John 3:16-18 "Not Condemned"

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

 It always amazes me when Christians choose to use condemnation as a means to evangelize.  Jesus didn't.  Jesus said it clearly and plainly.  He did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world -the world that God loves so dearly.


The Good News, as reaffirmed by Paul (2 Corinthians 5:19), is that because of what Jesus has done on the cross, God is not counting people’s sins against them.  


This does not mean, of course, that there is no such thing as condemnation.  Those who refuse to be reconciled with Father through Jesus are condemned already.  They are condemned, not just at some far off time in the future -they are condemned already.  They live with a black cloud.  They live in perpetual world of spiritual pain and death.  Condemnation hangs on them like robe; it covers them like a blanket.  I believe people know this instinctively.  We know there is something wrong.  We know that things are out of whack.  Most people, I think, assume that if there is a God, He is mad.  They are not surprised at being condemned.  What many people do not realize is the depth of God's love.


While we are not surprised that our choices and actions and attitudes have alienated us from God and earned condemnation, it is hard for us to fathom that God is not angry -He, in fact, loves us and has already made provision for the consequences of our bad choices, actions and attitudes (our sin).  Jesus came, not to condemn, but to save.  All we have to do is open our hearts and believe.  This is God's gift to humanity: He does not heap on condemnation,  He rescues us from our current condemnation.