"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you."
And yet John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world."
Isn't that interesting? Jesus says the world is going to hate you. And then in the same breath, the same book, the same gospel—I love that world. I came to save that world.
Scripture Focus: John 15:21; John 3:16-17; Luke 23:34
"All these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me."
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."
Why does the world hate followers of Christ? Jesus says in verse 21: "Because they do not know the One who sent Me."
They do not know God.
And that should break your heart.
Jesus says from the cross, "Father, forgive them—they do not know what they are doing." What does He mean they didn't know? They knew what they were doing. But they didn't know why they were doing it because they were blind. Their hearts were hardened. Paul says he used to persecute the church—but he did so out of ignorance. This is what unbelievers do.
The goal here is not to say, "The world hates us—let's link arms and go get them." The goal is to understand this reality, to understand why, and then to consider how we live in it.
Why did Cain kill Abel? First John 3:12 says it plainly: because his deeds were wicked and his brother's were righteous. Cain killed Abel because he hated that his brother was righteous. Righteousness functions as a perpetual pinch that disturbs your ability to live harmoniously in sin. Christians are the world's conscience—Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:2. You remove Christians from this world, there is no remaining system of conscience.
And do you know what?
Those hateful, antagonistic, opposing, hostile people—those are the people you are called to reach with the truth of Jesus. They are not your enemy. They are your mission field.
And here's the beauty of this whole section of Scripture. Jesus says in John 14: "My peace I give to you—not as the world gives." Supernatural peace. He says in John 15: "Abide in My love." Supernatural love. He says in John 15:11: "These things I have spoken so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be full." Supernatural joy.
And then He says: "The world is going to hate you."
We have to wed these realities together because you cannot isolate this section from what precedes it. The world is going to hate you—but Jesus tells you this to eliminate shock and surprise. So that His peace which surpasses all understanding, His love poured out through the power of His Spirit, and His joy which functions as an unassailable reality—would continue to shine forth from and through you.
They don't know God. That breaks His heart. It should break yours. You are salt and light. You are commissioned. You are sent.
Love them enough to tell them the exclusive truth of Jesus Christ—who He is, what He's done, that He lived and died and rose to pay for their sin. That is how you love a world that hates you.
1. When you encounter hostility from the world, do you respond with contempt or with compassion?
2. Do you genuinely see unbelievers—even hostile ones—as your mission field rather than your enemy?
3. What would it look like this week to love someone who is hostile to Jesus with both truth and genuine compassion?
Stay dialed in
