John 3:16-21

John 3:16-21 (KJV)
    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
    He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John's Gospel is possibly one of the best written books in the whole Bible. From the opening line of;

John 1:1 (KJV)
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

up to the final;

John 21:25 (KJV)
    And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

every part of it tells the most amazing story in the most amazing way. I think at times we read the Bible as single verses or short passages and sometimes miss the context in which they reside. When looking at and studying the Bible we should be aware of not only the context of the settings in the surrounding passages but the context of the time in which it happened and the time when it was written.

I want to look at this passage in more depth but unfortunately don't have the time to do so right now. In the past I have done Bible studies such as the one on Job but this one is not going to be as lengthy. I do not plan on looking at John's gospel in it entirety but I will consider what the above passage means in respect to the general message of the book, the knowledge of the writer and the cultural context too. Watch this space as it should be ready in the next few days.