A Study of the Two Worldviews- That of Humans and God

Scripture passage

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8 & 9)

A Brief Note on the Passage

God is not a static object merely to be located, but God is one who lets himself be known. God’s thoughts are intended for his plans and purpose, which differ in kind from those of human beings as greatly as that distance dividing heaven from earth.

The things that God thinks and purposes are not the things that man thinks and purposes. Therefore, because the thoughts are different, the outcomes lead in opposite directions. God’s ways are his acts, the manner and course of his work considered as a path on which he moves. Our ‘ways’ are our manner of life and they are not parallel with the ways of God. They are opposed to God's ways.

What is a Worldview?

A worldview is a way you look at the world. It is the lens through which man interprets all their experiences and through which they make decisions. It is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. A more simple understanding comes from Chuck Colson who once said, a worldview is “the sum total of our beliefs about the world.” A worldview encompasses different components.

1) God (Theology) – Every worldview has a theology – it says something about God or the divine. The view may be very precise or vague, explicit or implicit, negative or positive (i.e. atheistic vs. theistic), but every worldview talks about God.

2) Knowledge (Epistemology) – Likewise, worldviews usually attempt to explain knowledge: what we can know and how we can know it. It also comments on closely related subjects, like truth, logic, reason, experience, intuition, and revelation.

3) Origin (Cosmology) – Worldviews always explicitly or implicitly tell us where we came from. For instance, the secular worldview relies on some form of molecules-to-man evolution. Biblical Christianity teaches special creation in six days a few thousand years ago.

4) Humanity (Anthropology) – In the same way, every worldview has a take on human beings. It represents a certain perspective on humanity. It articulates our origin, uniqueness or non-uniqueness, purpose, nature, and destiny. Worldviews always address what we are and our significance.

5) Morality (Ethics) – Each worldview also has a distinct take on goodness and morality. Ethics covers areas like the highest good, whether morality is objective or subjective, what is right and wrong, and rewards for doing good or judgments for doing evil.

6) Salvation (Soteriology) – Worldviews also include a “salvation story.” When Christians hear the word ‘salvation’ we tend to think salvation from sin, death, and hell through the atoning work of Jesus. But here ‘salvation’ is more generic: what is the basic human problem and what is the solution to that problem.

7) Meaning (Teleology) – What is the meaning of life? Every worldview aims to answers this question. The answer to this question in each worldview tells us why we are even here.

8) Destiny (Eschatology) – Finally, a worldview tells us something about the destiny of the universe and everyone in it. Though the end has not happened yet, each worldview describes what will happen based on their understanding of reality and revelation.

Every component of a worldview is interrelated. Theology relates to anthropology and anthropology relates to knowledge, and so on. What you believe about God has a direct impact on what you believe about humanity and your ultimate destiny. These worldview components also affect how you will live your life and your ethics.

The Two Types of Worldviews

Two types of worldviews exist. The first, those developed by fallen humans and thus marred by sin. The other, God's worldview revealed in the Bible. "Thoughts" are people's ideas and concepts. They are their thinking pattern. They are impureand morally wrong. The “ways" are peoples' actions and behavior. Actions grow out of thoughts. Human ways are radically wrong. They are sinful. From the words of Isaiah 55:8 and 9, we can clearly observe that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. We have not taken his truth into our minds, nor his purposes into our wills. In effect, God is saying, “I reject and renounce your conduct and condemn it utterly.”

Destructive Nature of Worldliness

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Worldliness has a destructive nature. One should be warned that any evil activity that seems successful, prosperous and safe can take any number of turns to destruction. This verse depicts the image of a traveler standing at the beginning of a road. All seems safe. Yet it is fatal because the destination is wrong. When he comes to the end, he discovers death waiting for him. The road is wrong and will leads mortal ruin--- death and eternal punishment. The contrast is with the “way” that seems right and the "ways of death," which in the end provide the reality for the short-sighted evaluation.

Evil is often deceptive

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:6)

Through the eyes of Eve, the forbidden fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" was first, good for food. Then, it was beautiful to behold. Finally, it would bring her wisdom. She was wrong and the end result was lethal. Evil, in other words, is often deceptive.

A True Story: Choosing the Right Worldview

Dr. Pamela Grim tells the story of Sheldon, the nicest police officer on the beat in Detroit. All the doctors at the inner-city hospital liked him. He had an amazing ability to calm down the drug addicts, alcoholics, and mentally ill people he brought in to the ER.

So no one was prepared for the night when Sheldon showed up on the operating room table.  During a routine traffic stop, a young man pulled a shotgun and fired on him. All the doctors had an emotional investment in trying to save Sheldon's life. And as they worked over Sheldon's injured body, the young shooter was brought in and placed in the adjoining operating room.

For a moment, Dr. Grim considered the choice before her. How tempting it would be to let the shooter die. Sheldon deserved the best of care. What did his killer deserve? But like any committed doctor, she gave both men the best of care.  Sheldon-- the nicest officer on the beat-- died from massive blood loss. Sheldon's killer survived.

-- Pamela Grim, M.D.  Just Here Trying To Save a Few Lives

Biblical Worldview

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:8 & 9)

Whoever does not love does not know God at all, for love is the very nature of God. Love here is not to be understood as one of God's many activities; rather, every activity of his is loving activity. Since this is true of God, our failure to love can only mean that we have no true knowledge of God, we have not really been born of him, and we do not have his nature--- that is, we are not living in accordance with the biblical worldview.

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27 & 28)

The word "love" must be understood in its classic Christian sense of agape, having a genuine concern for someone irrespective of his or her character and personality or of the likelihood of any reciprocation in kind. Love is augmented by doing good works toward others without expecting to get any reward or appreciation in return.

Living in the Biblical Worldview

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:4-6)

The chaff is worthless. Such are the wicked. They have no substance, the wind blows them away. Human understandings developed in isolation from God are worthless and doomed to perish. The wicked will not be able to stand judgment. They follow their own counsel, so they will have no place in the assembly of the righteous. God has a loving interest in righteous people. He cares for them and will protect them.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Living a life according to God's instruction is secure, fruitful and prosperous. The one who meditates continually reflects God's word in his or her life. The believer's delight is not only in knowing and studying the Word of God but especially in doing God's will. The delight of the godly in doing God's will on earth is the result of a special relationship with the Lord.

The converted sinner is delivered from the wrath to come. He finds peace in his conscience; and love constrains him to devote himself to the service of his Redeemer. Instead of being profane, contentious, selfish, or sensual, he is patient, humble, kind, and peaceable. The hope of eternal life should urge us to spread the gospel of salvation. One must never hold narrow views of the fulness, freeness, and greatness of the rich mercy in Christ.

Our thoughts and our way of life kept us away from receiving God's blessings. The person who wants God's blessing lives in the BiblicalWorldview. Believers should embody into their lives God's perspective and values that the Bible reveals.

Selie Visa