Love The World, Not The World

The same word can mean different things. One example is the word, fish. This word can be used as a verb or a noun. To understand the word one must understand the context.

In John 3:16 we see the word, world. We know that God did not send His son to save the world because we know that the world will be destroyed. The word refers to humankind, persons. In John 3:19 the word world means the same thing, mankind. He didn’t die on a cross to save planet Earth, the trees, or nature. For God so loved mankind, He gave His only Son.

The Trap
1 John 2:15 we see the same word, world. This word means the wicked, worldly. The things of this world, are sinful, and the things that keep pulling people away from God. Love not the sinful (world[ly]) things. Matthew 5 says to love the enemies therefore we are not to hate them. Bless them not curse them. Love them and not hate them. Care for their soul. Love the sinner and not the sin. Each and every person is a sinner and He loves each and every person. He hates and despises the sin. Reproving a person means one loves another. A lost person loves the things that are in the world, the sin of the Earth. The problem is not the nature we live in, it’s the human race. Adam and Eve sinned first by disobeying and rebelling against God, it wasn’t the fruit or the tree. The blame can’t be placed on anything other than Adam and Eve. If you love the world today then you’ve been caught in the trap. Until one understands 1 John 2:15 then one will not understand John 3:16.

The first thing a person thinks that to be saved they must give up _______, fill in the blank. That “thing” is a sin and they think they must remove it before they can be saved. This is not true because we can’t save ourselves. God saves and He cleans house kicking out the “things” that need to be removed.

The Lust
1 John 2:16; the lust of the sin (world). God will never tempt you with a sin. He will never tempt you with beer or a naked woman. There is a war going on in a saved person’s life. There is an outward man and an inner man. The inner man is the saved person’s soul, holy. The outward man is the flesh that is sinful and lusts after sins. Lust is built into a person. Anything that is not of faith is a sin. Have you given yourself to God completely? When was the last time you attended a church service? When was the last time you read your bible or studied it? When was the last time you repented of your sins? When was the last time you hated someone?

A lost person doesn’t understand an inner and outer man. A Christian understands this and is at war with the person in their mirror. The inner man drags the outward man to church because the outward man doesn’t want to go. The flesh has desires. The eyes have lusts. Then there is pride that everyone has and must be dealt with because it’s a hurtful, wicked thing.

Life
1 John 2:17; humankind will die, all of us. 1 Corinthians 15, when a Christian dies the flesh (outward man) is left behind and the soul (inner man) goes to Heaven. The dead will rise first (those that are already dead). Some people are missing, some are ashes in urns or scattered, and there are also some in the ocean. All of those people’s souls will be brought back alive. If they were saved then they will be in Heaven. However, if one is lost then they will also live forever but they will NOT be entering into Heaven but into Hell. They will beg to die but they will never die, they will be tormented in Hell for eternity.