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.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
John 3 is one of the most quoted texts in holy scripture, and for good reason; even Luther said that John 3:16 is like the Gospel in a nutshell. Jesus’ conversation that begins with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and teacher of Israel who approached Him in the cloak of night to avoid the ridicule of his peers, culminates with the declaration that God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son to save it. Or, more precisely, that the world might be saved through Him.
The distinction may be slight, but it has profound implications. God does love the world— everything that He has ever made or will ever make, all things seen and unseen—but He loathes evil. What God creates is light and life, but the corruption of evil brings darkness and death even upon those things made good. Said another way, unlike the goodness of God which exists as the perfection of God’s holy will in communion with Him forever, evil is like a parasitic cancer that can’t exist without a host to corrupt. Evil isn’t a quantity or a substance, but the twisting and perversion of something originally made good. This is how we know that God didn’t “create” evil, but that some of the creatures He made, through the gift of their free will, corrupted themselves and twisted themselves away from the God who is their life. This is the observable state of our world, corrupted by malevolent demons and wicked men, thrashing about in violence, pride, lust, greed, avarice, and every other fetid impulse of fallen hearts. While the fingerprints of our good creator are everywhere around us, and even within our own persons, the divine image we carry is broken, deformed, and made ugly by our inclination toward evil... a path our first parents chose, and a path which has harried our race since the Fall, driving each person toward the darkness of death where they vainly hope their evil deeds may hide outside the light of their Maker.
But of course, there is no hiding from God, not even in the grave. This world that He loves, He comes to save. He is the Light which pierces our darkness, the Life which overcomes our death. He is the Word made flesh who dwells among us, full of grace and truth. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, who satisfies the justice and wrath of our holy God upon all things which work against His love, beauty, and life. He is Jesus, through whom the Father spoke the universe into existence, and for whom all things were made, in the eternal and unbreakable fellowship with the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Our creating, sustaining, and saving God comes to be with us in our mess, that through Him we might be saved from the fire which is coming to consume all the corruption, hatred, and evil of this fallen world. Here, in the midst of our darkness, our sickness, our suffering, and even the shadow of death, He comes to speak His Word of reconciliation, forgiveness, life, joy, and hope. Here the Word of the Lord takes upon Himself our curse, that He might triumph over it through His Cross, and offer to us His victory over sin, death, hell, and the devil by His free gift of grace.
And here, the Word of the Lord calls each and every soul to hear Him, to believe Him, to trust Him, and to live in Him. This is the Word which gives a new birth from above by Water and Spirit in Holy Baptism, forgives sins in Holy Absolution, and feeds His people on the very bread of heaven in the Holy Eucharist. This is the Word which comes to you, calling you to turn from the darkness, that you might abide in His Light. This is the Word of love which the Father sends to us in His Son, that by the power of His Holy Spirit, we might live by faith in Him forever.
But divine love does not coerce. Though He loves you, and the whole world, love does not compel reciprocity, but rather calls. By His Word and Spirit, He gives to you the choice to receive His saving grace by faith and repentance, or to reject Him and flee back into the darkness of death and hell. Heed His loving call to you this day, that through Him, you might live— for there is no other name given under heaven, whereby the world may be saved. Amen.
