Do You Know John 3:17?
John 3:16-21
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:16 is rightly understood as a beautiful summary of the entire biblical story. Unfortunately, 3:17 is much less well-known, which is a shame because it helps fill out and explain v.16.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him [John 3:17].
The entire reason for the Incarnation was to save people! This raises the question, though, as to why people killed Jesus. The answer: because they preferred to stay in the dark rather than come into the light.
Light and dark are important themes in the Gospel of John, and here we see that there is a battle going on between light and dark. But John has already told us in the Prologue that light wins:
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it [John 1:5].
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
How might John 3:17 help our unbelieving world better understand the gospel?
