What does the Bible mean when it says things like, “God so loved the world…” and “do not love the world or the things in the world”? The short answer is: it uses that word in different ways. We get to examine Scripture and decipher which ways. At the end we should have a more comprehensive view of the word from a biblical worldview.
Context
Keep in mind that a word is mostly defined by its context. If I say the word “legit,” you’ll need to know the context to determine what I mean. If I say a Rolex is legit, I could mean it’s real, or I might mean it’s cool. When I make the statement matters as well. I don’t remember when legit started meaning cool, but I remember a time when it didn’t. I conclude it happened during my lifetime. So, if I said “legit” before (roughly) 2010, I would probably mean legitimate, and if I said it now, I likely mean it as cool. Time, place, tone, subject matter, and even my personality all play a part in defining what I mean by that word.
World, is obviously an English word, so we should look at the original Greek words for a more accurate understanding. I, by no means, am a Greek scholar, but websites like Blue Letter Bible make it incredibly easy for a layman like me to get the gist of a Greek word, even without formal education. Real scholars can take you a lot farther, so I encourage you to go to them for more in-depth research.
Kosmos is a Greek word translated “world” many places in the New Testament. It can mean the world or universe—more narrowly it could mean the inhabitants of the earth—and even more narrowly it could mean the portion of humanity who is hostile toward Christ. Aiōn is another Greek word translated “world” which means a period of time, or a generation. Those are just a few of the nuances the original text can bring us by their definitions, but we still have to look at the context.
Let’s look at two examples.
The Planet and the People on It
When we think world, we’re probably thinking about the planet and the people on it. We think very universally about it. Scripture uses it that way too, sometimes, but we should always look to the surrounding text for context.
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man… (Acts 17:24 ESV)
Here’s a perfect example of this, because it literally says “world and everything in it.” We know exactly what that means. It means what it says. The world and everything in it.
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25 ESV)
Here’s another good example. It’s saying the earth—the planet—doesn’t have enough capacity to keep record of all Jesus’ works.
…so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21 ESV)
This one is more specific to the inhabitants of the earth. Obviously, the planet itself isn’t what Jesus is referring to. All creation reveals the glory of God, but that’s not the same as active belief. Jesus is talking about the belief of people in general.
We know as well as Jesus that not every inhabitant of the earth is going to believe in him (yet), but this prayer has come true in a lot of ways. The world, in general, knows that Jesus is the Son of God. Roughly 1/3 of the world identifies itself as Christian, the Church is growing fastest in persecuted countries like Iran and China, and almost everyone agrees the year is 2018. What does that mean? What are we counting from? That’s a running count since the inauguration of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. 2018, the year of our Lord, and the entire world agrees with it. Some of this general belief might be more implicit than explicit, but you’re getting the picture.
There seems to be a sliding scale—on one side, the crust of the earth, and on the other side, every single individual person on said crust. The scale slides between these two to varying degrees. It might mean both, it might just mean a lot of people, or it might mean all people but not the planet. We have to examine the context to determine where on the scale we are when the Bible refers to the world.
Hostiles to the Mission of Christ
A very common use for “world” in the New Testament are the things told to us in this passage:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 John 2:15-16 CSB)
In general, if the Bible talks about the world negatively, this is the kind of thing to which it’s referring. I used a portion of this verse as an example in the beginning, but it should make more sense now in context. It isn’t referring to the world as every individual, or the dirt on the ground, but specifically people who are against Jesus; along with their lusts and pride. Now it makes more sense, because John 3:16 says God loved the world, and this clearly says you’ll have nothing to do with the Father if you love the world. This means not to love a pagan lifestyle, and John 3:16 is describing an act of love the Father made toward the population on earth.
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible offers my favorite translation of this verse. The other translations aren’t wrong, but English has left behind their phrasing. We no longer use the word “so” to refer to a mode. We use it as a transition word (and so…) or we use it to express superlatives (I love you so so much). John 3:16 uses it as a mode, and the CSB words it perfectly to convey this. God didn’t send his Son to die because he loved the world so so much and couldn’t stand not to have us in fellowship. We deserved nothing but hell, and he sent his Son to redeem us; that’s the way in which he loved us.
Christianity’s positive impact on the world, to the believer and unbeliever alike, is undeniable. In that way, this act of love extends even to unbelievers. If you disagree with that, I encourage you to think about orphanages, colleges, hospitals, and science. Consider whether any of these things have been useful to the world, and kindly reconsider your opinion. Those are just a few things, not merely invented by Christians, but founded on a Christian worldview.
“My point is: there are no atheist soup kitchens” -Marc Maron
Be aware, God’s love for the world is not an excusing or enabling love, pardoning our sin because he loves us so much. He hates any enemy of his Kingdom. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but does when they repent and turn to him (Ezekiel 18:23, 33:11). If you’re one of those enemies, repent and put your trust in Jesus today.
There are more than a few ways the Bible talks about the world, but I only wanted to cover two in this post: the planet and people, and the hostiles. Click here for a link to a lexicon of the Greek word Kosmos so you can learn some more.
The Extent of the Atonement
There’s one more world issue we have to cover here. It’s very important on this subject whether the Bible means every individual or something else. Did Jesus pay for the sins of every individual on the planet, or only those who would believe in him? I won’t pretend this hasn’t been a matter of great debate for at least five hundred years. I’ll give a brief explanation and have you on your way.
Those who believe in Jesus have had their sins paid for by him. The unbeliever pays for his sins in hell—it would be strange if Jesus had already paid for them.
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 ESV)
Why would I quote that verse? It doesn’t seem to serve my argument very well. Keep in mind John is a Jew talking to other Jews. What he means is: Jesus has broken down the dividing wall and the Kingdom has come. It’s not for an individual nation or people anymore, it’s for anyone who believes.
Jesus’ blood has absolutely no limit for believers. Every sin, past, present, and future is paid for in him; the work is done, and there’s nothing left for us to do to earn our salvation.
The death and resurrection of Christ also does a lot for the world in general, as we covered earlier. The world no doubt benefits from the Gospel, but only believers have their sins paid for.
In Conclusion
Does God love the world? Yes, in many ways. Does God hate the world? Yes, in many ways. It all depends on what the word is referring to. Context is everything. You have to define what use of “world” the Bible is using at the time.
God loves his children, and does many acts of love for them in every day life. He also does many acts of love toward unbelievers, despite their positions as enemies to his mission and kingdom. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but wickedness will be punished one way or the other—either through Christ’s atonement, or the lake of fire.