Almighty God has created everything: both the visible and the invisible universe. Among the countless planets, He created the Earth, and along with all living species, He created humankind to dwell there.
According to the Bible, however, there are also people who are not of this world. Regarding them, Jesus Himself stated in His farewell prayer: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:16). What does that mean, and who was Jesus referring to when He spoke of “them”?
The World in the Bible
The word “world” has a dual meaning in the Bible. In the first sense, the “world” refers to God’s good work of creation—that is, the universe and everything that is in it. In the second sense, the “world” refers to fallen humanity, all those who have not been reconciled with God but live separate from Him.
The world created by God is not evil in itself, for after creating everything, God saw that it was good (Gen. 1:31). Human beings were placed in this visible world as God’s creation, in His image, to live under His care. Human beings are to live in it, work, enjoy nature, love their neighbors, and receive God’s good gifts. The Apostle Paul also reminds us that everything God has created is good and should not be rejected but gratefully accepted (1 Tim. 4:4).
God created human beings as eternal beings and intended them to live in communion with Him. Among many other Bible portions, the beginning of the Gospel of John emphasizes that all things were created and continue to be created through Christ (John 1:1–3; Col. 1:15–17; Heb. 1:2). This means that every person is born into the world as a participant of Christ’s redeeming grace and faith given by God (Psalms 127:3; 87:5; 139:16).
After the Fall, however, humanity’s relationship with God, with their neighbors, and with the creation was broken. In this context, the word “world” took on a different meaning, referring not to God’s creation, temporal gifts, or ordinary daily life, but to existence separate from God. It refers to life ruled by unbelief, sin, and the power of evil, where security and honor are sought in temporary things rather than in God.
Unless a believer sees themselves as a sinner in the mirror of God’s Word and cares for their conscience in the living church of God, they may be separated from God because of sin. In that case, it can be said that they have fallen into “the world,” which refers to a state of unbelief without a relationship with God.
Love of the World is Sin
The Apostle John refers to this sinful, fallen world when he writes: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” (1 John 2:15). Love of the world is sin, and like any sin, it separates a person from God. Therefore, believers must avoid the dangers of the world.
The Apostle’s negative attitude toward the world does not mean he despises God’s creation. Christians should not despise physical life, family, work, nature, or temporal gifts. These are God’s gifts and instruments of His care. But God’s gifts can become idols if the person’s heart becomes more attached to them than to the Giver. Then the gift is disconnected from God, and the person begins to live as if this present time, personal glory, pleasure, or success were the ultimate goal of life.
Martin Luther elaborates on this in his commentary on 1 John. According to him, one can relate to the world in the right or the wrong way. If, through faith, a person sees the world as a gift from God, they relate to their neighbors, to creation, and to temporal gifts with gratitude, respect, and care. This embodies Jesus’ words that His own are in the world but not of the world.
Without faith, however, a person loves the world in the wrong way: they selfishly use their neighbors, creation, and God’s gifts as means to their own ends. Love of the world is not merely visible sin, but a deep attachment of the heart to that which is transitory. Without faith, one cannot know God or fully understand that everything is a gift from God.
What matters is whether a person lives in God’s love or loves the world (1 John 2:15-16). The difference becomes evident in where they place their trust. A God-given gift mayn generate gratitude in a believer, but become an idol for an unbeliever. A person can use God’s gifts in accordance with God’s will, or they can become so attached to them that the gifts supplant God. That is why John writes: “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).
The Believer Lives in the World
In His High-Priestly Prayer, Jesus does not ask the Father to take His disciples out of the world, but to protect them from evil: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15). A Christian’s place, then, remains in the midst of this created world. They live their daily life alongside their neighbors, at work, within they family, and in the callings God has given them. Yet their heart, refuge, and ultimate home are not in this temporal life, but in the kingdom of God.
The Apostle Paul warns: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world” (Rom. 12:2). Conformity does not merely mean following outward customs, but rather yielding one’s heart to a spirit that does not seek God’s will. The spirit of the world seeks its own glory, its own advantage, and its own freedom without God. People then strive to interpret God’s Word according to their own will, elevating themselves to the status of a god. Paul warns against all of this.
The believer is thus simultaneously both in the world and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, set apart from the world. They live in the same visible reality as other people, but faith unites them to Christ and His kingdom. This distinction is not primarily external, but spiritual. It takes place in the human heart as a gift of God’s great grace.
Like all people, Christians are subject to original sin and may experience many temptations that draw them into the world. A Christian’s life in this world is, in fact, a constant struggle. It means seeing oneself in the mirror of God’s Word, recognizing one’s sinfulness, and continually turning to Christ and the Gospel of His kingdom for the forgiveness of sins. A believer constantly needs the light of God’s Word, the gospel of forgiveness, and the protection of the Holy Spirit, so that the love of the world does not extinguish the love of God in their heart.
A Believer does not Want to Hate the World, but to Call it to Repentance
A Christian’s life in the world is a life of foreignness. The Letter to the Hebrews describes how believers acknowledged that they were foreigners and strangers on earth (Heb. 11:13). Peter, too, calls Christians “foreigners and exiles” and urges them to abstain from the desires that wage war against the soul (1 Pet. 2:11).
However, being a stranger does not mean that a Christian should hate the world or its people. On the contrary, it is precisely faith that sets us free to serve our neighbors through love (Gal. 5:6). Since the believer has been forgiven so much and has been given a great treasure as a gift (Matt. 13:44), they, influenced by the Holy Spirit, desire to share this treasure and forgiveness with those who have not yet received it personally and live as children of the world.
That is why God’s children call to repentance those in the world who wish to enter the sphere of God’s love. Everyone who feels remorse and fear because of their sins and unbelief will hear there the liberating gospel of the Kingdom of God: the assurance of the forgiveness of sins.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
Author: Kingdom of Peace
Photo: Surendra Kumar