Living In An Upside-Down World

Commentary

It doesn’t take a keen observer or a person who is buried in the news 24/7 to see that this world is flipping upside down, and society and culture are becoming very morally confused. There are many things which the Bible teaches us are sinful and evil, such as sex outside of marriage, theft, lying, homosexuality, etc., that are now being made to look “good” in our society. All while those of us who adhere to a Biblical worldview are being painted more and more as bigots and haters.

What is happening is not new; it’s happened time and time again in societies. It happened in Noah’s day, in the days of ancient Israel, in the times of the Roman Empire; it’s been happening in Europe for a while now, and it’s happening in the greatest stronghold for Christianity — America. It will continue to happen until God puts an end to all evil.

The influx of evil we’re seeing was prophesied to happen; God isn’t caught off guard or surprised by any of this. He is patiently waiting for all who are to come to faith in this age; then He will take care of this evil. In this study, we will look to Scripture for some understanding and instruction for how to live in our current world as followers of Jesus.

Commentary

The Bible teaches that the human heart is wicked, unable to be cured. While the heart of the believer is made new in Christ Jesus, our physical flesh is still weak and prone to desire what is evil at times. However, that new heart in conjunction with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives us an ability to overcome those evil desires like we never could before.

The sad reality is, we are three generations into the removal of Jesus from our society. Long gone are the days of school-led prayer and the displaying of the Ten Commandments in public buildings. We now live in a world that has grown far apart from God.

The verse above describes the spiritual and moral state that the Israelites were in just decades or so after God had rescued them from Egypt. Generations grew further and further apart from God, and soon the “true north” of their moral compasses was no longer God, but their own morality.

History has a way of mimicking itself when people don’t learn from it. Today, we’re seeing a stark resemblance in America and Europe to those days of Israel. Just take a look at who is leading the prominent nations of the world, mostly wicked leaders, who are pushing godless agendas. Evil has penetrated all facets of life, even some churches, in forms that look “righteous” and “good”.

It’s evermore important, as followers of Jesus, that we stand up against these evils and the deceptive tactics of those who hate Jesus and try our best to influence those around us through our witness for Christ — having an immovability in our ways by standing on God’s sure Word.

Commentary

If you’re walking with the Lord, then it’s likely it’s been and will continue to be difficult to watch our society crumble in self-deception. Peter, by way of the Holy Spirit, describes to us that Lot’s soul was tormented by what he witnessed going on around him. I know my soul is in torment of what I’ve been seeing, as I’m sure yours is as well.

Unfortunately, though Lot was burdened by the evil around him, he had started to grow comfortable enough with his life in Sodom. The Bible states that Lot hesitated to leave, and that the angels had to physically grab his hand to get him and his family to leave. Sadly, Lot’s wife became so attached that she ignored God’s command through the angels and looked back.

It’s important that we remain vigilant and focused on Jesus in these wicked times, because even though we don’t like what we see, we can start to adjust to things or become willfully blind to them in order to find some sort of normalcy and comfort in our own lives. This world and its things should never be our source of comfort, as we can see just how flipped and twisted it can become.

If we’re not careful, we might find ourselves unwittingly promoting evil or doing nothing to combat it. The mind can become drunken on the things we take pleasure in; that’s why Jesus warned us so many times to be sober, alert, and watching out for deception.

Commentary

The world in which we live is now resembling more and more the world of the last days, as described by Paul and by Jesus. Though many of us hope things will get better, the Bible teaches otherwise. Our world will become worse and worse as it did in the days of Noah, until the Lord returns to rule.

Jesus is recorded saying, in Luke 8:18: “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”. That’s why we must always be spiritually armored up and ready to face the evil day ahead. Jesus warned that Satan is the ruler of this world during this age and Scripture describes him as being the prince of the power of the air, the father of lies, a deceiver since the beginning, and the spirit that is working in the disobedient. Scripture teaches that he is prowling around like a lion, waiting to attack those who are lacking faith or who have a weak faith.

Now is not the time to be weak in your faith, but if you are, you can remedy that by drawing closer to the Lord. Like a soldier preparing for battle, we must armor up every morning.

You can armor up by staying close to Jesus, being in daily prayer, and in Bible study so that you can avoid becoming too comfortable in this “Sodom” that we are living in.

Commentary

Life is difficult for us as believers. We’re going against the grain of an increasingly evil world, and the unbeliever’s tolerance for us is growing thinner and thinner by the day. But we don’t need to be weary and hopeless, because our Savior has overcome all of this, and through our faith, we will too.

When the world is peddling fear, when it’s striking us with unrest and division, and when it’s tempting us with its lusts, we must evermore focus our attention on Jesus.

If you’re having a difficult time dealing with current events, take your anxieties and fears to the Lord. Pray and actually give Him your worries, and He will take them. When you inevitably strengthen your grip and take those worries back from Him, pray again and give them back to Him, even if it’s 5 minutes later. Keep doing that until you are at ease and in peace. I promise that if you do that, Jesus will ease your soul.