One shrewd person asked: Lord Jesus Christ said that: God so loved the world; but Apostle John says: love not the world. (John 3:16; I John 2:15,16) Whom should we follow? World is mentioned in the bible in three ways.
1) Created world: God created Heavens and the Earth, all that are seen: mountains, oceans, seas, rivers, plants, trees, vegetables, fruits, animals, birds, fish…etc. (Genesis 1) All was created as a place for humanity. Only after creating all, God created Adam and Eve.
2) People in the world: In conversation with Nicodemus, Lord Jesus said that God loved the world. That means, God loved all the human beings that dwell in the world. That means God loves sinners, but hates sin. Hence, God sent His Son Lord Jesus Christ to redeem people.
3) Lifestyle of people: Apostle John brings to focus the principles or trends or fashion of the world. (Romans 12:2) Consciously or unconsciously people have opinions, biases, love or hatred, attraction or repulsion that could affect their choices. John brings to focus the three underlying drives, humans fall prey for. Desires or lust of eyes, flesh or body and pride of life. Whatever, people think good, attractive, lovely, beautiful, precious; they wish to take possession. This driving desire to own could lead to sin of covetousness, violation of the tenth commandment. (Exodus 20:17) Of course, this could lead to other sins violating the commandments: murder, lies, violence. Uncontrolled emotions could lead to carnal sins (sins committed with body) of thought adultery, pornography, pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, unnatural sex, gluttony, addiction to alcohol, drugs, even smart phones. Pride of life gives entitlement mentality, thinking they are Lord of universe and expect all things to happen according to their whims and fancies. This pride justifies the desires of eyes or flesh and pursues sin with all focus, energy and power.
The warning is that all these desires are passing phenomenon, meddling with them is dangerous. Instead a disciple should do the Will of God. (I John 2:17)
Do I pursue the lifestyle of the world or God’s Will?