DON'T LOVE THE WORLD SYSTEM
LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the LOVE of The Father is not in him.
For ALL that is the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but it is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
1 John 2:15-17
I have seen a post on what's app asking 'Why did God LOVE the world but He is asking us not to LOVE it?' I read with pain the cynicism embedded in this seemingly harmless question. It only reveals the ignorance of the devil as he tries to deceive the world once again.
The word 'world' as used in the bible, has three (3) distinct meaning.
The first has to do with the creation of the world. That is the physical world as created by God. In Hebrews 11:3 bible says, 'Through Faith, we understand the worlds were formed by the WORD OF GOD, so that things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear. The world' as used in this context means the physical world as created by God. How could God ask us not to LOVE what He created, looked at and declared as GOOD (Genesis 1:31)? God gave man authority over the physical world in Genesis 1:26, '..., and let them have DOMINION...' So how could we hate the world?
John 3:16, is the verse which I believe was used to question why God LOVED the world and then in 1 John 2:15 asked us not to LOVE the world. Bible says in John 3:16, that 'For God SO LOVED THE WORLD, that He gave His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever beliveth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.' Verse 17 says for God sent not His SON into the world to condemn the world...' The meaning of the word world as used in this context means, THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD; Humanity: you and me. So we are the object of His LOVE in this instance and not the physical world. He sent His SON to save humanity.
Now to the world to which we have been admonished not to LOVE. Our world is controlled by the wicked one: satan ans his cohorts as specified in 1 John 5:19. Until Jesus Christ comes back to establish His government the world system of governance, value system of governance and human interaction is under the care of the devil. So God is asking us not to LOVE the ways of the world: the world system. That's why James says '... don't you know friendship with the world means ENMITY AGAINST GOD. Bible says in Mathew 6:24, "NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other..." As a Christian you cannot live by Kingdom principles and values alongside the principles and values of the world system. The world system is what is referred to in everyday parlance as the WORLD ORDER: The world order is not run on fairness, merit, righteousness, LOVE et cetera. It is run on wickedness, atrocities, favouritism, discrimination, cronyism and the ills of society. Greed, corruption, sexual promiscuity are the order of the world. Kingdom values says be Holy and pure; the world says sleep with different shapes of the opposite sex: adultery has been made glamorous by soap operas screening in my beloved country, Ghana.
John gave three (3) specific values that contradicts Kingdom Values in 1 John 2:15-17:
1. The lust of the flesh.
2. The lust of the eye.
3. The pride of life.
The word lust has been been misconstrued to mean promiscuity. It simply means desire. So the desires of the flesh and of the eyes are at variance with your new nature: born again nature which is your spirit man.
The desires of the flesh has to do with abusing and exploiting the natural and normal desires of the flesh to achieve self aggrandizement to the detriment of society. For instance the pleasure of having sex is the greatest of all the pleasures that the human body loves and relishes but whilst Kingdom Values says have it within the confines of marriage the world says go for it anytime anywhere with as much people as you can. Have it with same sex: they have change the natural order by having anal sex: man with man and woman with woman. There are countless normal desires of the human body that has been exploited and abused; these are what we have been admonished not to LOVE. The world system or order of having sex as one of them.
The desires of the eyes has to to do with greed and corruption. Wanting to have everything to the extent of coveting your neighbours spouse. The greed for wealth and the desire to possess it NO MATTER WHAT damming the consequences here on earth and hereafter has driven some Christians to loving the world.
In the days of the early church Paul complained about a young man called Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10, ' for Demas, BECAUSE HE LOVED THIS WORLD, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica...' The way some Christians conduct their business, the way they absent themselves from work as employees, et cetera leaves much worry.
John stated in 1 John 2:15 that Christian women should go after faith, love, holiness and propriety. Propriety means conformity to ESTABLISHED STANDARDS OF GOOD or PROPER behaviour or manners. As a Christian how do you determine what is good and proper behaviour or manners? GO FOR THE WORD OF GOD.
The third vice: pride of self is the worse of the three. It has to do with having or showing false self importance. The Message rendition says '...Wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important - has nothing to do with the Father.
We will continue with the third vice in my next post as we take a cursory look at the book, 1 John. I have to get back to work.
Good morning and Merry Christmas.
Bro Ritchie Edukwesi WOANYA
