As Jesus testified during His ministry about His purpose, He clearly established He was not from the same world as His listeners. What exactly did He mean by such statements? Where exactly then was He from?

The word for “world” in the Greek language is “kosmos.” Like many Scriptural terms it has different shades of meaning ^[1] and uses determined by context. Previously this word was discussed in chapter One of Us To Know Good and Evil. When Jesus spoke He mentioned two worlds that in many ways contrasted one another. One is "above" and the other is "below."  Jesus claimed to be from the world above where from which He had been sent to the world below. In a broad  sense of use the world below refers to the current order of creation by Jesus that is now separated in darkness from the light of the Father. More narrowly  it implies the universe of all created or the inhabitants of that universe respectively. Thus the word can infer the Father's domain in heaven, the universe or just mankind as the central part of the universe. Which use is determined by context. Clearly Jesus stated He is not from the same order or organization as mankind that is living in this world.

John 3:16

16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. NASB (Emphasis mine)

 

John 8:21-30

21 He said therefore again to them, "I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."  22 Therefore the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?"  23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins."  25 And so they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world."  27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 Jesus therefore said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."  30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. NASB (Emphasis mine)

    When used in Scriptures “kosmos” is more a term of distinction or location rather than purity or quality.  The term does not imply that Jesus was saying I am from the clean and you are from the dirty even though as another contrasting feature one location contains evil and the other does not. Heaven of the Father's current domain is currently protected from even the slightest sin by God's angels as seen in chapter Who Will Go For Us? While many attributes of this “kosmos” are shared in Scripture Jesus infers a setting or position relative to the overall Kingdom of Heaven rather than excellence or inferiority. Jesus made it clear in His teachings He was not “of this world” or from mankind.  He was sent “from above” inferring a different location from the presence of the Father  - a location that was not of this creation of the two heavens and earth of Genesis 1:1 noted in chapter In Beginning.

     As told in John 3:16 it was the Father’s love for the kosmos, “the world", that influenced Him to give His only Son by sending Him as Savior. From the picture of Scripture Jesus was not sent just to redeem mankind which would be the greek word "anthropos." We should note inspiration does not say, "For God so loved mankind that..." His mission was broader.  Mankind was created so Jesus as the Son of God could come as a man to redeem the “kosmos” or that different location which had been separated from the Father. In chapter Who Turned Out the Light? is described the new created temporary dark world necessitated by the sin of Satan.  By the choice of Adam and Eve to disobey as seen in chapter One of Us to Know Good and Evil the dark creation's destiny then and now also included mankind. As a blessing for providing through flesh a Redeemer, those among mankind who believe in this gift would not perish as everything in this order and arrangement does. By faith in God’s sin offering in Jesus we will have eternal life as adopted children in the presence of the Father above in a New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem as seen in chapter God With Us Celebration - The New Heaven and New Earth. God would make a Kingdom created from the complete reorganization of the material of this universe as taken back from the “god of this world.”

    Somehow we often miss this point of these contrasting worlds and their present rulers of the Father and Satan that battle between the two very different “kosmos.” When thinking about what the Father wishes to accomplish in sending His Son we often give the idea He just wants to just fix and patch up this dark universe improving on it’s present order and arrangement. Many teach God basically will run Satan off and vanquish all evil making this kosmos like the Genesis Eden lost^[2]. We occasionally hear the term “Christian world view” in association with moral values and Biblical principles. The promotion of the philosophies attached at times gives the idea God eventually wants to cogently create a heaven on earth by Christian action and activity. Many of the Crusades of centuries past in attempting to conquer and maintain the Holy Land were build upon this error. That is not to say God’s children should not be “the salt of the earth” and “light of the world” influencing by demonstration of God’s values of Kingdom law and love in an evil world. However nowhere does the Bible ever say Christians will purify this world into the world of heaven. This world and the heaven of our Father are very different and as far as Scripture is concerned are incompatible together.

    In sending Jesus the Father’s goal was not to forcefully improve on this world eventually fixing it up like His own in Heaven. Jesus made this clear in testimony to Pilate recorded in John 18:36-37 “36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." NASB (Emphasis mine) This order in which we live will never be heaven on earth as Eden restored no matter how active or forceful the servants of Christ. Jesus said in John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you; but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.” NASB (Emphasis mine) This universe in which we live is separated from a Holy and Pure Father because of its evil deeds and will perish by fire and judgment as its destiny as seen chapter Final Judgment.  The present “god of this dark world” who offered all of it one time to Jesus in temptation will one day be destroyed by the brightness of the Son of God's coming and cast in the Lake of Eternal Fire. 

Hebrews 9:11-12

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. NASB

So since Jesus was more than just another man from this earth out of the population of mankind about two thousand years ago- just who, what, when, where and why is He? Let us consider...

