I know that life is coming forth from me. God my Father is revealed as love through me. I travail with God. ~

God Keeping Me. Because of the nature of this topic, I thought it right to bring in the powerful commandment Jesus spoke to God in John 17, “Father, KEEP them,” into this page.

My life is a testimony of God keeping me over many years. And I place this same requirement upon God towards my children and grandchildren and towards my brother Franz’s children, in sacred trust.

God keeps me from evil, that it might not ensnare me. God, You WILL keep my children and Franz’s children from evil. You WILL place a mighty barrier all around them so that evil cannot ensnare them.

God Keeping You. God has kept you, dear reader, just as much as He has kept me. If you imagine He has not, you are completely wrong. This is why it is so important for you to place the Lord Jesus Christ upon every moment of your life in your account always given inside the presence of God. Only then will you discover just how much God has kept you for a most wondrous purpose.

Never define yourself by any “besetting sin.” Rather, what is the travail for others God is sharing with you? True deliverance comes from one place only, it comes out from your KNOWING that God shares all with you.

Pressed into Knowing. But look at how this topic, “the world hates me,” is pressing us right into the most intimate knowing of God there is. Sharing travail with God versus bouncing around in the screaming cacophony of insane lies. What choice is there?

Our knowledge of God keeping us depends on our acknowledgment of God sharing all with us. You see, we are NOT talking about “running into God” in order to “escape from the world.” We are talking about sharing all with God for the sake of those caught in the screaming cacophony of insane lies.

We are KEPT because we are coming out from God.

The Source of the Kingdom. We are KEPT inside of God our Rock. We come out from that Rock as streams of living water in a dry and thirsty land. We proceed out from KEPT-ness every moment. And we place that certainty of KEPT-ness upon each one whom God has given to us.

Upon FIRM we stand.

By placing this intimate and personal knowing of a God who KEEPS inside the terrible dangers of a ravening world, Jesus is showing us from whence the New Creation proceeds. The Kingdom comes out from sharing life with God as travail together for the sake of others.

God Keeps Me. ~ I live and walk inside a dangerous and deadly world that is violently opposed to my knowing God and to God being known as He is through me and through the love I share with my brethren. I hear Jesus’ command to the Father in His prayer that birthed the Kingdom; “God KEEP them.” I know that God keeps me in everything that God keeping me might mean. God keeps me, ______ ______ (put your own full name in the blank). I am kept, yet I am kept inside of great purpose. ~

~ God keeps me inside the center of His own travail to be known, that every Word God speaks be proven faithful and true. I am the light of the world. My calling is to make the Truth and the Lie visible. I make the Truth visible, Jesus as every Word God speaks. I make the Lie visible, the world in all of its false accusation against God. It is inside this great purpose of the revelation of Jesus Christ that God KEEPS me in every moment and circumstance of my life. God keeps me for the sake of life and joy coming to all. ~

Sharing Travail. Our discussion of this topic has gone in a direction I might not have been expecting before I started to write. Yet, “That they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent,” is coming up.

All things of our existence come out from knowing God, and knowing God is the personal intimacy of a shared Life. Our life in this world of woe has been a continual agony of heart mixed with an occasional peace and joy. To know that it has all been God sharing His travail with us is Glory. Yet this brings us to what might be the most important question we could ever ask, a question that must rule the remainder of this study of John. – What is a God of travail?

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is “The Spirit Leads Me,” mostly from the rest of John 16, but also drawing from John 15. Read both chapters, John 15 & 16. These two lessons are very much paired in this study of John’s gospel. “The World Hates Me” versus “The Spirit Leads Me inside of All Truth.” And yes, Jesus positions these two things against each other, as do Paul and John later on. And both together position the meaning of “Knowing God.”

When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide and instruct you inside of all truth.

Let’s Pray Together. Our prayer this time is metamorphy, taking upon ourselves the essence of Jesus by spending time with Him. In this instance, however, we are not thinking about “God-keep-me,” or our own travail to know God. We are kept; we share travail with God for others.

“Lord Jesus, You have honored us with the greatest honor there could be, for You have invited us to bring our whole lives, with every moment and circumstance, into the Heart of our Father, that we might share His great travail coming out from His desire to be known. It is in this shared travail, Lord Jesus, that we are most like You.

“Lord Jesus, each one of us has walked through great difficulty in this world of woe. We have known the opposition of this world; we have each borne great pain. We give You permission, Lord Jesus, to take very moment and particulate of our grief throughout our entire lives and place it as part of the Father’s great desire to be known.

“We give You permission, Lord Jesus, to join our every moment with the Father’s travail, for the sake of others. To know God, and to have God known through us as our shared love together – there is nothing else. Lord Jesus, as we share all things together with You, so let us be the full human expression of God-known in this world, by Your great ability to make us just like You.”

“God, our Father, we ask inside of the name of Jesus that You would make us part of Your Heart in Your great desire to be known inside of creation. Father, we ask again, in full expectation of faith, that You would seal us into the completion of every Word You speak in the gospel. Let the completion of Your Word flow out from us and from the love we share together, that the world might know Jesus Sent.

“Father, You have placed us into this world for this very purpose, that we might be Your doorway into Joy fulfilled, that You might be Yourself in this world through us. Father, we give ourselves to You inside Your travail, that LIFE might come into this world through us. – It is so.”