Scripture:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. 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. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 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 3:16-21 ESV)

Observation: 

Imagine a list of every thought, every fleeting word, and every wrong thing you've ever done. Now imagine that list under a great light, under scrutiny, publicly exposed for all the world, all your friends, all your enemies, all your loved ones to see. Picture the looks of disgust coming from those who formerly called you friend. Imagine the shame. Feel, upon your shoulders, the overwhelming oblivion of it all. Such is our position as we stand before the light of God. The light exposes the darkness in us, so we flee from it. We run the other way. We try to hide in the shadows. We crawl under the blanket hoping that some thin piece of material will shield us from his all consuming fire.

Jesus paints this tapestry with his words in John 3, but at its core, the story of Jesus Christ isn't about condemnation, but about life. It is a rescue mission. God didn't have to love the world or show love to it, but he chose to love it in an unimagineable way. He chose to come into the darkness and to die for it. He came to expose the works of evil and to destroy them by being destroyed by them. He embraced death so that you could be given life. This is the gospel.

Application: