Very unique to the gospel of John and 1 John is the author’s use of the word “world.” Check out the chart below and notice just how many times John uses “world” compared to the other NT authors. It’s off the chart. Then add the book of Revelation, also written by John, and you can see John has much to say about the world. And sometimes it can be confusing.
For example, John tells us that Jesus was in the world, that the world was made by Him, and yet the world did not know Him (John 1:10). First, the world is a geographic location “in the world.” Then, the world was created by Christ, and finally, the world did not know Him. The world that did not know Him is quite different than the creation. The creation knows Christ. But the world doesn’t. That is confusing. The world that does not know Christ is not dirt or molecules. It is a fallen system or way of life or mindset that is led by and governed over by the “god of the world” (2Co 4:4). John the Baptist said, Look, see, “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world…” Are you ready to yell, which is it? This is the nature of reading and understanding Scripture.
We are talking about this topic this morning because of John 13:1. It reads, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” In John 1, Jesus came into the world, and in John 13, He is preparing to “depart out of this world.” In both cases, that is very spatial—in and out. But what about God so loved the world? Is this the mountains and waterfalls? No. God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die on a cross to redeem individuals out of this fallen world. But when we say out we don’t mean out literally. In John 17:15, Jesus prays I do not ask that You take them out, but to keep them from the evil one (the god of this world). Does God love the world because the world is full of people who are His own? Does God love the world because that is where those whom He has chosen to save reside? Do I love Germany because that is where my Oma and Opa were born and raised? Is that a fair parallel? Does God love the world because He created it and plans to make it new again? Context is everything, and you must study the context to choose what fits in the context to determine the correct meaning.
God loves the world, and I must not love the world. 1 John 2:15 states, “Do not love the world or the things in the world” (2:15). Once again, I am confronted with something that needs explanation. The world that God loves is different from the world that I cannot love. The Greek word for world in this case is “kosmos,” and it can mean the physical earth (universe), humanity, and lastly a fallen, corrupt system existing in rebellion to God’s rule and reign on the earth. Therefore, I do not love the kosmos that hates God, and I love the kosmos that God created perfectly and will make new again.
