The Love God Hates
1 JOHN 2:12-17
Main Idea: Those who truly love and follow Christ must not fall in love with the things of this world, but rather with the Father who gives them everything they need.
I. Know What You Are in Christ and Cannot Lose (2:12-14).
A. You are forgiven (2:12).
B. You know the Father (2:13-14).
C. You are victors in the faith (2:13-14).
II. Know What the World Offers but Cannot Give (2:15-17).
A. The world cannot give you what you need (2:15).
B. The world cannot give you what it promises (2:16).
C. The world cannot give you what will last (2:17).
I was blessed to grow up in a home with a godly mother who taught me to love Jesus and believe the Bible. When I was young, I remember asking my mom, “Does God hate the Devil?” She answered me in the way a little boy probably needed answering: “Honey, God doesn’t hate anybody. He loves everyone and everything and so should we.” I am sure that probably is what I needed to hear at the time. However, I have since learned that my mother’s well-intended answer was not altogether correct. The fact is, the Bible teaches there are some things God hates, and so should we.
The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and treachery. (Ps 5:5-6)
You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of His godly ones; He rescues them from the power of the wicked. (Ps 97:10)
I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way. (Ps 119:104)
I hate those who are double-minded, but I love Your instruction.
(Ps 119:113)
I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love Your instruction. (Ps 119:163)
The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to Him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers. (Prov 6:16-19)
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this is why God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy rather than Your companions. (Heb 1:9)
Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev 2:6)
Our text could rightly be added to this list. Interestingly, and surprisingly, that which God hates, which He stands in strong opposition to, is a particular kind of love, namely love for the world (1 John 2:15). James 4:4 teaches us to not even make friends with the world because to do so is to become “an enemy of God.” Here John teaches us not to love the world, for if we do, “love for the Father is not in [us]” (v. 15).
At first glance, verses 12-14 and 15-17 do not seem to go together. However, on closer inspection we see that they complement each other beautifully. Verses 12-14 provide the encouragement necessary to heed the exhortation of verses 15-17. We belong to God. We know Him as Father. We are part of His family. He is our Father and heaven is our home. It is hardly conceivable that, knowing this, we would give our affections to the things of this life, this world. If we know God as Father, we will not set our hearts on the fleeting and transitory things of a system and worldview perspective that stands in defiant opposition to Him.
Know What You Are in Christ and Cannot Lose
C. S. Lewis said it well: “Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms” (Mere Christianity, 56). And, as we surrender, God not only takes us into His kingdom, but He also brings us into His family. We become His children (vv. 12-13), and He becomes our Father (v. 13). We become strong in Him, His Word takes up residence in us, and we gain victory over Satan, who is “the evil one” (v. 14; cf. 4:4).
Verses 12-14 are beautifully structured, rhythmic and poetic. Six times John says, “I am writing” (vv. 12-13) or “I have written” (vv. 13-14). Three different teribid., ms are used to identify his audience: “children,” “fathers,” and “young men,” and each group is addressed twice for emphasis. Now, why does John address his readers in this fashion? Perhaps he has in mind all believers—new believers, older believers, and maturing believers. This makes sense, since there is little doubt that he is addressing us in terms of spiritual maturity and not chronological age. I do like the way John Piper answers the question:
I think the three groups of “children,” “fathers,” and “young men” originated something like this. In these verses John wants to reach out to the church with affection and encouragement. So he begins by calling them children, just like he does five other times (2:1,18; 3:18; 4:4; 5:21).
Then he pauses and thinks: “I certainly don’t want to give offense to the leaders in the church—the venerable old men or the virile young men—with this affectionate term ‘children.’ Perhaps I should address these two groups: the venerable fathers have knowledge, and the virile young men have conquered.” But don’t skip over these verses if you don’t happen to be in one of those groups. What is true for them is true for all believers. (“The Strong Need Strength”)
You Are Forgiven (1 John 2:12)
John begins with one of the most simple and basic truths of Christianity: we have been forgiven for all of our sins because of “Jesus’ name.” This speaks to both the person and the work of Christ, especially His perfect atoning work (v. 2). Matthew 1:21 reminds us that the angel said to Joseph, “She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and unrighteousness (1:9). He is faithful to forgive all the sins of those who trust in Him. Having run to Jesus as our advocate and atonement (2:1-2), we have been welcomed by God as His children. What a wonderful truth it is that “the name of Yahweh is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected” (Prov 18:10).
You Know the Father (1 John 2:13-14)
When we receive Jesus as our Savior we also get God as our Father (cf. v. 23). John says to the fathers in the faith, “you have come to know the One who is from the beginning” (v. 13). The reference to the “One” may be to the Father or even to Christ, or possibly both. Of course both are true. We now know in an abiding, permanent relationship the One who has existed from all creation and the One whom we see in the Gospels. Echoes of John 1:1 and 1 John 1:1 ring out in our spiritual ears. He repeats this wonderful truth in verse 14. He doesn’t want us to forget it. There is a deep and abiding knowledge that has grown throughout our Christian experience. The longer we have lived, the deeper and better we know Him.
