Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 1 Study # 11
October 8, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world.
Introduction: Now that we have given three studies over to a look into
John 3:16, we are going to move into another "For" declaration. The first "For" declaration was
John 3:16 which is an explanation of God's motivation for "lifting up His Son" as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so that "everyone who is believing" may, in Him, possess and experience eternal life. This motivation was His "Love". This second "For" declaration advances the thesis of God's
motivation (His "Love" for the world) to another level: God's
intention(s) in taking this action of "Love".
According to Jesus, God sent His Son into the world for two possible reasons: either "to judge" the world" (an assumption of men), or "to save" it "through Him". This morning I want to address God's "intention" as opposed to man's assumption of God's "intention".
- I. The Clarification Of The Purpose Of God For Sending His Son.
- A. The "For" ("gar", found in 62 of John's texts) is the fourth of John's uses and follows his pattern of use: to introduce "an explanation".
- B. The God did not send... .
- 1. The early focus of Jesus' words is upon what God's purpose for sending His Son was not.
- a. The "not" is emphatic ("ou" at the very front of the sentence).
- b. The "send" is "apostello" - the fourth of 27 uses by John - meaning, the "one sent" as a legitimate representative of the Sender (in this case, "ho theos").
- 1) The first use (1:6) refers to Witness-John as an authoritative representative of "The God" so that, for men to benefit from his "sent-function" they must accept his message as "from The God".
- 2) The second and third uses (1:19 and 1:24) refer to legal representatives of those who "sent" them -- significantly, "the Jews" in 1:19 and "the Pharisees" in 1:24.
- c. The "Sent One", in this text, is "The Son" Who speaks the words of God as His representative (Note 3:34 and 14:10).
- 1) In respect to the identification of "The Son" for this sentence, the very next verse (3:18) calls Him "the only begotten Son of God" as the object of "faith into".
- a) The word "son" ("huios") is used by John in 50 texts, of which this one is ninth, following 1:34 (the first use, identifying Jesus as "The Son Of The God" by Witness-John), 1:49 (the fourth use, identifying Jesus as "The Son Of The God" by Nathanael) and 3:16 (the eighth use, identifying Jesus as God's only begotten son).
- b) This "Son" is identified as "the Object of into-faith" in 1:12, 2:11, 23 and 3:16.
- i. As "Son", He is the "express image"/"exact representation" of His Father's nature (Hebrews 1:3-4): this is the meaning of "son" throughout the Scriptures without the "express/exact" element as John 8:42-44 clearly declares.
- ii. The issue of "Son" is the point of the "begotten" concept.
- 2) Thus, the issue of Jesus' "The God did not send The Son..." is a further declaration that the "into-faith" is NOT about "a coming judgment".
- 2. The declaration concerns "the world" (kosmos) as the object of the verb "judge".
- a. This "kosmos" is in 57 of John's texts, and this verse is the fifth wherein this word is used.
- 1) In this verse, "kosmos" is used three times, immediately following the one use in 3:16.
- 2) The meaning of "kosmos" is established by these facts of the text...
- a) This "kosmos" is identified as "men who might be saved" (Subjunctive Mood) who are part of the "kosmos" that "has already been judged" (Perfect Tense Indicative; 3:18).
- b) This "kosmos" is made of two kinds of people: those who "believe" and escape the "judgment"; and those who do not "believe" and are already under judgment (3:18).
- c) This "kosmos" is made of two kinds of "chooser-producers": those whose "works" are evil, which cause them to flee from the Light; and those whose "works" are manifestly "wrought by God" (3:19-21).
- d) To arbitrarily assign the concept of "the world of the elect" to this text is theological eisegesis and that definition flatly contradicts the text wherein the "kosmos" has been judged already.
- b. The declaration insists that God did NOT send His Son into the "kosmos" in order to bring it to judgment.
- 1) John's references to "judgment".
- a) Begin in this text (3:17) which addresses the intention "to save", not "to judge" because "judgment" has already been imposed.
- b) Include 12:47 ("If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.").
- 2) This raises this question: why does Jesus/John feel it necessary to make this statement?
- a) Apparently there is a "predisposition to judgment" that is running rampant through the heart and theology of Judaism.
- b) Legal theology always rests upon a "judgment" thesis and prefers "sacrifice" over "mercy" (Matthew 9:13 and 12:7).
- c) Grace and Truth theology (1:17) rests upon the divine "preference" for "mercy" over "sacrifice".
- 3) The text answers this question: apparently Nicodemus and his ilk believe that the judgment is yet to come; not already past.
- a) The only way this can be "believed" is if men are viewed as morally neutral at birth and their lives are lived either to bring condemnation, or participation in the Kingdom of The God, by their "performance" in this life.
- b) Jesus' declaration is: "Too Late"; the "kosmos" has already been judged and "belief" into Jesus is the only way of escape. Thus, the need for a new birth: the first birth brings a person into participation in a "kosmos" that is already condemned; the second birth brings a person out of this "kosmos" of condemnation into the family of God. Without the second birth, there is no hope: "you must be born again".
- 4) This answer is theologically critical because it reveals the basic problem: man's view of God and His actions.
- a) The idea that God sent His Son to judge the "kosmos" presents God as "bent in the direction of exclusion" (i.e., God is hostile and must be "argued into" mercy and grace).
- b) God sent His Son into the "kosmos" to challenge that view: He is "bent in the direction of inclusion (i.e., God much prefers to be merciful than to exercise Justice unto condemnation: Matthew 9:13 and 12:7).
