I was meeting with a family in their home when they offered me some homemade caramel corn. It was obvious that they were proud of their caramel corn. I took a bag and began eating it while they boasted of the fame of their caramel corn among their friends and family. In fact, the demand had become so great that they no longer could make it in their kitchen, their pots were too small. As I put another handful in my mouth they told me, “So, now we mix the caramel corn in our bathtub”. The popcorn in my mouth was covered with caramel that had been scrapped off the bottom of the bathtub that the family bathed in. I lost my appetite for caramel corn. When we see the disgusting realities behind the things we are enjoying it kills our appetite.
This is what should happen to our appetite for the world when we see the realities of sin.
In this message series(Separation is Natural ) we are seeking to face trials without allowing them to separate us from the most important things. One thing that is sure to separate us from God is love for the world.
This is what John writes in 1 John 2:15-17:
15 Do not love the world or 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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
What does it mean to not love the world?
Our religious talk can get a bit confusing. We sing This World is Not My Home then turn in our hymnal to This is My Father’s World. Well, which is it? The same John who wrote “do not love the world” also wrote “for God so loved the world”. John tells us that God created this world (John 1:10). He is clear that not loving the world doesn’t mean we hate the people in it (1 John 2:9; 4:20). It doesn’t mean that we don’t have joy in this world (1 John 1:4). But John also identifies the devil as the ruler of this world (John 12:31, also 1 Corinthians 2:12 Ephesians 2:2). We should love the things of God that we find in this world but there is a spirit of this world that we should have nothing to do with. There is an evil system to have no affection for. Love for the world is not something to mess with.
3 Reasons to urgently and radically abandon your love for the world!
1. If you love the world the love of the Father is not in you! v. 15
Christians should have zero tolerance for living apart from God’s love. Remember, there is nothing that has power to separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:35-39). So it is purely our choice to love the world and walk away from God love (2 timothy 4:10; James 4:4).
Anything other than God can drag you from God. Anything other than God can be an idol. We could get paranoid by this truth. What is safe to love? Is my love for my family threatening my love for God? Maybe.
Here is a principle to that we can use to check our affections: Everything I love must first be a love for God.
All of my affections should be radcially God centered. My love for anything else is an expression or an extension of my love for God.
Here is a convicting verse “there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:25)
But wait… I desire food, is desire my kids, I desire rest! But if these desires are not first a love for God, they are idols. God is the central desire in every other desire.
Here is a more elegant way to say it…
“He loves Thee too little, who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake.”― Augustine
2. The things of the world don’t come from the Father! v.16
Just let it sink in. If you are enjoying something that is not from God then you are getting your pleasure from Satan. If we let that conviction drive us to action we might have some movies to delete, some channels to unsubscribe to, some substances to throw away, some relationships to cut off, some habits to repent of.
The things of the world are summarized as “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life”.
The first two have to do with desires. What you desire is really important (Mark 4:19; James 1:14-15). What we want shapes us. For spiritual health, get really in tune with what you are craving. Not to satisfy any desire but to learn about where you heart is.
Test your affections. What do you crave? What do you get excited about? What would you love to do if you had unlimited funds and no travel ban? When your mind wonders where does it go? If our honest answers to these questions reveal that we are in love with the world that is a big deal. We need to let God work on our desires (Galatians 5:16; 24)
The first two things of this world mentioned are desires to have and the third is the pride of what we do have. This is not the pride of being alive but the pride of our livelihood, our possessions (same Greek word used in Mark 12:44; Luke 8:43; 15:12; 1 John 3:17). There are more important things that possessions (Matthew 6:25). A godly perspective on possessions is gratitude for the things we have been given. A worldly perspective is pride in what we have accumulated.
3. The world is passing away! v. 17
Every bit of affection we have for the world will be disappointed. It doesn’t last. I took a year out of college to be a student missionary in Egypt. I got to see some awesome places, including Alexandria, a harbor in the north of Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. In the first century the Alexandrians built fire on the tops of their houses and set up reflective mirrors so that ships could see the harbor. By the 3rd century they built a lighthouse on a small island called Pharos. I did not know anything about this lighthouse before visiting it but I’ve since learned that it is the most famous lighthouse in history. It towered at a height around 400 feet tall, and could be seen by ships as far as 25 miles out to sea. The only taller structure that the world had known at that time was the great pyramid. Still today, there has never been a lighthouse built this tall. It was constructed with limestone blocks. To withstand the beating of the waves the limestone blocks were sealed together with molten lead. Then it was all covered with a white marble coating with elaborate carvings both inside and out. A 12th century visitor to Alexandria wrote in his journal, “Description of it falls short, the eyes fail to comprehend it, and words are inadequate, so vast is the spectacle.”
When I went to see this lighthouse it was not there. It was destroyed in the 15th century and a Turkish castle was built on its ruins.
The greatest and best things of this world only fade away.