Kosmos carries immense theological freight in the New Testament. Rooted in the idea of 'order' and 'arrangement,' it became the standard term for the created universe, the inhabited earth, and — in John's writings especially — the fallen human order that stands in tension with God's kingdom. 'God so loved the kosmos' (John 3:16) embraces the whole of rebellious humanity in divine compassion. Yet kosmos can also denote what is hostile to God: 'the kosmos knew him not' (John 1:10). In a single striking occurrence (1 Pet 3:3), the word returns to its etymological root, meaning outward adornment or decoration — a usage every major translation distinguishes from the dominant sense.