1 John 2:17 - Our Relationship With God And The World.
1 John 2:17: Our Relationship With God And The World.
1 John 2:17 (NIV) The world and its desires pass away, but the
man who does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:17 (ESV) And the world is passing away along with its
desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:17 (VOICE) This corrupt world is already wasting away,
as are its selfish desires. But the person really doing Gods
will - that person will never cease to be.
1 John 2:17 (AMP) And the world passes away and disappears, and
with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of
it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in
his life abides (remains) forever.
1 John 2:17 (MSG) The world and all its wanting, wanting,
wanting is on the way out - but whoever does what God wants is set for
eternity.
COMMENTARY
We can't love the world - its values and systems and purposes -
and love God at the same time. Clearly we should love the world in
the same sense God does (see John 3:16), with compassion for all its
people. But "the world" as John means it - with its fallen, corrupt ways
and lack of dependence on God - is passing away along with all of
its self-absorbed agendas. Many Christians try to live with one foot
in the world and one foot in the kingdom, investing their loyalties
in both and seeking fulfillment from both. Our role as we live in
this world is to impact it without being influenced by its ways. We
are to be devoted only to God and influenced only by God. [NIV Once
A Day Bible]
The people who live in rebellion to God with their transient,
unfulfilling desires (2:16) are focusing on a world that is already passing
away. The workaholic will die unfulfilled. The greedy politician will
die in despair. The pleasure-mad partygoers will find their lives
ruined by drugs or alcohol. Indulgence never satisfies; it only whets
the appetite for more. Christians, however, understand that the
world will not last forever and that no one lives on this planet
forever. Because they are believers, however, they know that those who do
the will of God live forever. How can this be? "Those who do the
will of God" refers to believers who will remain forever united with
God. It is foolish to hang on to the world and whatever fulfillment
it offers because this world is passing away. But to turn away from
the sinful world and hold on to God means to hold on to the eternal.
Those who do so will "live forever" with him. Every person will die
and then must forever let go of the possessions and pleasures of
this world. Those who trust in God have already begun a life
everlasting. (Life Application Commentary)
When I look back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do,
what strikes me forcibly about it is that what seemed at the time
most significant and seductive, seems now most futile and absurd. For
instance, success in all of its various guises; being known and being
praised; ostensible pleasures, like acquiring money or seducing women, or
traveling, going to and fro in the world and up and down in it like Satan,
exploring and experiencing whatever Vanity Fair has to offer.
In retrospect all these exercises in self-gratification seem
pure fantasy, what Pascal called "licking the earth." They are
diversions designed to distract our attention from the true purpose of our
existence in this world, which is, quite simply, to look for God, and, in
looking, to find Him, and having found Him, to love Him, thereby
establishing a harmonious relationship with His purposes for His creation.
Malcolm Muggeridge [Time With God SB]
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
There is a mighty battle going on for control of your mind.
Heaven and earth intersect in your mind; the tugs of both spheres
influence your thinking. I created you with the capacity to experience
foretastes of heaven. When you shut out the world and focus on My Presence,
you can enjoy sitting with Me in heavenly realms. This is an
incredible privilege reserved for precious ones who belong to Me and seek
My Face. Your greatest strength is your desire to spend time
communing with Me. As you concentrate on Me, My Spirit fills your mind
with Life and Peace.
The world exerts a downward pull on your thoughts. Media
bombard you with greed, lust, and cynicism. When you face these things,
pray for protection and discernment. Stay in continual communication
with Me whenever you walk through the wastelands of this world.
Refuse to worry, because this form of worldliness will weigh you down
and block awareness of My Presence. Stay alert, recognizing the
battle being waged against your mind. Look forward to an eternity of
strife-free living, reserved for you in heaven. (Eph. 2:6; Rom. 8:6; 1 Joh.
2:15, 17) [Jesus Calling by Sarah Young]
CLOSING THOUGHT
My dearest child,
The world holds out to you a surface sort of happiness that
depends on favorable circumstances. But I hold out joy.
The world offers relationships fraught with hidden agendas
and self-serving motives. I offer love, gracious and unconditional.
The world holds out blame and shame and condemnation. I hold
out forgiveness and the road to a new beginning.
The world rewards you with addictions and compulsions and
momentary gratification. But I will fill you with peace that passes
understanding.
The world offers broken contracts, vows, and promises. I give
you my Word, that never changes.
