Kosmos is a fascinating New Testament word because it appears in three very different senses: (1) The created universe — "God, who made the world [kosmos] and everything in it" (Acts 17:24). The world as God's good creation. (2) Humanity collectively — "God so loved the world [kosmos] that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). The world as the object of God's redeeming love. (3) The fallen system of human affairs in rebellion against God — "Do not love the world [kosmos] or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world" (1 John 2:15-16). The Christian must hold all three meanings together: the universe is God's good creation; humanity is loved by God; but the current fallen system (with its values, economies, politics, and idols) is under Satan's influence and must not be loved. Jesus prayed that His followers would be "in the world" but "not of the world" (John 17:11, 14). The Christian lives in the kosmos, loves the kosmos in the sense that God loves it, but refuses the kosmos in the sense of its rebellion against God. Reading the word carefully in each context keeps us from the error of either world-hating asceticism or world-loving compromise.