In Jesus' prayer in John 17 he prays "not for the world" but for the chosen. The account of this prayer is the time in which Jesus is sweating-shedding his blood (Matthew's account) in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus literally prayed his blood over the earth, and when he did this, he claimed all the sin of the saints - declaring himself "sorrowful even unto death". How then is this prayer reconciled with the world of John 3:16-17?
The answer I believe is simply because John was the apostle who inherited Jesus' prophetic mantle, and as such, speaks and writes in a prophetic way - he is speaking of the redeemed world of a future time. The world which Jesus loves and died for, is something he is intent on changing. He will change it by redeeming his children (the harvest wheat), and by destroying the sons of the devil (tares). The world is a mixed bag at this time, and God does not love just all of the world for the world is also a synonym for "worldliness". The saints are presently "not of this world" because Jesus keeps them in his bosom and has separated them spiritually, while yet "in the world". The world today is not what Jesus loves, far from it.
When the topic of discussion is final redemption from death (resurrection) the object is a world of purified holy and immortal saints. That is the world that is in mind in John 3. Jesus has the plans all worked out, he is planning on redeeming his lost sheep. When he speaks of this future event of redemption (it comes at the time he redeems us from death, not when he freed us from sin-bondage through justification) he is simply looking forward in time.
Last of all, the world is expressed in the imagery of a woman. The harlot of Revelation 17 who rides the dragon is the world, God hates her and her uncleanness. He plans to kill her, and in her place the woman from the wilderness-in-the-Spirit, will be raised up to glory. The twin sisters of Revelation and their respective twin cities tell this story vividly, echoing the old testament accounts which also prophetically foretell the same prophecy
Sarah/Hagar
Leah/Rachel
Samaria-Israel/Judah
These two women/cities/worlds, are not the same in God's mind's-eye. They only happen to coexist in our present reality. The future 'kosmos' (world/the-all-things) will going be remade at his coming.
Now comes the issue of the Passover, and Jesus death on the Cross. This matter of Law was a Jewish matter. Did the death on the cross cleanse all the sin of all the world? I say - No.
The prayer in the Garden was important, and cannot be dealt with entire by itself, the prayer goes hand in hand with the sin payment, which was the death of the Lamb. The day of Atonement is important here, because that day involves a High Priest, and a Lamb. In order that Jesus become the Lamb of Sacrifice, he must die as a sin-payment. But before his death he was ALREADY a High Priest. At the Day of Atonement, the High Priest "appointed in his Father's place" must sprinkle the blood of the lamb and send off the scapegoat. The scapegoat was, obviously, Barabbas. The atonement of Israel's sins was what takes place, and as the church inheritied the spiritual promises of Israel, the church then, is what receives the atonement, not the whole world. For example, Moab did not receive atonement by Israel's day of Atonement. By the same token, the sinful unrepentant world cannot receive atonement by the church's sacraments.
Clearly, the repentant hearts of the church, exemplified by the material nation of Israel gathering before the High Priest is the definition of atonement. The fact that Israel was inclusive of sojourners and visitors who adopted it as their nation suggests that atonement is only given "freely" to those who repent and "come out" of the nations around Israel.
Therefore you must COME OUT and BE SEPARATE from the world, otherwise you cannot receive atonement. Atonement and forgiveness are one and the same. Hateful, unrepentant people, shall not be forgiven - Matthew 18:35.
The answer I believe is simply because John was the apostle who inherited Jesus' prophetic mantle, and as such, speaks and writes in a prophetic way - he is speaking of the redeemed world of a future time. The world which Jesus loves and died for, is something he is intent on changing. He will change it by redeeming his children (the harvest wheat), and by destroying the sons of the devil (tares). The world is a mixed bag at this time, and God does not love just all of the world for the world is also a synonym for "worldliness". The saints are presently "not of this world" because Jesus keeps them in his bosom and has separated them spiritually, while yet "in the world". The world today is not what Jesus loves, far from it.
When the topic of discussion is final redemption from death (resurrection) the object is a world of purified holy and immortal saints. That is the world that is in mind in John 3. Jesus has the plans all worked out, he is planning on redeeming his lost sheep. When he speaks of this future event of redemption (it comes at the time he redeems us from death, not when he freed us from sin-bondage through justification) he is simply looking forward in time.
Last of all, the world is expressed in the imagery of a woman. The harlot of Revelation 17 who rides the dragon is the world, God hates her and her uncleanness. He plans to kill her, and in her place the woman from the wilderness-in-the-Spirit, will be raised up to glory. The twin sisters of Revelation and their respective twin cities tell this story vividly, echoing the old testament accounts which also prophetically foretell the same prophecy
Sarah/Hagar
Leah/Rachel
Samaria-Israel/Judah
These two women/cities/worlds, are not the same in God's mind's-eye. They only happen to coexist in our present reality. The future 'kosmos' (world/the-all-things) will going be remade at his coming.
Now comes the issue of the Passover, and Jesus death on the Cross. This matter of Law was a Jewish matter. Did the death on the cross cleanse all the sin of all the world? I say - No.
The prayer in the Garden was important, and cannot be dealt with entire by itself, the prayer goes hand in hand with the sin payment, which was the death of the Lamb. The day of Atonement is important here, because that day involves a High Priest, and a Lamb. In order that Jesus become the Lamb of Sacrifice, he must die as a sin-payment. But before his death he was ALREADY a High Priest. At the Day of Atonement, the High Priest "appointed in his Father's place" must sprinkle the blood of the lamb and send off the scapegoat. The scapegoat was, obviously, Barabbas. The atonement of Israel's sins was what takes place, and as the church inheritied the spiritual promises of Israel, the church then, is what receives the atonement, not the whole world. For example, Moab did not receive atonement by Israel's day of Atonement. By the same token, the sinful unrepentant world cannot receive atonement by the church's sacraments.
Clearly, the repentant hearts of the church, exemplified by the material nation of Israel gathering before the High Priest is the definition of atonement. The fact that Israel was inclusive of sojourners and visitors who adopted it as their nation suggests that atonement is only given "freely" to those who repent and "come out" of the nations around Israel.
Therefore you must COME OUT and BE SEPARATE from the world, otherwise you cannot receive atonement. Atonement and forgiveness are one and the same. Hateful, unrepentant people, shall not be forgiven - Matthew 18:35.
