In this lesson we will see that the believers experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the matters of not loving the world and of overcoming Satan, the devil.
The Greek word translated “world,” kosmos, has many meanings. In Matthew 25:34, John 17:15, Acts 17:24, Ephesians 1:4, and Revelation 13:8 it denotes the material universe as a system created by God. In John 1:29; 3:16; and Romans 5:12 it denotes the fallen human race, corrupted and usurped by Satan as components for his evil world system. In 1 Peter 3:3 it denotes adorning, ornament. In 1 John 2:15, as in John 15:19; 17:14; and James 4:4, it denotes an order, a set form, an orderly arrangement, hence, an ordered system set up by Satan, the adversary of God. God created man to live on the earth for the fulfillment of His purpose. But His enemy, Satan, in order to usurp the God-created man, has formed an anti-God world system on this earth by systematizing man with religion, culture, education, industry, commerce, and entertainment through man’s fallen nature in his lusts, pleasures, pursuits, and even in his indulgence in living necessities, such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation. The whole of such a satanic system lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19).
Satan not only employs the necessities of life to preoccupy man; he also organizes man into numerous individual systems in order to intensify his grip on man. The satanic world system can be compared to a university, in which there are many different departments, such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, marriage, money, entertainment, and fame—more than can be enumerated. These “courses” enslave and possess man, causing him to completely forsake and forget God and to go along with the current of the world. People believe that they are handling and enjoying these items, but actually they have fallen into the hands of the evil one and are deceived and controlled by him. Therefore, the world denotes the enemy’s scheme, system, and organization to usurp the place of God in man and eventually to gain full possession of man.
First John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.” The love for the Father is our love toward Him generated by His love within us. We love the Father with the love with which He has loved us and which is enjoyed by us. If we do not love the world, we can keep the love of God in us, and we will have the ground to overcome the evil one. Loving the world just a little gives the evil one the ground to defeat us and occupy us. If we keep the love of God with which He has loved us, we will not love the world; that is, we will not love anything in place of God.
First John 2:16 says, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” The world is an evil, satanic, anti-God system that has been constituted from the things created by God. This system comprises the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of the present life. Love of the world is comprehensive, but love of the things that are in the world is a more practical term.
The lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body. Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, an evil, satanic element came into the human physical body. This element now dwells in man’s nature. The human body thus became fallen and corrupted, and it became flesh. Since the body encompasses the soul, the soul fell under the influence of the fallen body. As a result, our soul also has been corrupted. Therefore, the soul, our psychological being, has become lustful due to the influence of the fallen body. The lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes. The fallen soul and the fallen body now work together. Our body influences our soul, and our soul influences our body. Because of this mutual operation of body and soul, it is difficult to say whether it is the body or the soul that takes the initiative to commit sin. Therefore, on the one hand, we have the lust of the flesh; on the other hand, we have the lust of the eyes. The vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things of the present life. The Greek word rendered “life” in verse 16 is bios, a word that refers to the physical life and also to the present life. Whatever takes place in human society is the present life, with which there is vainglory, including empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things. All these items are not of the Father; hence, we should not love them.