Thursday, October 7, 2010
Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world.
THE PATHS: COURSE OF THIS WORLD
The Greek word from which we get the English "eon" is here translated "course." At other times this same word is translated in a variety of ways including age, time, present Age, forever, etc. Here Paul uses it just as we do when we say the "age of reason." We mean that period of time when men were/are obsessed with reason. When Paul accuses us of formerly "walking according to the age of this world." He isn't accusing us of outward murder, fornication, jealousy, hatred, etc. but having lives dominated completely by the cares, concerns, lifestyles, entertainment, philosophy, etc. of this world. In the next verse he explains this phrase himself as "walking in the lusts [or desires] of the flesh."
The opposite, the contrast, to those who "walk according to the course of this world," are those who are "made alive" in Christ. It's not money, or power, or alcohol, or women, or songs, or politics that are evil or good. Just as nuclear power is not evil or good. But what is the goal and purpose to which you put it? Death or life?
Thus "the age of this world" is not a phrase meant to distinguish this life from that which is to come, but rather to distinguish the mindset of the men of this world, from the mindset of Christ.
The difference is between those who seek life on this earth and those who seek life with Christ. This world and the things of it are to us as flowers to a traveler. They give beauty and joy to a long journey. They are worth looking at and even thanking God for, but they have no lasting value and are not worth derailing us from our goal. We pick them. We smell them. We enjoy them. We give thanks for whatever comes our way, but we keep our eyes on the goal. We keep our eyes on the prize. We keep our eyes on Christ.
