The Fellowship of God 2: Walk In Love
Part 3 The Failure Of False Love - 1 John 2:15-17

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 in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The False Love of the World

Now after John has encourage and inspired his family in the Lord, he gives a warning. A warning of a battle they must be aware that they are fighting every day they are on this earth. A battle against the world false love. He warns them, “Do not love the world or anything that is a part of this world.

He is using the word, world (kosmos), in a spiritual sense, as the realm that is under the power of the prince of this world, Satan. This “world” is a direct contradiction of God’s love and it is in conflict with heaven. As Christians, as God’s family we are not fighting sinners, those are the people we are to win through our love, but we are fighting the world, the kingdom that holds them bound in it’s sin and false love.

This love of the world is seductive and appealing to the lost who don’t know anything else but John’s warning here is to the believer, “Love not the world.” The same world that holds the lost prisoner, can often seduce and bewitch us and pull us back into its influence. It will act as though it loves you but in truth it wants to destroy you.

Jesus warned his disciple on the last night of his life, John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  

James the brother of Jesus was adamant, James 4:4 … know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Vs. 16. The reason the love of this world is false and incompatible with the true love of God is all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. It is a counterfeit love, it is the bait of a sinful, dangerous trap, used by this world, this anti-God system of values, goals and desires to lure the Christian away from God, away from His love, away from His light away from His truth and plunge us into stumbling darkness.

The word lust is epithymia in the Greek and it means to have a craving, a longing, a desire for something that is forbidden, something that is wrong.

John is telling his readers to understand the battle, understand what is at stake. The world and its lust, its desires, its hope and dreams are temporary, they all will pass away, but the one who fights the battle, stands in the light, knows the true love of Jesus and does God’s will, that one will live forever. And the accomplishments, the work, the spiritual investments of that person are deposited in heaven and also are eternal.

John is just restating what His master once told him, Matthew 6:19-2119 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The Power of Resistance

I’ve always found it interesting that the three lusts John mentions here, seem to be an echo of the original temptation in the Garden and of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. This battle against the false love of the world has been going on since the beginning of this world.

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, (lust of the flesh) and that it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise, (pride of life) she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Matthew 4:3-9 3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (lust of the flesh) …5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (pride of life)… 8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (lust of the eyes)

You can see it is the same battle, but can you also see the difference? Eve and the first Adam, lost the battle and gave into the love of the world and it destroyed them. But Jesus, the second Adam, our Lord and Savior won the battle, overcame the temptation and with His sinless life and sacrificial death, He saved us from that destruction.

Jesus later when he was teaching his followers put it this way, in John 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

The lesson should be clear for us, love this world and it will destroy you but turn your eyes upon Jesus, the one who truly loves us and we will overcome this world. Instead of everything we worked for just turning to dust, we have a reward that waits for us eternal in heaven.