One of the great disappointments in life is to count on something we've trusted in the past and then find out that it is worn out, or doesn't work as well as it did, or is just plain inadequate. Many of the things that we have in life from refrigerators to relationships seem hard to maintain in usable condition for as long as we would like them to last.
There is great debate about the condition of the world itself. I'm not about to take sides in some of the great debates over the environment, pollution, global warming, economic globalization, and things like this, but even those who see a bright future for earth and its inhabitants will admit that things are in a state of decline at the moment.
In the Bible, a follower of Jesus named John wrote three letters. In the first one, he commented that the world was in the process of passing away. This was written in the first century of the common era. It's safe to say that, at that time, John was not concerned with the things we are in terms of damage to the environment. John was looking more at the fashion, or form, or scheme of the world. From his vantage point he could see:
The positions and honours with which the world rewards the winners are transitory. Today's sharp young people are tomorrow’s old fuddy-duddies. Nothing is permanent. It's all changing. It's all up for grabs.
John's understanding of the world sounds current enough to have come from today's newspaper. Let's read a slightly more extended quote from the passage where he talks about the world passing away. 1 John 2 15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in 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. 17And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
John makes some bold assertions here. But I think with good reason. Let's look at them a little closer. First of all, he counsels us not to love the world or the things in the world. Then he suggests why he gives this advice. The love of the world and its things does not come from God and if we love them, we give evidence that the love of God is not moving and motivating us. The things of the world (and he gives us a three page catalogue) the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are not from God. They come from within ourselves
Lastly, John points out that these things are transitory. They are passing away. It is best not to invest heavily in them, because they don't last.
Let's look again at those three aspects of life which John mentioned specifically. Two of them use the word "lust." In our world, that term has become almost entirely sexualized. It certainly includes the realm of sex, but it is about much more than just that. It is any strong desire which clouds your judgment with its insistence to be met.
Lust of the flesh:
This is the area which gives lust its most common meaning in everyday conversation. It is about inordinate desires to comfort and pleasure our bodies.
It includes all manner of sexual activity. The use of substances to dull or sharpen our senses (depending on which we find more pleasant) The inappropriate use of food. God made food to fuel our bodies. He made it pleasant to eat, but we can easily get to the point where we turn to food for psychological comfort or physical pleasure to a degree which harms our bodies.
Lust of the eyes, (this item splits into two main areas):
It can be a pathetic shadow of the "lust of the flesh" which we just looked at. Those, who don't have the courage to pursue their lusts to their logical conclusions sometimes get a twisted pleasure out of watching others gratify themselves.
Lust of the eyes can also refer to the obsession with any pleasures which we enjoy through visual stimulation. A slaving devotion to visual entertainment need not involve anything sexual at all. It's just the buzz of more images in less time, more convincing special effects, more dazzling illusion, ever more realistic portrayals of unreality.
Pride of life:
Is usually seen to be inordinate ambition for honours. It might be for prestige and social status, for high titles, for an exalted reputation among your peers. It's not so much about having the best of everything living a life of luxurious leisure as it is about being known in the community for this kind of ostentation.
While sex, food, respect, comfort, pleasure, honours, and the like are all good gifts from God, John warns us about devoting ourselves to pursuing these as ends in themselves. While these may be gifts from God they are not to become gods in our lives. They are to be received as God intended us to enjoy them, not to be sought and served as if they were gods themselves. God may use them to enrich our lives, but we must remember that it is God we are to seek, not the gifts which He gives.
John makes his case against these things by telling us that they will eventually all pass away if not in fact, then our lust for them, our desire for them will pass away. We will lose our capacity to enjoy that which sought with such diligence. Either way, they are all smoke and mirrors.
Time's flying and all we done is looked at the negatives. John includes one last phrase that we need to look at. At the very end of this discussion he wrote: "he who does the will of God abides forever." 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. This is one of the most direct statements about God's will in the Bible. He desires all of us his human creation to repent, that is to abandon our faulty selfish way of looking at the world and behaving, and to embrace His own point of view, inviting Him to form his character in us. Of course, anyone who has tried to do this entirely on his or her own knows that nothing but frustration is the result of that exercise. This is something God must do for us. Fortunately, that is exactly what He offers.
In Paul's letter to the Romans we read: Romans 8 28We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
God himself performs this delicate operation of making us more like his Son. But He doesn't do it without our cooperation. Our part is to invite Him to change us, to turn us from selfish earthly creatures focussed on that which will pass away, to heavenly creatures focussed on eternity.
Today we've found that most things, even our physical bodies, will one day pass away. 2 Peter 3, verse 10 reads: The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. The good news is the verse just before this, it reads: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
How is this possible? Jesus said, in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die [physically], he shall live." I encourage you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior so you can have your sin forgiven and experience eternal life.
Ron Hughes
© February 2003