I’ve turned my back upon the world

Lord, I want to set my heart on the better things-the higher, holier treasures. You are now my standing place! My heart is fixed on Jesus Christ, I've left the world behind me!

NOT LOVING THE WORLD

In 2:15 John charges us not to love the world or the things in the world. He tells us that if we love the world, love for the Father is not in us. Not loving the world is the ground for overcoming the evil one. However, if we love the world, this will give the evil one the ground to occupy us. Whenever we open ourselves to the world, to Satan’s anti-God system, we lose the battle against him.

THE THINGS IN THE WORLD

In verse 16 John speaks concerning the things in the world: “Because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. ” The lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body; the lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes; and the vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, and display of material things, of the present life. These are the components of the world.

TWO TRINITIES

According to the Bible, the world is against the Father ( v. 15 ), the devil is against the Son ( 3:8 ), and the flesh is against the Spirit ( Gal. 5:17 ). On the one hand, we have the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. On the other hand, we have an evil trinity—the world, Satan, and the flesh. If we enjoy the Divine Trinity, we will have nothing to do with the evil trinity.

THE FATHER AND HIS WILL

First John 2:17 goes on to say, “And the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever. ” As the world is against God the Father, so the things in the world ( v. 15 ), which are its lust, are against the will of God. On the positive side, we have the Father and His will. On the negative side, we have the world and all the things in the world. The world is against the Father, and the things in the world are against the will of the Father.

According to John’s word in verse 17 , the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever. To do the will of God is to do it habitually and continually, not merely occasionally. The world, its lust, and those who love the world are passing away. But God, His will, and those who do His will abide forever.

Life-study of First John

Message 20 (LSM)

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Great hymn, telling us to leave the world with all its pleasures behind us. And we have passed in Christ from death to life.

I believe I crossed the line and left the world behind me at my baptism. But I still constantly need to experience this line as the cross.

I’ve crossed the separating line, and left the world behind me.

Lord Jesus! transform our soul and conform us to Your image until every word of this hymn becomes our daily experiential reality.

So far reaching into our being to realize our new true position, We have been bought with a price, brothers and sisters, as blood bought children we are being transformed to become many sons, in oness for the Kingdom of God!

Now comes the tough part, NO LOOKING BACK! We'll follow Him..............

Look away to Jesus!

Stanza 2:
I've left the old sad life of sin,
Its follies all forsaken;

["... And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." John 8:11]

My standing place is now in Christ,

His holy vows I've taken;

["Through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and boast because of the hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:2]

Beneath the standing of the cross

The world henceforth shall find me;

["But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." Galatians 6:14]

I've passed in Christ from death to life,

And left the world behind me.

["We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4]

["In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:21]