See on Matt. 1:21; Luke 19:10. God willed that all men should be saved, and by the great gift of His Son provided for their salvation. But the will of God must be confirmed by the will of each individual man in order that it may become effective for him. Salvation is only for those who believe and receive Christ (see on John 1:12; 3:16).

 That is, at the incarnation (see on ch. 1:14).

 John hastens to explain (vs. 18, 19) that those who do not believe in the Son are “condemned already,” simply because they refuse to believe. God’s purpose in sending His Son into the world is to save the world. If, because of the coming of the Saviour, some men incur condemnation, God cannot be blamed. Condemnation results, not from the coming of the true Light (see on ch. 1:4-9), from men deliberately turning from the Light because of a preference for darkness. The Jews thought of the Messiah coming as a judge to condemn unbelievers (see on Luke 4:19), and of the angels rejoicing over the destruction of the lost (see on ch. 15:7). But Christ came not to condemn the world, as it deserved, but to save it (cf. DA 25).

 See on Luke 1:35; John 1:14.

 Equivalent to “God ... gave” (John 3:16; cf. Matt. 15:24; Mark 9:37; Luke 4:18, 43). John is not here concerned with the theological relationship between the One sent and the One who sent Him, but rather with the purpose of the sending (see on Matt. 1:23). The sending of Jesus implies neither superiority in the Sender nor inferiority in the One sent. Throughout eternity past Christ was “equal with God” (Ev 615; see on John 1:1).