Last week we started this passage by discussing the contrast between love and condemnation. John 3:16 is, in many ways, our foundation for the gospel. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” As I said last week, we know this verse, we love this verse and we need this verse. It reveals God’s character, that His actions, all of them, flow from His love. It reveals that God’s love is not a feeling He has for us; love is who He is. God does not feel love He chooses it, He embodies it, He exudes it. God’s love for us is not based upon us, it is completely based upon Him. God so loved the world because God is love. God gave His only begotten Son because God’s love gives. The love of God is selfless, sacrificial, generous and undeserved. We can’t earn God’s love which is good news because it means we cannot lose God’s love. Anything that must be earned can be lost but that which is given freely can be held onto tightly, it is a reflection of the Giver not the receiver. When I say that God loves us it is not a validation that we are lovable it is a promise that God is loving. God loves and God gives, these two truths are so tied together that we must learn that everything that God gives is love. The next verse is used to change our perspective. John writes “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In many ways, this verse needs to always stand with the previous. God so loved the world that He gave His Son so that the world, meaning everyone, would have the opportunity to receive everlasting life but God did not send His Son into the world to bring condemnation. Jesus did not come with salvation in one hand and condemnation in the other. This is the great contrast we spoke of last week love and condemnation have no place with each other, they are not partners, not even fruit of the same tree. God has no part in condemnation, it is not His will (God wills that none would perish), it is not in His character (mercy triumphs over judgment) and it is not in His desire (God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked). John 3:18 says “he who does not believe is condemned already”. Jesus did not bring condemnation with Him to those who would reject Him He brought love to those who were already condemned. Jesus did not bring a choice to the neutral, He brought freedom to the already enslaved and deliverance to the already bound. John says we were “already condemned”, Romans 5:10 says that we were God’s enemies, John 8:34 and Romans 6:20 say that we were “slaves to sin”. Jesus did not bring condemnation with Him, He came in love to free us from what was already established and settled. The reason there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” is because there is no condemnation in Christ. Love and condemnation stand in stark contrast to each other, they are not tools that reside in the same bag, they are opposed to each other and have no part or point in which they connect. This morning we will move further through this passage and see that light and darkness contrast each other in the exact same way that love and condemnation do. You cannot use the fear of condemnation to somehow inspire love and you cannot use the power of darkness to cause someone to run to the light. Today my prayer is that we will learn that darkness is not our sinful actions but darkness is the shame and fear that cause us to hide from God and that the light that exposes us shines only to heal us because God only exposes what He desires to heal.