PROVISION FOR PROTECTION "For all that is in the world . . . is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16) -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 5 of
ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD
All that the world has to offer is wrapped in these three things: (1) The lust of the flesh, (2) The lust of the eyes, and (3) The pride of life. These are the three wells from which all temptations are drawn. They are the repositories from which Satan draws his "fiery darts," or "flaming arrows." Eve succumbed to Satan's wiles in all three, and Jesus overcame him in all three.
All three of these are described as "NOT of the Father." That is, at no time does God provoke people to indulge these appetites. When we are tempted to satisfy the flesh, we may be sure, it did not come from God. When what we see provokes the flesh to awaken and dominate us, the inclination did not come from God. If we are tempted to think more of ourselves than we ought to think, or to appropriate for ourselves things that do not belong to us, we are not being influenced by God. In all three cases, the "prince of this world" is courting our favor, and luring us away from the Savior.
IT IS PASSING AWAY
Whatever we may think of the world, it "is passing away, and the lust of it" is also (NKJV). Elsewhere, the Spirit affirms, "the fashion (or present form) of this world passeth away" (1 Cor 7:31). There is nothing in this world that is not fading and momentary. Therefore, to develop an appetite for what it has to offer shuts one up to frustration and sorrow, not to mention condemnation in the end.
Because we have been given "eternal life," and are coming into an "eternal inheritance," it is wrong to become attached to temporal things. What is more, faith cannot flourish when our attention is placed on the passing order. That is why the command to NOT love the world or the things in it is fortified by the affirmation that it is passing away. The perception of that fact makes its lusts unreasonable.
AND THE LUST OF IT
When the Spirit says not only the world, but "the lusts of it" are passing away, He is speaking of the object of lust, and not the desire itself. From the standpoint of language, this is called a metonym. Frequently the Spirit uses words in this manner.
For example, the word "hope" is used in this way. In one usage, it describes our personal anticipation of glory and being forever with the Lord (Rom 4:18; 5:2; 8:24; 1 Cor 15:19; 1 Pet 1:3). On other occasions, the Lord Jesus Himself, in Whom our hope resides, is referred to as the hope. "Christ in you, THE HOPE OF GLORY . . . the Lord Jesus Christ, which is OUR HOPE" (Col 1:27; 1 Tim 1:1).
Thus, in this text, the "lusts" of the world are the very things for which men long. The meaning is that the best the world has to offer is but a fleeting fancy, and will not endure. When the world passes away, everything that it has offered will also be removed. Everything for which the flesh longs will be removed when the world passes away. Because these things are part of the world, they can no longer remain when the heavens and earth pass away.
The desire for those things, however, will remain with those who are condemned. While believers will receive all for which they have longed, unbelievers will forever be deprived of that for which they have longed. This is a staggering consideration, and should provoke within us strong longings for the things that are eternal.
ABIDING FOR EVER
Notice that a contrast is made between the THINGS for which the unbeliever longs and the believers themselves. While everything Satan offers to us will "pass away," those who "DO the will of God" will themselves abide forever. That is another way of saying they will be forever blessed. The point of contrast is this: when we yield to the allurements of this world, we will ultimately have what we desire taken from us. However, when we "do the will of God," we will not only keep our desires, but the things for which they long.
In this case, doing the will of God has primarily to do with fervently desiring what the Lord provides in Christ Jesus. All obedience springs from spiritual desire, just as surely as all sin springs from corrupt and illicit cravings.
You will recall Jesus addressed this matter in the sermon on the Mount. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matt 7:21). If you know what the Lord desires, then you had best be about desiring and doing it. There is no possible way for this word of our Lord to fail of fulfillment. Eternal life, in this case, is united with doing God's will. Those who imagine they can be personally uninvolved with God, and yet be saved, have been deceived. In the strictest sense, eternal life does not exclude doing, but causes doing.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the promise of an eternal inheritance.