The Condemned
John 3:17-21

INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. The apostle John continues his summary of the great news concerning God’s love toward the world. John 3:16 is the statement of fact concerning God’s love. This is the way God loved the world: he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God’s love is stated in a factual manner. This is the way God loved us.

We have been talking about Jesus and Nicodemus and are continuing in that narrative this morning. Now the conclusion as Jesus wraps up His discussion. Jesus is trying to help him understand about the new birth, and what it means to see the kingdom of God, and what Nicodemus needs to do to be in the Kingdom.

Verse 17 continues from verse 16 identifying God’s purpose in sending His Son into the world. John is helping us grasp what God is doing through Jesus so that there is no confusion about the purpose of God’s love.

I. God’s Purpose: Salvation, Not Condemnation (3:17-18) – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” God sent Jesus to redeem humanity, not in wrath against humanity.

A. This is an important framework to have in our minds as we think about God. God did not come against us in anger. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. This statement easily gets taken out of its context and is used to suggest that God does not condemn anyone. We're good to go because God didn't come to judge, to condemn, so we are all fine. That is not the point of what John is saying.
B. Then we read verse 18. Why didn't Jesus come to condemn the world? Why did He have to come to save the world? Underline the word ‘already’. He didn't have to condemn the world for it was already condemned. There was no reason for Jesus to come to condemn the world. That's our problem. We are under condemnation, under judgment. That is the reason Jesus did not come to condemn, because we're already condemned.

1. This lesson is titled “The Condemned” for that is what we are, and that is the point Jesus is expressing to Nicodemus. He, and we, are reminded of where we stand before God. We are not inherently righteous people.
2. John 3 has made that point clear to us. There is nothing about us that God should have done anything. Think about verses 14 and 15, and ask, what should God have done to the people in the wilderness who were complaining about God's providence and Moses leadership? God should have let them die. Instead, God intervenes and saves the people from the poisonous snakes. He has Moses erect a bronze serpent, and whoever looked at it would find salvation from the venom.
3. That's where we are. We are the condemned and we will die in our sins without salvation. God didn't have to send His son to condemn the world as it was already condemned. Jesus is pointing that out and He came in order that the world might be saved through him, (That is the very purpose of Jesus’ coming, to bring salvation because of the judgment that we are under.)

C. Carefully notice verse 18: not believing does not condemn us, because we are already condemned. John is moving our thinking away from believing that we are good people who deserve eternal life. Doing nothing does not mean we are in good relationship with God. We are condemned. Doing nothing maintains our condemnation. Something has to happen to change the outcome of our condemnation. If nothing else happens, then all of us will remain condemned for our sins and, according to verse 16, we will perish.

1. The problem with unbelief is it maintains your condemnation. The point Jesus is making is if you will believe, you can be set free from that condemnation. Jesus is showing us that He did not come into a morally neutral world. The first chapter showed us that light had come. Where? Into the darkness. The light did not come into something that was good and right and okay. The point is we are in sin and therefore Jesus had to come to the rescue.
2. Do not forget what we have learned in this chapter about belief. Belief is not acknowledgement or confession, but life transformation. Jesus described it as being “born again” and “born from above.” A new birth has occurred, which is also described as being born of water and the Spirit. This is the new heart and new life that seeks to obey and desires the ways of the Lord. We must experience new birth in Jesus. Jesus is the only way out of our mess. Jesus is the only way to be set free from our condemnation. Using the imagery of verses 14-15, Jesus is the only way to be healed from the death sentence of sin.
3. I imagine what Nicodemus must have felt. He thinks he's a good moral guy. He's a Jew, a Pharisee, a ruler, and a Sanhedrin member. He probably felt he was fine. He thinks he's in the kingdom of God. Then Jesus says, you're not going to see the kingdom of God unless you experience this new birth. Unless there is this radical life transformation, you are in the same boat with everyone else, condemned in sins.
4. We must understand there is nothing about us to cause God to look upon us with some great favor and say, “That's why I'm going to send Jesus”. No. We are fully condemned and it is our own doing. It is because of His great love that God sent His son to rescue us from that condemnation.

D. Jesus is telling Nicodemus, you don't see your condition. You don't see that you're condemned. Until you appreciate condemnation, until you appreciate where you stand before the judge as the gavel falls, then you cannot appreciate being rescued. You can't appreciate salvation.

1. The person who doesn't know they're drowning does not appreciate the rescue. We have to see our sin and we must understand our condemnation to be able to grasp what is happening. That's why verse 19 is so powerful.

II. The Verdict (3:19-20) – Now John 3:19-20 and I’m going to use the NIV here. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”[NIV] The gavel has fallen, Judgment is now being passed and here is the verdict.

A. Imagine being in the courtroom of God and listening to this verdict being declared in our trial. “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” [ESV]. I cannot think of more heart-wrenching words than this verdict.

1. The light has come, but we love the darkness because we are wicked, as seen by our actions. How sad! We would rather live for ourselves, than be saved from our condemnation. What staggering sinfulness!
2. The light has come into the world, and we still are living wickedly as if Jesus did not come. The light has come and there has not been life change in the hearts of the people. No transformation has occurred.

