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        "Afraid of the Dark"
        John 3:17-21
        Theme:         When God has done a work of grace in your heart, you will turn away from darkness and come to the Light. .

        1. The Priority is Verbalized – 3:17

          1. The Faulty Assumption re: the First Advent

            1. Jesus statements about God "so lov[ing] the world" must have greatly dumbfounded Nicodemus – a spiritually proud Pharisee who believed that Gentiles were dogs who would receive their proper judgment as soon as the Messiah were to come.
            2. To the Jew, the arrival of the Messiah was a day when the "nations" would be punished for their oppression of God’s people.
            3. The largest mistake in the Jewish theology of Jesus’ day was the failure to recognize that the advent of the Messiah would be in two stages.
              1. The First Advent would involve the suffering sacrifice of the Messiah who would die to save men from their sins – revealed in Isaiah 53.
              2. The Second Advent would involve the deliverance of His people from affliction and the judgment of the nations.
            4. Here Jesus addresses the faulty assumptions of Nicodemus by declaring: "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world"
            5. Once again, God demonstrates that He does not desire to judge the wicked – cp. Ezekiel 18:23, 32
            6. This is not to suggest that Jesus Christ is not going to judge sinners for their sin – merely that He first would provide them - through His atonement - with the ability to find forgiveness of sin – Acts 10:40-43

          2. The Father’s Aspiration re: the First Advent

            1. The provision for the salvation of the world is clearly seen as the aspiration of the Father for sending His Son – ". . . but that the world might be saved through Him."
            2. This is the great heart’s desire of God – that men from every people, tribe, and nation be granted the forgiveness of sin – cp. 1 Timothy 2:4
            3. God the Father clearly expresses in His Word what is His desire and command –
              1. Command: That all men everywhere repent – Acts 17:30
              2. Desire: That no man should perish but come to repentance – 2 Peter 3:9.

        2. The Pronouncement of the Verdict - 3:18-19

          1. The Demand for the Verdict – v. 18

            1. Those who respond in faith to the will of God for repentance escape judgment: "He who believes in Him is not judged."
            2. This not only refers to the issue of the immediate judgment of God, but also to the ultimate judgment by Christ – cp. Romans 8:1.
            3. Notice that the condition of being outside the realm of God’s judgment is already an accomplishment – we don’t have to wait until death to know for certain that we will not be judged.
            4. There is however, a current element to the judgment of the wicked – Jesus declares that He did not come to judge them, but that they are already judged: "he who does not believe has been judged already."
              1. It is already the case, because of the guilt of sin, that sinners who are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ are already condemned – cp. Ephesians 2:3
              2. It is merely a matter of God’s perfect timing when the judgment of God is revealed – cp. Romans 2:5; John 5:25-29
            5. The basis for this judgment is simply whether or not a person has placed their spiritual and eternal welfare in the hands of Jesus Christ and therefore possesses a relationship with Him: "because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

          2. The Delineation of the Verdict – v. 19

            1. Christ Himself explains this sentence of judgment that is on those who reject Christ for us.
            2. He states: "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light,"
              1. Those who reject Christ do not do it in ignorance, but because of the intense affection for their sinful ways.
              2. There is a love for the sensual, superstitious, self-indulgent pursuits that can be sought after in the darkness.
              3. They love the darkness "for their deeds were evil" – they are incompatible with the Light (the Lord Jesus) and so they love the darkness.

        3. The Provision of Verification – 3:20-21

          1. The Reason for Antagonism toward the Savior – v. 20

            1. Jesus Christ has already been identified as "the Light" in chapter 1.
            2. Hence, the hatred for the Light is hatred for the Son of God.
            3. He says: "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light"
            4. The present tense is used here signifying that these people are "in the habit of practicing what is wrong" – it is their constant indulgence.
            5. Hence they reject the Light because their deeds are evil and their deeds are continually evil because they reject the Light.
            6. The reason they refuse to come to the Light is that there exists a great "fear that his deeds will be exposed" and they love their sin and the darkness that allows it to exist.

          2. The Reason for Attraction to the Savior – v. 21

            1. On the other hand, "he who practices the truth comes to the Light" – there is an constant, tremendous attraction to the Lord Jesus Christ in the heart of those who "practice the truth."
            2. Notice that instead of being devoted to "doing evil," the ones who willing to come to the Light are "practic[ing] the truth" – this addresses the basic underlying orientation of their hearts.
            3. What is it that makes the difference? "so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
            4. Jesus is specifying here that good deeds are the inevitable consequence of the regenerating work of God in salvation – cp. Ephesians 2:10
            5. One of the ways to know whether you are genuinely born again is whether you desire the light of God’s Word to shine on your life or whether you scamper away from the Light so as to allow your evil deeds to remain shadowed by darkness.

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