1 John 2:15, New International Version

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”

Lately, a friend told me how sad she is to see the world go bad. The comment she made led me to seek the answer from the view of the Lord, what does His word say about it?

“So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:23-24, NIV)

The Lord God banished Adam and Eve from the place of His presence, and He cursed the ground to produce thorns and thistles. They went from the garden where they could eat of so much, to the field where it was only through painful toil that they could gain food. They were forbidden to go back. They were now in a land of dust; the Word calls it fallen. (Genesis 3) The land had fallen away from God’s presence, glory, and light.

What else does the Word had said about the world?

“This true Light, coming into the world, gives light to every man. He came into the world. The world was made by Him, but it did not know Him. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:9-11. New Living Version)

The true Light came into the world, a world that was He (the Word, Jesus) had made, yet it did not receive Him. (John 1:1-14)

From the very beginning, the land became absent from the presence of the Lord, the Life, and it became a land for the fallen. The seeds of rebellion carry on generation after generation. From Adam to Cain, from the time Noah built the Ark to the time Nimrod stirred-up men to build the tower of Babel. From Abraham starting a new nation to the time that nation sought to have a human king. Just like the parable of the wicked tenants – the world seeks to seize the Lord’s servants, beating one, killing another, and stoning a third… including the Son.

The world, the land of the fallen, is set against God and follows the evil – the deceiver, the liar, the darkness, the enemy of God. That enemy is now the ruler of this world. So, is that the world has gone bad? Or has the world ever actually been good since it fell?

My dear brothers and sisters, listen to this:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19, ESV)

We were never created to love the world, its values, or its way of life. We are created to live above the world and take the narrow path which leads to Life. From now on, follow the Perfecter of faith, Jesus, and love the Father and one another! One day, we will have the fruit of the tree of life!