1 John 2:16 16Because everything that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world.
This verse emphasizes further the thought of verse 15. John narrows down what he meant by loving the world of the previous verse. Everything God created is good. The problem is that humanity distorts God’s goodness by desiring the things of the world rather than loving God. Every human faces the same temptation as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, the serpent offered Eve, with Adam there with her, a temptation that replaced worship of God with self-satisfaction that attempted to imitate God. The big lie led to the emergence of death and the constant fight against all its effects.
John gives three examples that illustrate distorted love. Desires of the flesh (sarkos) include finding satisfaction in substitutes for the natural instincts God has given humans for pleasure and procreation. God provides guidance for the best way to live, but humans have distorted God’s plans in unnatural and unhealthy ways that often lead to pain and hardship. Rejecting God’s plans (expressed in God’s laws) results in sin. The “natural” way of the world follows the fleshly lifestyle (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 2:3). The phrase desires of the eyes captures one aspect of Eve’s temptation with the fruit that looked appealing and a delight to the eyes (Genesis 3:6). Many things look good but actually lead to pain and sorrow because they are not God’s best for us. Our modern world is inundated with graphics and images that appeal to our fallen, sinful natures. The pride of life refers to human arrogance set against God’s sovereignty. Pride replaces glorifying God with setting ourselves higher than God. It represents the deep human problem expressed in the Bible with the world “sin.”
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 empowered by God’s love to 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.