B. Let’s relate this to the scene in the wilderness like Jesus did in verses 14-15. This would be like the people being bitten by the venomous snakes, the bronze snake being put on the pole to save them from the venom, and people rejecting that salvation.

1. They close their eyes and refuse to look at the bronze serpent in faith. They would rather complain and die in the wilderness than change their lives through God’s grace, and live. They would rather reject God as the source of their life and die in that desert than believe that God would heal them if they faithfully turned to him.
2. Can you imagine if the people hearing the words “look to the pole and you'll be healed”, said, “No”? “I think I'll close my eyes and just do what I want to do. I'd rather stare at the dirt and avert my eyes from that salvation”.
3. Who in their right mind is going to refuse the anti-venom? Who is going to reject the antidote to death? John says that we are. We are. We are rejecting the antidote to death because we love the darkness rather than the light.

C. Jesus is the light who has entered the world of darkness. Did that darkness come to the light? It did not, the people remained in darkness. It is like the people said, “we would rather die of snake bite than love the Lord and be healed”. That's what is being declared here. That's the verdict that Jesus proclaims here. Shocking, and you have to ask: Why?

1. The answer is; the people loved the darkness rather than the light. We'd rather do what we want to do. We want to live how we want to live. We'll act how we want to act, and we'll be what we want to be. You can't tell us what to do.
2. You're right. Just stay there in the darkness and die of venom. What craziness! Yet isn’t this the very proclamation that we often make in our sins rather than turn to the Lord, our God, with all of our heart and obey Him and love him and serve Him?
3. It is saying, I would rather die in my sins because I want to be independent, and I want to live how I want to live. I hope we see what an absurd statement we are making before our God when we say that to him.
4. We’re being freed from sin. Jesus did not come to condemn us. He came to rescue us for we are already under condemnation.
5. It is when we see this condemnation that the words of the apostle Paul should spring to life in our hearts. In Romans 7:21-25, Paul described the weightiness of sin, the battle of sin, and how he says I do not do the things that I know I should do and want to do. I continue to be weighed down by my sins. Then Paul asks the question in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

D. Now when the gavel comes down there is a way for the condemnation to have been removed. There is a way to be saved from that awful verdict and that's what Jesus is trying to move Nicodemus to understand. The whole purpose of Jesus life as He walks on the earth, is to move people to understand their sinfulness, so that they can be rescued.

1. That's why I find this passage so weighty. I mean, why does Jesus have to tell people about the law of God? Why does He have to teach us about sin? Why does He have to teach us about what God demands of people? It’s not because He must condemn us, but so that we will see that we are condemned already. We need to understand the law of God so that we can see that we have fallen short. We need to see the character of God.
2. Jesus has to come as light to awaken our hearts, open our eyes, and get us to see our true spiritual condition as utterly, utterly lost in darkness. If Jesus does not do that, then no one will turn to Him for rescue. That is His purpose.
3. Jesus lays this out to Nicodemus. Do you see your condition before the Almighty God? God's love is so great that He would send His son to the rescue and deliver us from the death that comes from our sins.

E. Then verse 20 becomes even tougher as He continues to speak of this verdict. “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” Why do people want to stay in darkness? Why do we refuse to come to the light, take the antidote, find salvation? He explains it very clearly. We like the condition we are in, we like how we are living and we enjoy what we are doing. What we are saying is that we prefer our sins over Jesus. We would prefer to complain and die in the wilderness than love Him and live.

1. In our desire to continue the way we are living, we try to somehow have a relationship with Jesus yet maintain our sinful ways, trying to hide them from others. Jesus is light and light exposes darkness. We cannot treasure our sins and prefer our wickedness over Jesus. When we choose evil, we hate the light. We are hating Jesus, and we run away from the light.
2. That's what He just told us, and God is calling us to do something frightening, to expose our works. God doesn't want us to hide our sins. No, God already knows them and that's why He sent His son. We're not really hiding anything, we're condemned. We cannot keep anything from Him.
3. He knows, yet what do we do? We hide them, try to conceal them and we think we're getting away with it. We don't see that we're the condemned and we think that we're fine. We're good, not as bad as other people.
4. God is calling us to expose our works. If we are doing what is true, then we will walk into the light and have our deeds exposed. Those who live by the truth willingly walk into the light, allow sin to be exposed, find cleansing, and begin the new birth / life transformation. To look at the bronze serpent on the pole, is to admit guilt and to admit the need for healing. We must humble ourselves to walk into the light of Jesus.
5. We must confess our sins and admit that we need a Savior. Stop hiding our sins. Stop pretending that our sinfulness is okay. Stop thinking that being lukewarm toward God is acceptable. Remember Mark’s lesson last week? Laodicea is a word which has come to stand for lukewarmness, indifference and compromise. Jesus also told them in Revelation 3:17, You say ““I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” They did not know their true condition.
6. Do not run from the light of Jesus. Let the light shine into your heart. Feel the weight of our common condemnation and turn from that darkness. We lay out our sins before God and expose them and stop pretending that we're okay, stop pretending that we're not the condemned for we are the condemned.
7. God knows that, yet we arrogantly will hang on to our lives, hang on to our sins and refuse to expose them to the almighty God. Stop thinking that we can have one foot in the light with Jesus and one foot in the darkness of this world. That's the picture that verses 19-20 give.

