1 John 2:17 NIV
The world and its desires pass away,
but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
“The world is passing away!” (cf. 1 John 2:17) That statement would be challenged by many men today who are confident that the world – the system in which we live – is as permanent as anything can be. But the world is not permanent. The only sure thing about this world system is that it is not going to be here forever. One day the system will be gone, and the pleasant attractions within it will be gone: all are passing away. What is going to last? Only what is part of the will of God!
John is contrasting two ways of life: a life lived for eternity and a life lived for time. A worldly person lives for the pleasures of the flesh, but a dedicated Christian lives for the joys of the Spirit. A worldly believer lives for what he can see, the lust of the eyes; but a spiritual believer lives for the unseen realities of God (2 Corinthians 4:8-18). A worldly minded person lives for the pride of life, the vainglory that appeals to men; but a Christian who does the will of God lives for God’s approval. And he “ lives forever.”
Slowly but inevitably, and perhaps sooner than even Christians think, the world is passing away; but the man who does God’s will abides forever. This does not mean that all God’s servants will be remembered by future generations. Of the multitudes of famous men who have lived on earth, less than 2,000 have been remembered by any number of people for more than a century.
No, we are told here (1 John 2:17) that Christians who dedicate themselves to doing God’s will – to obeying God – “abide [remain] forever.” Long after this world system, with its vaunted culture, its proud philosophies, its egocentric intellectualism, and its godless materialism, has been forgotten, and long after this planet has been replaced by the new heavens and the new earth, God’s faithful servants will remain – sharing the glory of God for all eternity.
This present world system is not a lasting one. “…For this world in its present form is passing away. ” (1 Corinthians 7:31b). Everything around us is changing, but the things that are eternal never change. A Christian who loves the world will never have peace or security because he has linked his life with that which is in a state of flux. “He is no fool,” wrote missionary martyr Jim Elliot, “who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
The New Testament has quite a bit to say about “the will of God.” One of the “fringe benefits” of salvation is the privilege of knowing God’s will, “…The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will…” (Acts 22:14a). The will of God is not something that we consult occasionally like an encyclopedia. It is something that completely controls our lives. The issue for a dedicated Christian is not simply, “Is it right or wrong?” or “Is it good or bad?” The key issue is, “Is this the will of God for me?”
After we know the will of God, we should do it from the heart (Ephesians 6:6). It is not by talking about the Lord’s will that we please Him, but by doing what He tells us (Matthew 7:21). And the more we obey God, the better able we are to find and follow God’s will. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
Discovering and doing God’s will is something like learning to swim: you must get in the water before it becomes real to you. The more we obey God, the more proficient we become in knowing what He wants us to do.
A little child constantly asks his parents what is right and what is wrong and what they want him to do or not to do. But as he lives with his parents and experiences their training and discipline, he gradually discovers what their will for him is. In fact, a disciplined child can “read his father’s mind” just by watching the parent’s face and eyes! An immature Christian is always asking his friends what they think God’s will is for him. A mature Christian stands complete in the will of God. He knows what the Lord wants him to do.
How does one discover the will of God? The process begins with surrender: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice … be not conformed to this world … that ye may prove [know by experience] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). A Christian who loves the world will never know the will of God in this way. God’s will is not a “spiritual cafeteria” where a Christian takes what he wants and rejects the rest! No, the will of God must be accepted in its entirety. This involves a personal surrender to God of one’s entire life.
God reveals His will to us through His Word. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:105). A worldly believer has no appetite for the Bible. When he reads it, he gets little or nothing from it. But a spiritual believer, who spends time daily reading the Bible and meditating on it, finds God’s will there and applies it to his everyday life.
We may also learn God’s will through circumstances. God moves in wonderful ways to open and close doors. We must test this kind of leading by the Word of God – and not test the Bible’s clear teaching by circumstances!
Finally, God leads us into His will through prayer and the working of His Spirit in our hearts. As we pray about a decision, the Spirit speaks to us. An “inner voice” may agree with the leading of circumstances. We are never to follow this “inner voice” alone: we must always test it by the Bible, for it is possible for the flesh (or for Satan) to use circumstances – or “feelings” – to lead us completely astray.
To sum it up, a Christian is in the world physically (John 17:11), but he is not of the world spiritually (John 17:14). Christ has sent us into the world to bear witness of Him (John 17:18). Like a scuba diver, we must live in an alien element and if we are not careful, the alien element will stifle us. A Christian cannot help being in the world, but when the world is in the Christian, trouble starts!
The world gets into a Christian through his heart: “Love not the world!” Anything that robs a Christian of his enjoyment of the Father’s love, or of his desire to do the Father’s will, is worldly and must be avoided. Every believer, on the basis of God’s Word, must identify those things for himself.
A Christian must decide, “Will I live for the present only, or will I live for the will of God and abide forever?” Jesus illustrated this choice by telling about two men. One built on the sand and the other on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). Paul referred to the same choice by describing two kinds of material for building: temporary and permanent (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
Love for the world is the love God hates. It is the love a Christian must shun at all costs!
(From The Bible Exposition Commentary.)
