1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) 15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
Just what is the world?
1) “The world” is present in “the lust of the flesh”, that is, an indulgence of desires that resists giving up sovereign control to do as I please. My mantra is, “I don’t want anyone telling me what I can or can’t do!”
2) “The world” is present in “the lust of the eyes”, that is, in any resistance to denying myself or exercising restraint on acquiring things I don’t need. My mantra is, “If I want it I’ll see to it I get it!”
3) “The world” is present in “the pride of life”, that is, an inflated view of myself, my morality, or what I own that resists acknowledging my moral bankruptcy. My mantra is “If people want to get things right they need to do things my way.”
John 15:18 (GW) — “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me before it hated you.”
1) Hated because our lives shine with the humility of belonging to God, surrendered to the purposes and will of God, and consequently indifferent to human pressure or expectations.
2) Hated because our lives shine with the perfect peace and contentment of knowing we have a good Shepherd who meets our every need and solves our every problem all in good time.
3) Hated because our lives shine into the darkness, exposing shameful behaviors, and openly acknowledging the damage we do to ourselves and others, and that we live in constant need of a Savior to forgive and redeem the moral messes we make.
Galatians 6:14: “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
= because of the cross we now have only one thing in common with the world — a mutual disgust and loathing — a hatred. The world hates our God-centered mentality, we hate the world’s godless mentality.
