Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
We know that God created the earth and the heavens, and during that time there was a rebellion in heaven lead by Satan. Now Satan was cast down to the earth where he established his thrown, and has authority for a time. Jesus referred to Satan as the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” And in 2 Corinthians he is referred to as “the god of this world.” We live in a fallen world, overrun by the Lie Whisperer and his ways, namely three things mentioned in our focus passage: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. It’s not by accident that each one of these was seen in the temptation of Christ while He was in the wilderness. The lust of the flesh has its seat and source in our lower animal nature. Lust of the eyes is the avenue in which view the outward things of the world, riches, pomp, and beauty, which inflame us. Finally, pride of life, which is literally an arrogant assumption: pride was Satan’s sin, which caused him to fall, and formed the link between the two foes of man, the world (lust of the eyes) and the devil (lust of the flesh). It’s interesting to note that these were combined to tempt and bring the fall of man in the garden.
Now, we can see why John tells us not to love the world and the things of this world, for they are not of God and will drive us away from God. We know that John 3:16 states that “God so loved the world”; this is because we are His creation, created in His image, and yet He does not love what we have become. Therefore, He sent His Son for our salvation and redemption. When we chose to follow Christ we must come to terms with the focus of our love. We cannot love Christ and the world simultaneously. John boldly states that if you love the things of this world the love of the Father is not in you! We must set our eyes on Jesus daily, moment by moment, and hold fast to His promise that one day this will all pass away and will be made new. The Lie Whisperer will do all in his power to misdirect us by tempting us with the things of this world, which may bring pleasure for a season, but will be destroyed in the end. The love of Christ is for eternity, not just now. The love of this world and what it has to offer is temporary. Remember, Jesus was tempted to love the world, just like we are every day. Yet He overcame. And because He overcame, we too can overcome through Him. Greater is He that is in us then he that is in the world!
Dale LaFrance (please look up Matthew 4:1-11)
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