“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.”
the love of the Father is not in him
The love of the world and the love of the Father are mutually exclusive. We cannot love both at the same time. There is no median ground between these two. If anyone habitually loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him as a vital constraining force.
This person may love the Father, but he no longer enjoys the Father’s love in his heart. Preoccupation with the world prevents practical appropriation of God’s love to us. God’s love as Creator is not in question here but the beneficent love that He bestows on His family. Things of the world crowd out loving manifestations of the Father.
The words “not in him” indicate that God’s belief system and values are not in him as a controlling force. He sets himself up as the purpose for what he does.
If we are in love with the world, we will not appreciate the love of the Father. There can be no vacuum in the soul. We always fill it with something – we fill it either with God’s system or Satan’s system. There is always some ruling principle that governs our lives. God does not allow for any middle ground.
PRINCIPLE:
Preoccupation with the world prevents practical appropriation of God’s will in our lives.
APPLICATION:
The Christian marches to a different drumbeat than the world. We live for different values. Loving the Lord Jesus should spoil us for the world system. Satan has his servants, ambassadors, and representatives. His kingdom is highly organized. However, Christians in fellowship march to a different drumbeat. We live for a different set of values.
Demas loved this present world. He did not merely toy with it; he loved it.
2 Ti 4:10, “…for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world…”
Love is an attitude biblically. It is not Pollyanna. Neither is love romance or gushing over someone. These may be manifestations of love, but they are not love in itself. Love is a value that we place on someone or something. It is something we believe in and not an emotional activity. It is what we value. What we value determines whether we are worldly or not.
Ro 12:1-2, 1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Satan has a singularity of a plan and a deliberate purpose in the world. He operates with guerrilla warfare. It is difficult to find clear lines of battle because he is so subtle in his systems. Nevertheless, he has a system and a plan behind it all.
Jn 12:31, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”
Jn 14:30, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”
Jn 16:11, “…of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
Every believer has three foes: an external foe, an internal foe, and an infernal foe. The world is our external foe. The flesh is our internal foe, and the Devil is our infernal foe. God has a different strategy to fight each foe. It is possible to trust God to handle the flesh and the Devil but not the world. The believer must take on the entire evil triumvirate. This system is a sworn antagonism against God. Imbibing the world system will keep us from amounting to anything for God. It will lead us into spiritual bankruptcy.
