“THE WORLD; AN ENEMY OF DISCIPLES” (1 JOHN 2:15-17)
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the past two weeks we have been trying to understand the whole idea of discpleship and our need for obidience as we follow Chrisit. Today our Topic, “The World; an Enemy of Disciples.” comes in with the Revelation that can elevate us in Christ.
Our focus on the world today is not so directly related to it as the earth but the symbolic meaning in refrence to the sinful atmosphere that can entangle the creatures living in it. Our text clearly proves that too much Love for the world is says that enemity to God. “5 Do not love the world or anything in the world.
If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
Our topic therefore summarizes this message by portraying the world as an enemy of disciples.The challenge on our side is a puzzle, “How do we emerge disciplined and victorious in God’s sight as we live daily in this world of ungodly threats towards our faith? It is profound for you and I to realise that
God has always expressed His desire for the people called by His name to be different from others because the world is mixed up of both saved and unsaved people. It has situations that can easily draw each one of us away from God.
Jesus in his prayer for the disciples in John 17:15-17, requested God not to take them out of the world but to keep them safe. Elsewhere in Luke 8:14, the Thorny Ground or soil represents people affected by pressures and pleasures of this world, that can easily chock or divert the disciples’ focus from Godliness.
From this background, we realise that the world, as the place where we live has so many dangers that should be avoided for a disciple to thrive in Christ.
May God give us the grace to remain relevant in our walk with Him even in the face of evident and demonically justified reasons to Love the world. May we rest in the assurance of God’s love and overcome the world by doing God’s will.
The Very Rev.Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye,
Provost.