John then says to the children in verse 14, “You have come to know the Father.” The beauty of this statement is in its simplicity. The One who is God is now our Father. And He is a good Father, a great Father, a perfect Father. No longer is He our enemy, but through forgiveness of sins and His gracious adoption, we have come to know Him as Father. These promises of forgiveness of sin and knowledge of God reflect the New Covenant promises of Jeremiah 31:31-34. In verse 34 we read:
“No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.”
You Are Victors in the Faith (1 John 2:13-14)
Warriors in the faith are now addressed by the term “young men.” These are believers who are maturing in the faith, young champions for Christ who are actively engaged in spiritual warfare against Satan, identified as the “evil one” in verses 13 and 14. Three distinctive observations can be made about the young men who are at war with the Devil: they are strong, the Word of God abides in them, and they have overcome the evil one. There is no doubt in my mind that our strength and our ability to defeat the evil one has a twofold source. One is the work of Christ (cf. 3:8) and the other is the Word of God abiding in us. Satan will accuse us on the one hand and tempt us on the other. The work of Christ answers his first tactic, and the Word of God addresses the second. When Satan accuses me of sin, I trust the work of Christ. My debt has been paid, and while Satan can hurl accusations all day long, he has nothing with which he can condemn me (Rom 8:1). Also, when Satan tempts me to sin, I turn to the Word of God. I am again helped by the way John Piper summarizes how the work of Christ and the Word of God empower us to gain victory and overcome the evil one (v. 14).
Know What the World Offers but Cannot Give
Having provided a word of encouragement in verses 12-14, John now gives a word of exhortation and warning concerning something he identifies six times as “the world.” Here he is not using the word “world” (Gk cosmos) to speak of God’s good creation (Acts 17:24) or even the world of people for whom Christ died (1 John 2:2; John 3:16). No, instead he is referring here to a worldview perspective (cf. John 16:11) that is led by “the evil one” whom we have overcome and that is characterized by the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and pride in possessions (1 John 2:16). To love the world is to be devoid of love for the Father (v. 15) and to give ourselves to things that are temporary and transient, things that have no lasting or eternal value.
Worldliness or “being of the world” is often misunderstood. Often it is identified with cultural issues that are of a particular concern to us. John is not telling us to reject any and all aspects of culture, much of which reflects the glory, goodness, and gifts of God. What he is telling us is we are not to love and idolize thoughts, values, and behaviors that are contrary to God’s Word (v. 14) and His will (v. 17). Things that appeal to our sinful flesh (e.g., drug abuse, drunkenness, gluttony, abundance of possessions, sexual perversions, etc.) and are fleeting and passing are not to be the things that we live for. My friend Mark Driscoll put it like this:
John describes worldliness as the cravings of our sinful flesh (gluttony, sexual perversion, drunkenness, etc.), lust of our eyes (sexual lust, coveting, etc.), and arrogant pride that causes us to boast in ourselves without ever thanking God. In our age filled with advertising, rock stars, supermodels and celebrities, it is not an overstatement to say that if worldliness means living only to please our flesh and pursue what our eyes lust after—so that we can arrogantly boast about our conquests and accomplishments—then worldliness is a synonym for America. Therefore, John reminds us that the world is going to burn up in the end; but if we belong to God we will live forever with Him, and so we must remain ever vigilant to love God and not the world. (1, 2 & 3 John: Walking in the Light)
John highlights three things the world promises but cannot deliver. His words are strong medicine that can bring healing to our souls.
The World Cannot Give You What You Need (1 John 2:15)
The longing of the human heart is to be loved and to love. The objects of our affections need to be rightly ordered if we are truly to find ultimate and lasting satisfaction. John, therefore, commands us, “Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world.” Why? To love the world is to not love Father God, which is what you really need. It is what you were created for. John says, “Choose your lover, but choose carefully; choose wisely. Choose God the Father, not the worldly enticements of the father of lies” (John 8:44). We must recognize that turning even good things into “god” things becomes a bad thing. It is to give your love to a lesser lover—one who can never satisfy, who can never give you what you truly need.
The World Cannot Give You What It Promises (1 John 2:16)
This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. It identifies in vivid terms the weapons the world uses to seduce men and women into joining its side. Amazingly, each of these weapons resides in us! The enemy really is within! These same three weapons slew Adam and Eve in the Garden. Genesis 3:6 says, “Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh] and delightful to look at [lust of the eyes], and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom [the pride of life].” These same three weapons were conquered by Christ, the second Adam, in His temptation in the wilderness. Luke 4:1-13 explains that the Devil beckoned Him to “tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3), which is the lust of the flesh. Then he “showed Him all the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5), tempting Jesus with the lust of the eyes. Finally, from the pinnacle of the temple, the Devil challenged him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Luke 4:9-10). But even the pride of life could not lead the Savior into sin.
