In the World But Not Of It
Consider these two Bible verses:
Do not love the world or the things of the world. – 1 John 1:15
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. – John 3:16
Can we reconcile these two Scripture verses which are possibly from the same author?
Let’s try. The premise of both passages is that the world is a place /time /occasion /context for sin and temptation. Since Adam and Eve fell, the world has been given over to sin. Each of us is born into a world of sin. That is why, at our baptism, we renounce the world along with the flesh and the devil.
Back to 1 John 1:15-16: “Do not love the world or the things of the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world, for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—come not from the Father but from the world.” That is clear enough. The world we live in is not as God made it. The world is fallen.
Our own response to a fallen world is to be guided by God’s response. The passage from John 3:16 tells us about God’s response to the world that he created good but has turned bad. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth in him may not perish but have eternal life,”
1 John 1:15 warns us to not succumb to the ways of the world. It is advice to not copy or emulate our world /culture /temptations. John 3:16 tells us of God’s sacrificial efforts to bring the world back to him.
The message of both passages, taken together, is that we are called to be concerned about the world and to care for it. We are to express our concern, not by turning a blind eye to its inclination to evil but by reminding it (through our faith and life) of God’s provision for salvation.
Let us pray
Almighty God,
Who created the world,
for which our Lord Jesus Christ suffered death upon the cross;
guide us in our witness to the world
in the name of the same Saviour
who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
ever one God. Amen.
