What the World Wants, part 1
When we ask the question, “What does the world want?” we first have to understand what the Bible means by the word world. Scripture uses that word in several different ways. Sometimes it refers to the earth itself. Sometimes it refers to the whole created order. Sometimes it refers to mankind. At other times, it refers to the ungodly world system that stands opposed to God and His authority.
It is that world system I want us to consider.
In Matthew 21, our Lord Jesus Christ gave the parable of the householder who planted a vineyard. The man prepared everything carefully. He planted the vineyard, placed a hedge around it, dug a winepress, built a tower, and then entrusted it to husbandmen while he went into a far country.
When the time came to receive the fruit of the vineyard, the owner sent his servants. But instead of giving the owner what rightfully belonged to him, the husbandmen attacked the servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned another. The owner sent additional servants, and they treated them in the same way.
Finally, the householder sent his son, saying, “They will reverence my son.” But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.”
That parable shows us something very important about the ungodly world system. It reveals what the world wants.
First, the world wants to live without accountability.
Those husbandmen did not want to recognize the owner of the vineyard. They wanted the benefits of the vineyard without acknowledging the one to whom it belonged. They wanted to use the property as they pleased without answering to anyone.
That is still the spirit of fallen man.
Men want God’s creation, but they do not want God’s authority. They want life, but they do not want to answer to the One who gave them life. They want families, nations, possessions, knowledge, wealth, land, government, and everything else God has provided, while pretending they are free to use those things without reference to Him.
But we are not owners in the absolute sense. We are stewards.
Everything we have ultimately belongs to God.
Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
That settles the question of ownership.
The earth belongs to God. The people upon the earth belong to God. No man, institution, government, ruler, church, or nation possesses independent authority. Every authority is accountable to the God who gave it.
That is exactly what sinful man does not want to hear.
The prophets continually reminded men that they were accountable to God. They called rulers and people to repentance. They condemned sin. They commanded obedience. They reminded Israel that God’s law was not a suggestion.
And how were many of those prophets treated?
They were hated, persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and sometimes killed.
Jesus told His disciples in John 15:20, “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Why such hatred?
Because faithful preaching reminds men that God is God and man is not.
The world can tolerate religion as long as religion remains harmless. It can tolerate a Christianity that offers comfort while demanding nothing. But when the Word of God declares that men must repent, obey God, and recognize the authority of Jesus Christ, opposition quickly appears.
The second thing we learn from the parable is that the world wants Christ’s inheritance.
The husbandmen said, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.”
Notice that their actions actually proved that they knew the inheritance belonged to the son. They recognized the heir, and yet they wanted what belonged to him.
Hebrews 1:2 tells us that God has appointed His Son “heir of all things.”
Jesus Christ is not merely a religious teacher offering advice to those who are interested. He is Lord. He is King. He is the appointed heir of all things.
The rebellious world wants the inheritance, but it does not want the Heir.
- It wants the earth without Christ.
- It wants government without Christ.
- It wants society without Christ.
- It wants authority without Christ.
- It wants mankind without Christ.
In other words, the world wants control over what belongs to Jesus Christ while refusing to acknowledge His ownership.
We see the same attitude surrounding the crucifixion of Christ. In John 11, the chief priests and Pharisees became increasingly concerned about Jesus because of His growing influence. They feared losing their place and authority.
Their concern was power.
If Christ was acknowledged for who He truly was, their authority would have to submit to His authority.
That remains the great conflict.
Men do not merely object to particular Christian doctrines. At the heart of man’s rebellion is the question of authority. Who is Lord? Who has the right to rule? Who determines good and evil? Who establishes justice? Who has the final word?
- The Christian answer is Jesus Christ.
- The world system cannot accept that answer without surrendering its claim to independence.
- Yet the parable does not end with the triumph of the rebellious husbandmen.
- Jesus asked what the owner of the vineyard would do when he returned.
The answer was that he would judge those wicked men and give the vineyard to others who would produce its fruit.
There is a lesson here that our generation desperately needs to understand: rebellion against God does not eliminate accountability. Refusing to recognize God’s authority does not destroy God’s authority.
A man can deny gravity, but gravity continues operating.
In the same way, men can deny Christ, mock Christ, reject His Word, and organize entire institutions as though He does not exist. None of that removes Him from His throne.
Jesus Christ is still Lord.
The world can rebel against the Stone, but the Stone remains.
Our Lord said in Matthew 21:44, “Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
When a man runs into a stone wall, the wall is not injured. The man is.
So it is with rebellion against Christ.
The tragedy is that men seek through rebellion what God freely gives through submission to Christ.
The world wants an inheritance apart from the Heir. Yet Scripture teaches that believers are “joint-heirs with Christ.”
Think about that.
The world struggles to seize what it can never permanently possess, while those who belong to Christ receive an inheritance through Him.
First Corinthians 3:21-23 says, “For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
- What the ungodly world wants, it can never finally have.
- It will never have a world without accountability.
- It will never have a creation without its Creator.
- It will never possess Christ’s inheritance while permanently rejecting Christ.
God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,” as Acts 17:31 tells us.
Judgment is certain because Christ’s resurrection is certain.
But Christians should not respond to these truths with fear. We belong to Jesus Christ.
Our confidence is not in governments, institutions, political movements, wealth, or human power. Our confidence is in the risen Christ.
The world may oppose Him. Men may reject Him. Institutions may refuse to acknowledge Him.
But Jesus Christ remains Lord.
He is the heir of all things, and those who belong to Him share in His inheritance.
Therefore, Christian, do not envy the world.
Do not fear the world.
Do not compromise with the world in order to gain its approval.
We already possess something infinitely greater.
We have Christ.
And if we have Christ, then in Him we have an inheritance that the world can neither give nor take away.