III. Carried Out in God (3:21) – Verse 21 is such a great conclusion. From John 2:28 to John 3:21 there has been one thought. What a statement that is made to Nicodemus here! “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.”

A. Jesus comes to a world of darkness. Here is God shining the light to us, revealing Himself, showing the love of God, being all that we need as a savior. Everything that we need to be saved, everything that we need for God as revelation, as light, as salvation, all being brought to us.

1. That is what propels us to do good works. My works, left to myself without God's intervention, continue in darkness. I'll continue to live how I want to live, do what I want to do. It is only when God reveals - this is what light is, this is what truth is, this is the way you ought to live, - that we have the desire to do what is true.
2. If we choose to walk in the darkness, we're going to continue to do the things of darkness. That is what He's telling us. Thus verse 21, “…whoever does what is true comes to the light…” You need to be part of the light. You must expose those sins. You must recognize what God has done for you. You must see the salvation that He has offered. That is what propels us to obedience.

B. I’ll put it this way; fleeing sinful living is not about "I have to do this", and it should never be presented that way. Ceasing sin is not about God being a cosmic killjoy who just won't let us do the things that we want to do. “I guess if I want to have eternal life and go to heaven, not burn in hell, then I suppose I'm going to have to stop doing all the stuff that I want to do. I'll just kind of grin and bear it. I'll just kind of put up with it and get there.”

1. So help us, if that's our attitude about God. It's about understanding everything that God has done so that I desire to get rid of all the folly of darkness living.
2. I need to grasp that I'm condemned, grasp that I deserve death, grasp that I'm dying in the wilderness, understand that I'm undeserving of any intervention on God's part. I am the creation and not the creator, I am the one who ought to give and God has no obligation to give me anything, understand that, yes He is God… Then when I see what He gave, I am compelled to good works. I am compelled to walk in the light.
3. I believe that's what he means verse 21 to say, so that it may be clearly seen that his works are carried out in God. It will become evident that our good works are being carried out in God because I see His glory, His goodness, His mercy, and I do what I am doing because of what He's done for me. All my goodness is because God has been so good to me.

C. If he had not been good to me, then my actions would have remained in darkness, and I would remain in the camp of the condemned. There would have been no hope for you or for me.

1. Jesus wants us to comprehend the weight of that. It's not about what you have to do. It's about feeling the weight of God's love and goodness that will compel you to want to do what is true, compel you to leave behind sin. You will desire it. It will come from the heart, and it will no longer be, “I guess I have to do that kind of thing.” It is because of love, we serve our Savior because I see all that He has given for me.
2. Because God loved the world, He gave His only son so that we no longer have to be the condemned and perish, but can be healed and live.

CONCLUSION:
The question for you this morning, what's your verdict? What's the sentence that you will receive? Such wonderful words by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” You don't have to be condemned any longer. Understand you are condemned now, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus.

If we will experience that life transformation, if we will turn away from the darkness because of what God has done for us, expose our sins to God, walk in the light, give Him everything that we have, sacrifice ourselves for Him because He sacrificed so much for us, - that is what will lead to the new birth. We will have the new birth, and that is what genuine belief is all about. That's what Jesus is moving Nicodemus to understand.

How can I know that my belief is a saving belief? How can I know that I have no condemnation now? Nicodemus believed Jesus was sent from God but was told he would not see the kingdom of God unless a new birth occurred. Genuine belief in Jesus reveals itself in humble obedience. This is what verse 21 is declaring to us. You can know what belief you have. Is the model of your life to come to the light in humble obedience and submission to the Lord, or is the model to hide your sins, stay away from the light, and live as you want?

Our life is in God. Our actions are in God. Our hope is in God. Everything we do is to be carried out in God. This is the new birth. This is life transformation. Jesus is the light. Come to the light.

It is not enough, as Nicodemus believed, to say Jesus is sent from God. Nicodemus uttered those words and was told, Nicodemus, you're not seeing the kingdom of God. Genuine belief comes from a recognition that we are the condemned and He has come to die for our sins.

I believe that He is the savior, and I will love and obey and follow Him with all my heart because He has taken me out of the domain of darkness and transferred me into the glorious kingdom of light.

That is the change that He's calling us to make. Don't try to hide your sins anymore. Expose them before God. Seek Him, surrender to Him as your king, as the ruler, as the savior. Our whole life is in God. Our hope is in God. Our salvation is in God. Everything is in God that it may be clearly seen that our works have been carried out in God.

That's what it should look like as we go out every single day.

The message is yours. We are about to sing our invitation song. If anyone here has the need to be baptized into Christ, or needs the prayers of faithful people, the invitation is there for you to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville