Love not the world - by faith

 

Now our world is just a mere ‘Global Village’. A somewhat fragmented world is becoming...through media technologies like the internet enabling such things as transnational commerce on a level never before achieved ...through the migration and interconnection of nationalities and the sharing of the thoughts and ideas of multiple
cultures...through the vision for the future to see a single globalized marketplace.....these are the hallmarks of a global village.....Though it is seen as something quite new and modern....I think the world has had something similar to this is the past...but without the technology

The Tower of Babel. After the flood God had commanded Noah and his family to fill the earth. Eventually the inhabitants of the earth venture out together....all speaking the same language.....found a nice spot to live and said...."Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." (Gen 11:4) Instead of filling the earth, as God wanted, they wanted to be in one place. They wanted to build a tower to reach to the heavens to “make a name” for themselves. The Tower of Babel was a symbol of human pride and rebellion towards the will of God.
1 John 2:15 (First part says) Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.....

Let’s remember - God ordained that the earth should be cared for
Genesis 2: 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
I want to distinguish between the world that we are to care for and the world we must not love The Bible describes the world in four basic ways..

1 The earth. Just the earth created by God. cultivate it and keep it.
2 Sometimes the world can mean the current age. You could say we live in a different world to the stone age or bronze age, middle ages, dark ages....we live in a different age....a different world
3 The population of the world....as a collective...we might say 31% of the world is Christian...or 24% of the world is Muslim..
4 It speaks of the world also as being ‘the structure and order of society’

This is what I want us to look at more closely in relation to “love not the world” ‘the structure and order of society’.

There is a theological meaning of the world developed by Paul the Apostle and the disciple John.
Theologically...Kosmos...views human society as an; Interwoven system...Created by a web of sinful human desires...Illusionary beliefs (false ideas)And misdirected passions....It is seen as a place that operates on principles contrary to those of God...
Eph:6:12 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.....1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one....the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The Devil. Satan.....1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Paul the apostle understood the flesh. In his teachings Paul lets us know human beings are fatally flawed by sin...Sin has infected our human capacities. Our emotions, desires, intellect and our will are all corrupt...That is why

Paul could write; Rom7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
1John 2:16 ........These things are not from the Father....but of the world
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.

1 John 2:15 Also goes on to say....If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.....we need to get the love of the Father into us......It seems to me the opposite of loving the world........is loving the Father...You could say.....love not the world....love the Father instead

ROMANS 12:1-2 Our life is to be lived presenting ourselves to God...To make giving our lives to God our Spiritual worship...And do not be conformed to this world... We need to be renewed by God.....
How do we love God on a daily basis? How to we live out loving God?...Loving God and not loving the world...It’s complex, complicated, so much to learn and discern....Trial and error, sin and success, highs and lows...What can we do each day to love God first? And we are all individuals....various spiritual gifts, spiritual calling, stage of life, theological understanding ...How we each approach loving the Father and not loving the world maybe different for each of us...no magic formula.

2 Peter 1:4-9 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Precious and magnificent promises....By them....partakers of the divine nature....Escape the corruption in the world....So I wonder how we can stay on track to love the Father and not Love the World .....without exhausting ourselves with a long list of do’s and don’ts.....Here’s what I think is simple yet powerful...Each day say Yes to God and No to the world
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor 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 and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.