“And John 3:16 says,” intoned a pastor friend. “Well it says . . .” he was trying to remember. Finally, conceding to his mental block, he said, “Let’s look it up together.” Most of us know John 3:16, or at least the gist of it. God loved the world. God gave his son. We believe in him and live.
How many of us remember John 3:17? Fewer of us know. If God could do anything with us what would he do? Would he condemn the world? Another preacher of my youth said, “God will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if he does not judge the sin in America.”
God has an answer for our world. Can you believe God judged sin by placing the full penalty on his son? He did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world. God wants to save the world. Specifically he wants to save the people. You and me, to be sure, but also all of the rest of the people. That is why he sent his Son: not to condemn but to save. Do you believe that?
