Musings on First John (2:15-17)

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Clearly John does not mean the world as in the earth, nature, animals, etc., but he’s speaking of the world order or the world system which is quite fallen in its very nature: warring, corrupt, evil, self-centered, money-grabbing, lustful and so on. Do you love that world? Hope not, for if you do then God’s love is not in you. John explains that the broken world system will pass away. I’m pretty thankful about that. It’s great to know that this awful turmoil will end.