The Good News of the Gospel
Written by Marni Ines
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:19-21 ESV
When a passage starts with “And”, it is typically a prudent thing to step back and look at what comes before. This section t begins with the Gospel invitation: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Praise God for loving “the world” and giving the gift of “his only Son” for us to have eternal life! The verse says “whoever”, so anyone has the choice to believe in Jesus and have eternal life instead of perishing. This is the good news of the Gospel.
Jesus goes on, saying, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:17-18) So God sent Jesus into the world to save the world, implying that the world needs to be saved, and that “whoever believes in him” avoids the consequence of condemnation. The other option is choosing to not believe, not being saved, and remaining in condemnation.
This brings us back to the passage at hand (verses 19-21), which begins “And this is the judgment…”. The word used for judgment in the original greek, κρῐ́σῐς (pronounced “krisis”), is defined as “a separating” or “separation” (see Luke 12:51). The “light” that “has come into the world”, is Jesus and the Gospel revelation declared in verses 16-18. The separation is seen in the two responses to the light, which follow.
The first response to light is “people loved darkness rather than the light because their works were evil”. Darkness is the absence of light. Without the light of Jesus, there is condemnation. Some choose darkness, rejecting the light, because they do not want their evil works (a.k.a. “sin”) exposed and they don’t see the need to be saved. The second response is “…whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” Where there is light, darkness cannot exist. In following Jesus, we live in truth (John 14:6, 4:24), with the light revealing our need to be saved- our sin separates us from God. We come to the light, believing in Jesus- the truth of who he is, what he did, and is going to do.
How have you responded to the light? Need saving? With the light of Jesus freely given, no one has to live in bondage to fear, anxiety, pain, or even death. We are called to live boldly in truth, as new creations, empowered by the Holy Spirit, rejoicing in freedom and peace. Are you?