The world runs hot and cold. One day you're valued and
respected; the next you're forgotten like yesterday's headlines. But my
character is love, and I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Oh, my child, do not fall in love with the world. It holds
out to you only an imitation of life. I hold out life, abundant and
free. Choose real life! Your God [Postcards from Heaven by Claire
Cloninger]
ONE LINERS
To be consumed with this life is to be unprepared for the next.
What a tragedy to invest our resources in what will not last. [Nelson
SB]
Doing the will of God (the opposite of loving the world) proves
the possession of eternal life and of living forever. [Ryrie SB]
The life lived in Gods fellowship, rejecting the sinful
things of this passing world, is a life that has no real ending. A
person whose character and personality are shaped by obedience to God
will not be affected by the passing away of the world and its vain
desires. It is a Johannine way of saying, Only one life, twill soon
be past; only whats done for Christ will last. [Bible
Knowledge Commentary]
SOME THOUGHTS FOR CONTEMPLATION
True Love
God loves the world. One of the New Testament's most famous
verses says so; He loves the world so much that He sent His Son to die
on our behalf. But when John tells us not to love the world or
anything in the world, he's referring to an entirely different concept.
God loves the world to redeem it; we human beings often love the
world - including its corrupt ways and human-devised systems - in
order to feed our own idols with its offerings. He loves it
sacrificially; we tend to love it selfishly. In other words, we have cravings
we think the world can fulfill, so we exploit it as much as we can.
And that isn't really love at all.
The Kingdom culture is filled with love for human beings and
God's creation - a beautiful world full of precious souls. Its
others-centered. But competing cultures, still capable of reflecting beauty,
truth, and love at times, are nevertheless fundamentally self-centered.
Political systems and economic systems tend to gravitate toward the
pitfalls of power and greed. Religious systems tend to gravitate toward
attempts to achieve salvation by discipline and effort rather than
receiving it by grace. Relational dynamics are often infected with
self-love rather than sacrificial love. Over time, the world looks very
different from the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, the love of one excludes the love of the other. We
can't embrace both the ways of the world and the ways of the Kingdom.
They conflict with each other. We can love the world as God loves it,
but we can't pursue its offerings as others do. We have to choose
where to root our hearts.
Root your heart in eternity. We can experience plenty of
blessings in this age as we engage in the world, but we can't set our
hearts on them. We look exclusively to the hand of God for all we need,
knowing the difference between what lasts and what doesn't. Our love for
the Father eclipses all rival loves. [The One Year Heaven On Earth
Devotional by Chris Tiegreen re vs. 15]
Unmet Spiritual Needs
Over the last three decades, people in the West have begun to
sense that there is more to life than science has revealed and their
senses have experienced--and, of course, they're right. On the surface
this new hunger may sound encouraging to those of us with a Christian
worldview, but in fact the same people who are disillusioned with the
materialistic world are also disillusioned with established religion. Instead
of turning to Christ and His church, they are filling their
spiritual void with old-fashioned occultism dressed in the modern garb of
parapsychology, holistic health, Eastern mysticism and numerous cults marching
under the banner of the New Age Movement.
Attempting to meet spiritual needs apart from God is nothing
new. Christ encountered a secularized form of Judaism during His
earthly ministry which was bound to its traditions instead of to the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The religious leaders of the day
didn't recognize the Messiah as their spiritual deliverer. They
perceived the oppressor to be Rome, not Satan, the god of this world. But
Jesus came to undo the works of Satan (1 John 3:8), not Caesar.
Satan's ultimate lie is that you are capable of being the god
of your own life, and his ultimate bondage is getting you to live
as though his lie is true. Satan is out to usurp God's place in
your life. And whenever you live independently of God, focusing on
yourself instead of the cross, preferring material and temporal values to
spiritual and eternal values, he has succeeded. The world's solution to
this conflict of identity is to inflate the ego while denying God the
opportunity to take His rightful place as Lord. Satan couldn't be more
pleased--that was his plan from the beginning.
Mighty God, I renounce any inclination within me that I am
capable of being the god of my life. You alone are Lord and King. by
Neil Anderson at http://www.ficm.org
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2013/20131202-1315.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Seeking God Made Real: http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Musical Devotional On Christian Living:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcotY5K7T0c
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Discover Bible Studies: http://studies.itiswritten.com/discover/
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: http://www.bibleresearch.info/
ABible.com: http://www.aBible.com
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
The Last Day of Prophecy by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aJTiC59-lPtuUMEq_uEn0BK
Restoring The Power by John Bradshaw:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRogO1SxoZN15Boa7BMon4BouVMdteVaq
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
