1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Every human (unless perhaps mentally disabled) faces the same temptation as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, the serpent offered Eve and then Adam a temptation that replaced worship of God with self-satisfaction in imitation of worshipping God. The big lie led to the emergence of death and things that fight off death. Before this, the things of the body were experienced in happiness and fulfillment. After the Fall, the things of the body were done out of pain to fight off the looming death and all signs of it.
Each of us follows this same path, but we find ourselves bound by this in slavery. This is the message of Romans 6. John points out that the world entices us through three things: things that satisfy our physical instincts and longings (many of which are natural inclinations of survival and fighting off death), the things that look good around us that offer empty promises of satisfaction, and the selfishness that focuses life upon our own agendas. These come from the world because they are based on the drive of sin, the power that compels us to exert ourselves against God.
The way of the Father, however, is one of love. When we have come to God in confession and faith, we will be enabled to pursue the love of God and show this love to those around us. Our instincts become sanctified and find fulfillment in God’s design for us as his creation. Our eyes begin to see the needs of the world around us instead of the enticing temptations that drive us to sin. Our love shifts from being self-focused and satisfying to being useful for God’s kingdom by serving the least and the lost.
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