Jesus in the Kosmos

John 1:9-11:
“There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

The Greek word for “world” here is “kosmos” which means the universe (our word is “cosmos”). In other words, when Jesus came into the world,
“He was in the kosmos, and the kosmos was made through him, and the kosmos did not know him.”

When John says “the kosmos did not know him” he’s not talking about the people, because the next verse talks about the people rejecting Him:
“He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him.” He’s talking in verse 10 about the physical universe, and the other uses of the word “kosmos.”

So verse 10 is talking about the kosmos rejecting Jesus when he came to earth. This word “kosmos” is also used to represent the system of belief that prevailed when Jesus came. I think it refers to everything that existed, just in the shape it was, when Jesus arrived bodily on earth, including the physical kosmos, the spiritual kosmos, and the mental/psychological kosmos. This included the traditional religiosity of the Pharisees and their desire to inculcate those beliefs among the people; the political oppression that the Jews suffered and their longing for a political savior; the physical realm with its disease, leprosy, poverty and sorrow; and the spiritual emptiness that many were authentically searching for and longing for.

This idea of the fallen physical kosmos is consistent with Romans 8:22 which says “the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth.” Why? v. 21: “The creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” But what we’re learning from modern science is that the physical kosmos is intimately intertwined with consciousness. This, of course, is consistent with the BIble that states that God is omnipresent and omniscient (meaning he permeates all of space-time), and he continually holds all things in the kosmos together (Colossians 1:17).

So let’s put this all together:

Jesus was not accepted by the kosmos. That’s because the kosmos itself was and is subjected to sin because of the fall of man, and it is penetrated and influenced by the consciousness of mankind – in whatever state he is in – and by the consciousness of our common enemy.

Jesus was also not accepted into the current political climate. The Jews were looking for a political hero to free them from Roman oppression, but Jesus taught that his kingdom was not of this kosmos.

Neither was Jesus accepted into the religious climate of his day. The Pharisees thought they had it all figured out, but theirs was a religion without Spirit, a list of rules rather than a relationship with Almighty God. Their kosmos was polluted by religion.

Finally, Jesus was also not accepted by His own people. But there were those who did accept Him. And these people that accepted Jesus were the portal through which Jesus himself would change the entire kosmos – every definition of it that we have discussed thus far. Through his Church – the body of Jesus followers on this planet past, present and future – Jesus will bring and is brining redemption of every kind. He will redeem the spiritual kosmos as he shows all people the truth about the Father. He will redeem the mental and political kosmos as he redeems the hearts of men and in the end proves to all the powers that be how to properly run a kingdom. He will redeem the physical kosmos when he perfects it and he perfects the bodies of those who follow him.

Jesus, you see, is into redemption. He’s into creation. He enjoys concepts like “new” and “fresh.” Just like the miracle of creating the universe from that which cannot be seen, and the miracle of creating enough bread for 5,000 people from a couple loaves (creating stuff from that which cannot be seen), so he will create a new political climate, a new spiritual enlightenment (1 Corinthians13:12), a renewed physical universe, and a new kingdom in which all things will be made right. His consciousness will not only penetrate everything as it does now, but it will do so with a new authority because the enemy of righteousness will be bound in a place where he can do no more harm.

And here’s the fun part: he’s actively doing all of this right now in the lives of those who follow him. I have bend using future-tense language, but it’s happening now, it’s been happening for more than 2,00 years, and it will go on throughout all of eternity.

The kosmos will once again “know him” and will run according to the way he originally created it. You remember…back in Genesis 1 where he said “And he saw that it was very good.”