Word Made Flesh

John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  NASB

Jesus was active in the work of God the Father in Eternity past long eons of time before His birth in Bethlehem. Eternity past is long before 6000 years ago. It covers an immeasurable amount of time the Apostle Paul called "times eternities" as discussed in chapter In Beginning.

Jesus as He taught the Jews about His relationship and purpose in keeping the word and will of His Father told them of His existence even before Abraham.

John 8:58

58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." NASB

Jesus has been an active Creator long before the time of this creation recorded in Genesis and this evil age in God's history. Jesus as God's Son existed with the Father before the separated creation was made as seen in His prayer to His Father in heaven.

John 17:1-5

17 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, 2 even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. 4 "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. 5 "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. NASB

 

John 17:24

24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. NASB

 

One can easily see why the Apostle John could write, "In beginning was the Word..." Scriptural evidence shows Jesus working as a vibrate part of the Godhead since times eternities, before the foundation of the world and before Abraham. He supersedes all ever known.

John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  NASB

Jesus came from God where He had been with God. He was from a region of God's creation where  man could not go now represented by the Third heaven. As Jesus spoke about being sent as an envoy for another to this world those around Him did not realize He had been with God the Father. It was the Father in heaven Who had sent Him. As such Jesus was more than a peasant from Galilee born in Bethlehem. He was royalty as a King. The gospel of a coming Messiah of a conquering King had been spread and known throughout the known world for over two thousand years since the time of Abraham.  It was this claim to fulfill that ancient promise that enemies used against Jesus in trial. Jesus informed Pilate during his interrogation that He was a King whose Kingdom was not of this world. He was nothing less than a King from the domain of the Father who had been sent on a mission to witness to the truth of the Father's will for the separated creation.

John 8:21-30

21 He said therefore again to them, "I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." 22 Therefore the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" 23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." 25 And so they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." 27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 Jesus therefore said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." 30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. NASB

 

John 18:33-37

33 Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?" 35 Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You up to me; what have You done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." NASB

 

John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  NASB

As the Apostle John finishes Jesus previous eternal presence and origination he then proclaims He is Deity as God. The Deity of Jesus is verified in Scripture by the witness of God the Father, angels, apostles,  prophets and even demons.

Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" 15 But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. 16 And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."  NASB

 

Matthew 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." 24 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, 25 and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. NASB

Luke 8:26-28

26 And they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He had come out onto the land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." NASB

 

Mark 3:11

11 And whenever the unclean spirits beheld Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, saying, "You are the Son of God!" NASB

Jesus was conceived in the virgin Mary His mother by the Holy Spirit making Him both God and man. He was called Immanuel meaning God with us. God had in power came in the form of mankind to fulfill the will of His Father in Heaven.

John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  NASB

 

Colossians 1:9-23

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created by Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach — 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. NASB

Jesus was proven God's Son with power of the the resurrection from the dead. He is the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead and the hope of all others who hope to attain resurrection to eternal life.

Jesus again abides at the right hand of the Father working as a priest in intercession for those who come to God. This Son of God and King paid a great price of sacrificing His own fleshly life for the eternal life of those who would listen and believe this true message from the Father. As such since we who believe are bought with a price we rightly become bond servants in loyalty to the One who redeemed us. In the next chapter Bond Servants of Jesus we will look at much greater depth of the details of this deserved bond service to our coming King.

Endnotes

^[1] ko/smo$, ko/smou, o(; Thayer's Greek Lexicon, PC Study Bible formatted Electronic Database, 2006, Biblesoft, Inc. NT:2889  1. in Greek writings from Homer down, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order.

2. as in Greek writings from Homer down, ornament, decoration, adornment: e)ndu/sew$ i(mati/wn, 1 Peter 3:3 (Ecclus 6:30; 21:21; 2 Macc 2:2; the Sept. for ab*x* of the arrangement of the stars, 'the heavenly hosts,' as the ornament of the heavens, Gen 2:1; Deut 4:19; 17:8; Isa 24:21; 40:26; besides occasionally for yd!u&; twice for tr#a#p=T!, Prov 20:29; Isa 3:19).

