Living in a World That Opposes God (1 John 2:15-17)

Sermon Notes

Sermon Series: How to Live, How to Love

Sermon Title: Living in a World That Opposes God

Passage: 1 John 2:15-17

Preacher: Ashley Herr

The What: The Command to not love the world (v15a)

What we know that is far more clear and far less confusing about how God views the world:

1. God created the world (Genesis 1:1-10)

2. God created the things in the world (Genesis 1:11-25)

3. God created all the people of the world (Genesis 1:26-31)

4. God called us to care for the world (Genesis 1:28-30)

5. God dis not turn His back on the world (Genesis 3:14-15)

6. God has not disowned the world (Psalm 24:1-2)

7. God did not leave the world (Exodus 3:7-8, 13:21-22; 1 Kings 8:10-11; John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:23, 28:20: Acts 1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 3:16)

8. God still very much loves the world (John 3:16)

9. God sent His Son to save the world (John 3:17)

10. God is redeeming the world (2 Corinthians 5:19, Hebrews 1:2-4)

11. God will restore the world (Rev 21:1-5)

What we know that is far more clear and far less confusing about how we are to view the world:

1. We are to live in the world (Isaiah 49:6; Matthew 5:14-16)

2. We are to love all the people living in the world (John 13:34; Matt 22:39, 5:44)

We are not to love those things that fail to love what God loves

The Why: The reason why we are not to love the world (v15b-16)

• The object of our love, where it is directed (v15b)

• The source of our love, where it originates (v16)

The Why: The result of loving the world (v17)

Reflection

As you read this passage, ask yourself: What do I love that opposes God by failing to love what God loves, by failing to care for what God has created?

Do not love the world or the things in the world that oppose God by failing to love what God loves. If anyone loves the world - supporting and lifting up that which opposes God - standing behind and giving your allegiance to that which fails to love what God loves - then the love of the Father is not in them. For all that is in the world that opposes God - the desires of the flesh - the desires of the eyes - the pride in one’s possessions - none of that originates from the Father, but is from the world, the source of this mis-guided love. And all that opposes God in the world is passing away, along with its desires for things that go against God’s desires - but whoever does the will of God - desiring what He desires, loving what He loves - will abide in His presence forever.

Sermon Footnotes

• “God does not make junk, and he does not junk what he has made.” - Al Wolters (Creation Regained, p49)

• “The experience of twentieth-century dictatorships has shown that it is possible for some Christians to live and work in a shockingly unjust society, closing their eyes to all kinds of evil and indeed perhaps participating in that evil at least by default, concerned only with their own compartmentalized life of piety, closed off from everything else on the face of the earth. Clearly, such a poor excuse for religion actually contributes to blindness and moral insensitivity” - Thomas Merton (Life and Holiness, p20)