WHAT IS THE MEANING OF “KOSMOS”?
John uses this word primarily as the world turned away from God. Even though it was created through the Word, it doesn’t know him (v. 10). It is like children not knowing (or appreciating) their parents. They were created by them, but that is no guarantee that they know them — in fact, they may hate them. Yet, it is this world that God so loves (3:16) and to which the light/Son is sent to save (1:9; 3:17, 19). The world will hate Jesus’ followers (15:18, 19; 16:33; 17:14), but we, perhaps similar to the Word’s incarnation, are sent to live in the world (17:11, 18). I’ve heard some Christians described as being “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.” For John, the realm of Jesus’ ministry and that of his followers is in the world — that mass of humanity who doesn’t know God and who will hate Jesus and his followers. Jim Strathdee wrote a song — “I Am the Light of the World” — which is based on a Christmas poem by Howard Thurman. The first verse goes: When the song of the