3. the world, i. e. the universe (quem ko/smon Graeci nomine ornamenti appellarunt, eum nos a perfecta absolutaque elegantia mundum, Pliny, h. n. 2, 3; in which sense Pythagoras is said to have been the first to use the word, Plutarch, de plac. philos. 2, 1, 1, p. 886 c.; but according to other accounts he used it of the heavens, (Diogenes Laërtius 8, 48, of which it is used several times also by other Greek writers (see Menag. on (Diogenes Laërtius, the passage cited; Bentley, Epistles of Phalaris, vol. i., 391 (Lond. 1886); M. Anton. 4, 27 and Gataker's notes; cf. Liddell and Scott, under the word, IV.)): Acts 17:24; Rom 4:13 (where cf. Meyer, Tholuck, Philippi); 1 Cor 3:22; 8:4; Phil 2:15; with a predominant notion of space, in hyperbole, John 21:25 (Wisdom 7:17; 9:3; 2 Macc 8:18; kti/zein to/n ko/smon, Wisdom 11:18; o( tou= ko/smou kti/sth$, 2 Macc 7:23; 4 Macc 5:25 (24); — a sense in which it does not occur in the other O. T. books, although there is something akin to it in Prov 17:6, on which see 8 below); in the phrases pro/ tou= to/n ko/smon ei@nai, John 17:5; a)po/ katabolh=$ ko/smou (Matt 13:35 R G; 25:34; Luke 11:50; Heb 4:3; 9:26; Rev 13:8; 17:8) and pro/ katabolh=$ ko/smou (John 17:21; Eph 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20) (on which see katabolh/, 2); a)po/ kti/sew$ ko/smou, Rom 1:20; a)p' a)rxh=$ ko/smou, Matt 24:21; (on the omission of the article, cf. Winer's Grammar, p. 123 (117); Buttmann, § 124, 8 b.; (cf. Ellicott on Galatians, 6:14)).

4. the circle of the earth, the earth (very rarely so in Greek writings until after the age of the Ptolemies; so in Boeckh, Corpus inscriptions i., pp. 413 and 643, nos. 334 and 1306): Mark 16:15; (John 12:25); 1 Tim 6:7; basilei/a tou= ko/smou, Rev 11:15; basilei=ai (plural) tou= ko/smou, Matt 4:8 (for which Luke 4:5 th=$ oi)koume/nh$); to/ fw=$ tou= ko/smou tou/tou, of the sun, John 11:9; e)n o%lw| tw=| ko/smw|, properly, Matt 26:13; hyperbolically, equivalent to far and wide, in widely separated places, Rom 1:8; (so e)n panti/ tw=| ko/smw|, Col 1:6); o( to/te ko/smo$, 2 Peter 3:6; the earth with its inhabitants: zh=n e)n ko/smw|, opposed to the dead, Col 2:20 (lh|sth/$ h@n kai/ kle/pth$ e)n tw=| ko/smw|, i. e. among those living on earth, Ev. Nicod. 26 ). By a usage foreign to secular authors,

7. "worldly affairs; the aggregate of things earthly; the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc., which, although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ": Gal 6:14; 1 John 2:16; 3:17; ei@nai e)k tou= ko/smou, to be of earthly origin and nature, John 18:36; somewhat differently in 1 John 2:16 (on which see ei)mi/, V. 3 d.); kerdai/nein to/n ko/smon o%lon, Matt 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25; oi( xrw/menoi tw=| ko/smw| tou/tw| (critical text to/n ko/smon; see xra/omai, 2), 1 Cor 7:31a; me/rimnan ta/ tou= ko/smou, 33f; fi/lo$ and fili/a tou= ko/smou, James 4:4; a)gapa=n to/n ko/smon, 1 John 2:15; nikan to/n ko/smon, the incentives to sin proceeding from the world, 1 John 5:4f; the obstacles to God's cause, John 16:33; (cf. e)lqe/tw xa/ri$ kai/ parelqe/tw o( ko/smo$ ou!to$, Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, c. 10 [ET ]).

8. any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort (cf. English a world of curses (Shakspere), etc.): o( ko/smo$ th=$ a)diki/a$, the sum of all iniquities, James 3:6; tou= pistou= o%lo$ o( ko/smo$ tw=n xrhma/twn, tou= de/ a)pi/stou ou)de/ o)bolo/$ (a statement due to the Alex. translators), Prov 17:6. Among the N. T. writers no one uses ko/smo$ oftener than John; it occurs in Mark three times, in Luke's writings four times, and in the Apocalypse three tinms. Cf. Kreiss, Sur le sens du mot ko/smo$ dans le N. T. (Strasb. 1837); Düsterdieck on 1 John 2:15, pp. 247-259; Zezschwitz, Profangräcität u. Biblical Sprachgeist, p. 21ff; Diestel in Herzog xvii., p. 676ff; (Trench, Synonyms, § lix.); on John's use of the word cf. Reuss, Histoire de la theologie chretienne au siecle apostolique, ii., p. 463ff (i. e. livre 7 chapter viii.); cf. his Johanneische Theologie, in the Beiträge zu den theol. Wissenschaften, Fasc. i., p. 29ff; (Westcott on John 1:10, 'Additional Note').*

^[2] Restoring Broken Things: What Happens When We Catch a Vision for the New World Jesus Is Creating,  Steven Curtis Chapman, 2005, Integrity Publishers. Steven Chapman in an interview with American Family Radio in promotion of his concepts about the New Heaven and New Earth related it as to "Eden on steroids." Segment aired October 20, 2005. 

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