God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
The God of the bible is utterly unique in that he is entirely motivated by love. We can't imagine any Pagan gods or the humans in whose image they were fabricated acting in this way. God, rather than being content to live in eternal love and bliss as Father, Son, and Spirit, decided from all eternity that the Son would come to us for the salvation of the world. God, in the form of Jesus Christ, opted in to suffering on behalf of a race who had, of its own accord, opted out of bliss and endless life. The Father did not send the Son because he was indifferent to the suffering the Son would endure, but rather because he knew that the Son himself desired to endure that suffering for our sake. The Triune God desired to manifest to us their perfect love, both for the three Persons, and for all of humanity. And this perfect manifestation, where love of Father, Son, and Spirit for one another and for man coincided the most perfectly was when the Son, out of obedience to the Father, guided by the Spirit, and for the love of humanity, gave his life upon the cross. It was an unsurpassable statement once for all of a love greater than which none existed.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (see John 15:13).
We still tend to think, even in spite of all of the evidence to the contrary, that God is out to get us. We often act as though he is looking for an excuse to condemn us. This motivates us to achieve a basic level of Christian discipline as we avoid sin and regularly avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Confession when we fail. But it does not of itself bring us to live to abundant life that Jesus desires for us (see John 10:10). It is rather the case that God cares more about our salvation than we do. He is looking for excuses to save us. He is constantly searching for cracks in the armor of our ego into which he himself can enter and transform us with his light.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
One reason why fear of punishment does not automatically bring us truth and light is because it makes us, whether we admit it or not, suspicious of the light. As we have said, we feel that we will be exposed. We bring forth our faults not out of confidence of forgiveness and mercy, but from the sense that hiding is futile. But we can never do this as wholeheartedly as we could if we actually trusted in the light Jesus came to bring, if we actually believed that the truth he revealed was, without any qualifications, entirely good.
The Lord is watching over our way just as surely as he watched over that of his Apostles. He has given angels to light and to guard, to rule and to guide us. That doesn't necessarily mean that our lives won't contain experiences of darkness, as when the Apostles were put in the public jail. But it does mean that, if we continue to trust in the one who loved us first, even the darkest of our experiences will eventually redound to the glory of God.
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison,
led them out, and said,
“Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life.”
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