John 3:16 -" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John_17:9 -" I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." ( Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17)

1John_2:15 -" Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him"

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I have thought about this many times. We all know for God so loved the world. Then we get the love not the world. It almost seems contradictory. I have to believe in the case of John 3:16 it's God loving people/his people depending on how you see it. In the case of love not the world it's him instructing us to not get wrapped up in temporary things or worse yet the fallen things of this world.

One thing that might help is to consider that the world is a spiritual being. Revelation 12 describes the birth of Christ from a spiritual being standing on the Moon and wrapped in sunlight. Like Jonah, Christ descended into the belly of Sheol but unlike Jonah he wasn't vomited up he was born of her to become the offspring of Eve (The mother of All Living) prophesied in Genesis to give birth to the One that will crush Satan's head. Also consider the flood only saved 8 people, but it cleansed the world. I'm still sorting through my of my understanding of these things, but what if we are the Flesh (Mankind) that was given to Eve who is represented by the world? Jesus has his own celestial representation as well,!The Bright Morning Star. Now "The Man" is represented by the object that rules over her.

With Love, Jesse

There are no contradictions.

God's creation, which He loves, had fallen away from Him and became satan's dominion. We are not to love the fallen world, but are called to align ourselves with God. The Father still loves His creation and sent His only begotten Son to show us the path to salvation.

Maybe this is the vestiges of my Protestant background talking, but I believe that even though the word "world" is the same Greek word (kosmos) in all 3 passages (per Strong's Concordance), John 3:16 refers to the inhabitants of the world and 1 John 2:15 refers to the system that operates all that we see, in other words the world that is under Satan's dominion.

In John 17:9, I believe that Jesus was praying very specifically. In context:

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours..."

He was praying for those who were given to him, not the rest of "the world". Those whom He loved and who loved Him back were differentiated from the rest of the world

World vs worldly.

The Greek tells an interesting story
World = Cosmos
Earth = Ge

Cosmos/World can refer to all creation and involves the heavenly beings and the universe as we know it.