The First Epistle of John: Lesson Sixteen

"Whoever desires to come after Me,

let him deny himself, and take up

his cross, and follow Me. For

whoever desires to save his life will

lose it, but whoever loses his life

for My sake and the gospel's

will save it."

Mark 8:34-35

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Hello again...let's pray:

"Father God, today in our study we will look at the world and what it does to a Christian's walk. I pray that You will open our eyes to what the world does to us. I pray that You will reveal to us any hidden sins that threaten to overcome us. I thank You that You have already overcome the world for us.

I seek forgiveness of sins this day. I know that I turn to the world and all that is in it time and time again, and this is sin. I pray that You will wash me clean and teach me to turn to Your word daily so that I might not sin against You, Lord.

I pray for each lady reading this study today, Lord. I pray that as she learns today about the world, that You will reveal to her that she is not to love the world. I pray that You will give her courage and strength to get through this day and walk with her as well. I pray that she will learn more about you in this study.

In Jesus' name....amen."

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In today's lesson, we will look at the world and why we are not to love it. We will look at ourselves and examine our walk with the Lord. As our opening verse says, we are to daily deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.

1 John 2:15-17:

"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. For all the things of the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

There are four Greek words translated "world" in the New Testament. The word John uses for "world" is kosmos.

Kosmos is also the same word John uses for "world" in John 3:16. SO we see that kosmos is used to refer to the world for which Jesus died.

So, the word that is used for "world" in 1 John 2:15-17 isn't necessarily bad, you must rely on the context of the Scripture to truly interpret what God says we are not to love about the world:

Re-read 1 John 2:15-17 above. Meditate on it for awhile. Pray over that verse and ask the Lord to reveal to you what it is about the world you are not to love.

When we truly see what God is saying in these verses, it can be very convicting....but that is a good thing! It means God is dealing with us by His Spirit and that means we are truly His.

According to the passage, what is it about the world you are not to love?

Why are you not to love the world?

We are to love the people of the world and creation, but no the things of the world...because they are not of God.

God tells us that this world is passing away. So why should we hold on to it??

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The word study here in this part of the lesson will show us a closer look at what the terms lust, flesh, pride, and life are in Scripture.

Lust- (Concordance # 1939)- epithumia and it means longing, desire, for what is forbidden. Intense desire (sexual).

Flesh- (#4561)- sarx and it means meat of an animal; the body; human nature; passions. Carnal nature.

Pride- (#212)- Alozoneia and it means a sense of one's own sense of proper value; bragaddacio; bragging; an overly high opinion of oneself.

Life- psuche and it means breath, Spirit, vitality; mental, physical experiences of a person.

Please read:

Mark 7:20-23

Prov 16:18

1 Tim 3:1-7

Gen 2:7

John 5:21

Gen 6:12

Is 40:6

Rom 7:5

Rom 13:13-14

1 Tim 6:9

Prov 6:25

1 Thess 4:3-8

So, as we see from Scripture, these words are important both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Warnings come with the words lust, pride, and flesh and we would be wise to heed these warnings.....but Jesus is mentioned in the word Life because He is the life.

God clearly explains in 1 John 2:15-17 what it is about the world we are not to love:

• carnal nature

• physical desires, wants

• boasting about ourselves and what we have or what we have accomplished

Now we will look at some cross-references on the word "world". Ask yourself how these Scriptures parallel or illuminate what you have seen so far:

Matt 18:7-9

Mark 4:1-20

Mark 8:31-38

Rom 13:14

Gal 5:16-26

Eph 2:1-3

Titus 2:11-14

James 1:27

James 4:4

Matt 4:8-10

2 Pet 1:4 & 2:20

John 15:18-16:1

John 17:1-26

(used with permission from Precept Ministries, 2001)

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Life Application

Whew! We read alot of Scripture today....but that is good! It is important for us to stop and really study what God is saying in these passages of 1 John 2. He really wants us, His children, to steer clear of the world because He is not of this world.

Notice how in Genesis, we see how Eve was deceived in a similar way to how John warns us in chapter 2:15-17:

Please read:

Gen 3:1-7

Eve listened to Satan, the ruler of this world, and her eyes were opened. She saw that the tree was good for food, that it looked good, and that it would help her be wise...she took it and ate it.

Lust of the flesh (good for food), lust of the eyes ( it was pleasant to look at) and boastful pride of life (she thought she would be wise...as wise as God Himself.)

As Christian women, we are vulnerable to this temptation more than men because we were made from the flesh....which makes us so much more emotional and fleshly.

As you examine yourself today, what part of the world makes you most vulnerable?

As I wrote during our summer study, I love to decorate my house. I am still working on the redecorating of my bathroom! It is fun, but I can see where I could go crazy and spend a lot of money on "the things of this world" just in that one small room alone!

I also am weak when it comes to my accomplishments. My artwork has always been a sense of comfort for me. When I was a little girl, I was extremely shy, so making friends was very hard for me.

But I always had my artwork to rely on. When I would sketch, my classmates would comment on my art and that would give me confidence. As I grew more confident in my art, I was able to make more friends. Soon my teachers were asking me to draw things for them to hang in their classrooms and to make copies of my drawings for the students to color. This really helped my confidence grow!

It would have been real easy for me to become conceited and prideful. But the Lord always has His ways to keep me grounded and my ego at bay by allowing me to suffer rejection of my art from time to time. That rejection always puts me in my place before a Holy God and reminds me that it was He who gave me this talent..... And He can take it away at any moment if I don't use it to glorify Him.

I have been blessed to have received some compliments on my hair, art, and niceness over the years, much to my amazement since I know myself so well! And I always see it as a precious gift from God when anyone compliments me at all.

If we are anything...nice, talented, beautiful, whatever........it is all because of Christ Jesus in us and not of us at all.

James 1:7

But the Lord leaves us with a promise:

"But he who does the will of God abides forever."

What a tremendous promise that is! What hope is in that verse! God is asking us to let go of this world and all that is in it, but for a reason. Jesus tells us that if we want to follow after Him, there must be sacrifices...as He sacrificed. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow after Him.

Remember to give all your talents, gifts, and all that you have to the Lord for His glory. Because to do His will means we will dwell with Him forever.

Today was a good lesson to leave on for the weekend. Take time this weekend to really examine your walk with the Lord. Search out that leaven in your home. And in your heart.

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Until next time.....

"As Christians we are still attracted to this world because of the sin that remains in us. The sinful flesh in us is inclined toward the world. That is why isolation from the world cannot keep us from sin. We carry a piece of the world within us wherever we go. With the world, the devil and the flesh against us, is there any hope for victory? Absolutely, for that victory was won when Jesus defeated Satan on the cross and rose from the dead. In John 15:19, Jesus said, 'Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world'...In Christ, by the Spirit's grace, we overcome the world, but we must also fight daily against the temptations of the world."

-Dr. Joel Beeke (The Epistles of John, 2006, pp.90-91)

Blessings,

Ruth