1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV) 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
V15 “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.” The church is Ephesus is rebuked by the Lord Jesus for losing their first love (Revelation 2:4). Our first love is seen by what is the most important to us. If there is a choice to pray or attend a sporting event, which will we choose? If there is a choice to witness the Gospel to a neighbor or having to meet with your buddies for some fishing, which will we choose? If our first love is the world and its desires, we have shown God that He is not our first love. We have chosen the wrong thing. Martha was gently rebuke by the Lord Jesus for being concerned about the meal instead of Jesus’s teaching (Luke 10:38-42). The Greek word for “love” is (G0025) ἀγαπάω agapaō, which is the love of choice (“I choose to love.”) with the character traits of love written in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. If our usual choice, priority, and devotion is for this world with its worldview, lifestyle, and rules, then that person is a fake Christian. This is another test of genuine Christianity, that one is truly saved. All might fail at times, but this verse applies to a life lived over many years. Loving God is obeying God (John 14:15). No one is consistent, but we must strive with God’s help to be seen by non-Christians. We read Jesus’s choice in (Matthew 26:42 NKJV) – “Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”” His choice, His first love was to do His Father’s will.
Remember that Jesus overcame the world (John 16:33). Adam Clarke writes (on John 16:33: “I [Jesus] am just now going by my death to put it and its god to the rout.
“My apparent weakness shall be my victory; my ignominy shall be my glory; and the victory which the world, the devil, and my adversaries in general, shall appear to gain over me, shall be their own lasting defeat, and my eternal triumph. – Fear not!”
Dr Henry M Morris (Defender’s Bible): “Note that this command is absolute, not relative. It does not say: “Don’t love the world too much,” but “not at all!” See also Rom 12:2; Gal 1:4; Jas 4:4. The “world” here does not mean the earth or its people (God Himself so loved the world that He gave His Son to save its people) but rather the world as a “system,” with its possessions, positions and pleasures (contrast 2Co 6:10).”
V16 “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.” The world is the world system with its motives and desires. Two of these three deal with fleshly, bodily, desires–flesh and eyes. The third deals with the soul. The eyes see, the mind considers, the flesh is activated, and all too often the mind is made up and sin is committed.
V17 “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Since the world and its system of life will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:7), we need to be living according to the will of God (the Law of Christ). The latter life is an eternal kingdom. What a wonderful contrast. All the evil of this world, all the disasters of this world, and all the sorrows of this world will be destroyed. Heaven and the eternal life that God has given those who have believed in Jesus will never, ever be destroyed. Doing the will of God proves that what we say matches what we do.
We learn:
- About the contrast between the world system and God’s system.
- This world will end.
- Doing the will of God is of upmost importance