Seeing how prevalent these temptations are, a close and careful inspection of each weapon will be helpful in our pursuit of spiritual victory. Though they are old, they are still effective if we do not recognize and resist them through the power of the Spirit and the Word of God.
The desires of the flesh appeal to our appetites. “Desires” means cravings, lust, or passion. The word is neutral. The object determines whether such desires are good or bad. John tells us that worldly desires are of the flesh. “Flesh” (Gk sarx) may sometimes refer to the whole person, but here it denotes the tendency and bent of humans to fulfill natural desires in a way that is contrary to God’s will. For example, sexual appetite gives way to immorality, and physical appetite gives way to gluttony. We give in to the flesh because we are sinful. It is important to realize that we are not sinful because we sin. Instead, we sin because we are sinful. The lust of the flesh is powerful because we are sinful at our core. To us, sin is fun, enticing, and attractive. We are drawn to it like a fly to flypaper, like a fish to a baited hook.
The desire of the eyes appeals to our affections. Our eyes, like our natural desire, are not evil. Proverbs 20:12 says, “The hearing ear and the seeing eye—the Lord made them both.” However, the eyes are windows to the mind (soul) by which sinful desires enter in. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-29,
You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Men, being creatures of sight, must especially be on guard here. Remember, it was David’s eyes that led him to lie, commit adultery, and murder (2 Sam 11).
Pride in possessions appeals to our ambitions. Pride is vainglory, boasting, or arrogance. It refers to the braggart who exaggerates what he has in order to impress others. It is the “I, me, my” person. “Pride of possessions” or “pride of life” speaks of the person who glorifies himself rather than God. He or she makes an idol of their stuff, their career, their achievements, and their social standing. They suffer from “affluenza!” Pride, power, possessions, prestige, and position are what life is all about. This person fails to see that the Lord Jesus, the King of glory, turned the value system of this world on its head. A. W. Tozer draws our attention to the blinding deception of the “pride in possessions”:
There is within the human heart a tough, fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets “things” with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns “my” and “mine” look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution. (The Pursuit of God, 22)
Jesus sets for us a beautiful counter example. Concerning pride in birth and rank, He was a carpenter’s son (Matt 13:55), a poor family’s child (Luke 2:24; see Lev 12:8). Concerning pride in possessions, He said, “The Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (Matt 8:20). Concerning pride in pedigree, it was said of Him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Concerning pride in people, it was said of Him, “[He is] a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt 11:19). Concerning pride in intellect, He said, “As the Father taught Me, I say these things” (John 8:28). Concerning pride in self-will, He said, “If You are willing, take this cup away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
The example of Jesus is instructive. James 4:6 says, “But [God] gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” And 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time.” God’s newly created beings rightly relate to Him not with a heart of pride, but in a posture of humility, just as Jesus, who was Himself the Creator, demonstrated His entire life.
The World Cannot Give You What Will Last (1 John 2:17)
This verse brings to a conclusion John’s argument as he contrasts the two loves, two lives, two approaches to life. Why side with the world? Why give your life to an empty imitation, a worthless fake, a temporary illusion? The world, this evil and deceptive system of Satan, is continually passing away and its desires with it. The darkness was on the run in 2:8. The world is on the run in 2:17. Light and that which will last forever has shown up in Jesus Christ. What remains? What lasts? What endures? The answer is, the one doing (continually) the will of God. This one abides (continually) forever.
Jesus said many things about the will of God, especially in John’s Gospel.
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. (John 4:34)
I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 5:30)
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38)
Jesus’ work is lasting and effectual because it was the will of the Father for Him to do that work. For our work to abide like Christ’s, our hearts must not be attached to the things of this world, but to the will of the Father.
In the book Embracing Obscurity, a beautiful contrast is drawn between the things of the world and the things of the Father (Anonymous, Embracing Obscurity, 87). In the chart below, I have listed differences, making only a few slight adjustments and additions to those in the book. The differences between the two could not be more striking.
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Conclusion
One of the saddest stories in the Bible concerns a man by the name of Demas. He is not very well known, but his life serves as an important and tragic lesson for those of us who love the Father who sent His Son. We first hear of him in Colossians 4:14 where he is working hard for the gospel alongside Luke. He is listed along with nearly ten others for their faithful service to Christ (Col 4:7-18). We do not hear of him again until 2 Timothy 4:10, toward the end of Paul’s last letter, as Paul anticipates his own execution and martyrdom for Christ. There we simply read, “Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world.” The NLT says, “he loves the things of this life.” You can almost feel Paul’s heart break as he pens these words.
Let’s learn from the unfortunate story of Demas. Don’t let love for the things of this life eclipse your love for the Father. Don’t let a love for the things of this life cause you to chase after that which is fleeting and passing away. Let the love of the Father found in Jesus come in. Love the Father with all your heart, and see every room you enter become a sanctuary of love from the Father, all your work a sacrifice of love to the Father, and every praise that rolls off your lips a confession of love for the Father. Love the Father supremely who has loved you so deeply. There will be no regrets. God’s Word says so.
Reflect and Discuss