Distinctive usages in John’s Gospel and Letters. John’s prologue (Jn 1:1–18) provides a detailed reinterpretation of the Genesis creation story. A Jewish understanding of creation is daringly reinterpreted in the light of faith in Jesus as the Savior of the world. Here the kosmos is first the universe, the totality of the creation: “All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made” (Jn 1:3). There is a notable dualistic framework in John, with references to “this world” (planet earth) and “the judgment of the prince of this world” (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). This world is not contrasted with some future world. Rather, the world below is contrasted with the world above, the world of darkness with the world of light. This world, though created by the Word, is ruled by the prince of this world. Even though the Fourth Gospel does not show Jesus exorcizing demons, Jesus’ struggle with the prince of this world is a central feature further accentuated by the prominent antithesis of light and darkness in this Gospel.
Jesus, the emissary from above, has come into this world (Jn 1:9, 10; 3:16, 17, 19; 6:14; 10:36; 11:27; 12:46; 16:28; 17:18, 21, 23; 18:37). His mission is an expression of God’s love for the world (Jn 3:16). This world is dominated by darkness and the prince of this world. And the world in view is humanity. The coming of the emissary was to save, not to condemn the world (Jn 3:17; 4:42; 6:33, 51; 12:47), but condemnation is inevitable where the saving mission is rejected (Jn 9:39). The coming of the emissary is expressed in terms of the coming of the light into the world as the light of the world (Jn 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46). The light does not belong to the world (Jn 8:23; 17:16; 18:36) but has come to reveal the Father and his love for the world (Jn 14:31; 17:21, 23, 24). His coming was to bring life to the world (Jn 6:33) by giving his life for the world (Jn 1:29; 6:51). Having entered the world and completed his mission, the emissary departs from it (Jn 13:1; 14:19; 16:28). But first he commissions his disciples to continue his mission to the world (Jn 17:21, 23). Those who are called out from the world (by the emissary) and no longer belong to it (Jn 15:19; 17:6, 11, 14, 16) are consequently hated by it, as the emissary himself was hated (Jn 15:18, 19; 17:14). The mission was made possible by the coming of the Paraclete/Spirit of Truth (see HOLY SPIRIT) to expose the world to the truth revealed by the light (Jn 3:19–21; 16:8). Yet the world does not recognize the Spirit, just as it did not recognize the emissary. It knows only the mission of Jesus and those who continue his mission. Only those who believe perceive the light of the world which has the power to transform those who belong to the world so that their lives are shaped by the light from above.
In John the focus moves from the world perceived as creation to the world of humanity dominated by the darkness of false loves, false values, false knowledge and to the mission to save the world. Much of this interpretation of the world is given in the words of the narrator (Jn 1:9, 10; 3:16, 17, 19) or other characters such as John the Baptist (Jn 1:29), the Samaritans (Jn 4:42) and the crowd (Jn 6:14) in addition to Jesus himself.
In 1 John we also find a sharp dichotomy between two sides. God and the world are diametrically opposed, and believers must choose between them. The world is apostate from God, and John urges full loyalty to God: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn 5:19); “they are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world and the world listens to them” (1 Jn 4:5). Believers are not to “love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him” (1 Jn 2:15). They should not be perplexed that the world “hates” them (1 Jn 3:13). Sinfulness originates from and belongs to this world and is to be avoided (1 Jn 2:16–17; cf. 1 Jn 4:3–5, 9).
But as in the Fourth Gospel, there is hope for the world because Christ was sent “as the savior of the world” (1 Jn 4:14), and whoever has faith in him will be victorious in overcoming the opposition of the world (1 Jn 5:4–5). 1 John uses “world” sometimes in a sense that encompasses the entire sphere of people outside the church. This is how false teachers can be identified: they no longer side with the church but “have gone out into the world” (1 Jn 4:1). Since they are “of the world” they no longer should be heeded or trusted (1 Jn 4:5; cf. 2 Jn 7).
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