For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

John 3:16-21

This seems to me one of the most commonly referenced and the littlest truly studied passages in the Bible.  It is one of the best tools for evangelism, for it sums up the entirety of the message of Jesus in one little place.  It may be that it is just this writer’s perception that it is one of the littlest studied passages, it maybe that so few people do much in depths studies in the Gospels or otherwise, or, it may just be that it seems that this section is so commonly understood, it must, of course, be understood already.  When we come to think over these words, we can wrongly assume we understand them all.  Yet, as there is no shadow of turning in God, it stands to reason, that if we could plumb the depths of any passage, without taking it grossly out of context, and know the fullness of the weight of the words in the realm of Heaven, we would know Him much better than we know now.  Suffice to say, these words are spirit, and they are life.

There is a common thread, a direct line running through the Gospels, pointing, more or less, to one simple thing, which could be summed up many ways, and this is one.  Are you really willing to be honest, in the light of the eyes God Himself, about what’s really going on on the inside.  Light makes manifest, and when there is no darkness in you, as Jesus said, it’s like the light of a lamp shining on you.  If you and I aren’t glowing like lightbulbs, we have a measure yet to go before we are perfected.

Whether it is an unfolded eye (Matthew 6:22), or an eye without planks or spots (Luke 6:42), the same seed runs through the whole thing.  This one little seed, or one bit of teaching/doctrine is so potent, it produces the entirety of this Kingdom of Heaven we are seeking, because it is not just a thought, it is a living thing, a spirit.

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

John 16:13

The world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit.  It cannot, because it has not been born of God, drawn to Jesus by the Father.  When He comes in, a new heart and a new mind given, for the first time, mortal men have a way to live holy (other than the law, which was proven enough times to impossible to keep up to God’s standard of holiness due to the weakness of the flesh).

But, while this Teacher teaches us all things, it forces us into exposure.  This is the verdict, darkness or light, error or truth, True God, or True damnation, true thought and upright conduct, or lies, thieving, and death.

The fullness of John 3:19 says there is no light in any man.  All are corrupt, all have turned aside, all have falled short of His glory (Romans 3:23).  From that place, the only solution is a savior.

There is no better place than a savior, there is no safer place than in the arms of the strongest one.  That it takes the humility of a child to fully enter, the simplicity of being willing to say that in your self you are nothing, and the unfolded eye to see the light of the only one who can, is only God’s beauty.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), we do look to Him who endured the cross, despising its shame.  Who saw a treasure in a field called the world, and bought it, just to have us.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

1 John 4:9

This is the love that has been shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5), and this is the greatest thing in the world.  His perfect love.