God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son
God did not in the end require Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham had said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering" (see Genesis 22:8), and so he would.
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
God's purpose was not that anyone would perish, but that the way to eternal life could be unlocked. The sacrificial surrender of life that would allow it to be transformed and elevated into divine life was not one that Abraham, Isaac, or anyone else could have made, except in symbolic anticipation. But by faith in the one sacrifice of Jesus himself they could come to participate in that self-offering and to partake of its effects.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
The Son came into a world that was worthy of condemnation, and one which, on some level, knew it. It was a world of darkness afraid to be exposed by the light. For his part, Jesus was trying to convince this wounded and frightened world to come out of the darkness and into his light, promising that his purpose was not condemnation but forgiveness. The darkness, however, had an insulating effect on those who lived in it, making them unwilling to approach the one who could save them, the only one who could deliver them into the light.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
Jesus did not desire the death of sinners (see Ezekiel 18:23), and came to hold out to them the hope of salvation. But for those to whom he came to spurn this unfathomably generous offer meant resigning themselves to the fate of condemnation. It was already the state of things and rejecting Jesus meant rejecting the one hope of deliverance.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Jesus did not come only to persuade only some that were already relatively good to follow him. Rather, none were good. No, not one (see Romans 3:1). But we can take heart that he himself was not indifferent to those who dwelt in darkness, that they were themselves the target of his mission. He came to call them out, to persuade them to trust that he had arrived for love and not for judgment, so that they could come to the light while time remained. Only by doing so could works be "done in God" because only by being united to Jesus himself would this be a reality.
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,
saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ (see Isaiah 49:8-9).
In what ways do we still hesitate to come to the light? In what ways does our fallen nature still mistrust God as though he is looking for excuses to condemn us? He is rather looking for the slightest pretense to show us mercy. He responds even to the most meager and half-formed desires within us for the light, desires which he himself places within us. He is trying to crack the windows and prop open the doors, however slightly, that his light can begin to shine.
"We found the jail securely locked
and the guards stationed outside the doors,
but when we opened them, we found no one inside."
When we begin to learn "everything about this life" that Jesus came to teach and demonstrate, and which he himself empowers us to live, it is then that the darkness loses its hold on us. No prison walls, no matter how secure, will then keep our souls away from the light.
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (see Ephesians 5:8).
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