Jesus' words at the Last Supper, for example, very clearly refute your interpretation of Jn 3:16, which you yourself interpret out of its more immediate context! (Funny how you can make a big deal of appealing to Jesus' words in Jn 3:16, but when I do it it doesn't count because those passages I alluded to are not in the immediate context of Jn 3:16 even though they are highly relevant to the topic at hand. Duplicitous much?) As another example, are you aware that there are
numerous passages in the bible that clearly teach that God hates, despises, abhors sinners, as well as their deeds? So how would you be able to reconcile all those contradictory passages with your take on Jn 3:16? Or what explanation would you give for Jesus' explicit omission of the "world" from High Priestly prayer in Jn 17:9 in which he prays only his Father's elect?
Your serpent example in the wilderness is a non sequitur for a few reasons: One of the main ones is that God had already redeemed his chosen people from Pharaoh's dark dominion. Rescue Mission Accomplished! The Wilderness experience is a different aspect to the Exodus
process. Also, the serpent event doesn't answer the question:
For whom did Christ die? But I am again amazed at your duplicity because you appeal to the typology in wilderness to try to prove your point. But when I appealed to the institution of the Passover Feast in Eqypt and pointed out that God instituted the Passover only with Abraham's descendants and
NOT the world (i.e. Egypt which was a type thereof!) and drew the parallel between that and the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the New Covenant, again, with only Abraham's descendants, you just glibly dismissed the analogy. And, of course, Jesus is the Passover Lamb (1Cor 5:7) for all Abraham's descendants. He's not the Passover Lamb for the entire world! Nor has God ever made a redemptive covenant with the entire world!
But you did get something half-right! The Gr. term "kosmos" can have a strong moral-spiritual component to it (depending on the context) such as you pointed. But...that is a sword that cuts both ways! It can also mean the godly, elect IN the world but who are not OF it. (See John 17.) Jesus in one sense did pray for the entire world in this chapter, i.e. all the elect who are IN and will be IN the world (both flocks of sheep that will become one). But he explicitly excluded the world in another sense -- in the sense that you point out. He did not pray for Satan's seed! He did not pray for those OF the world. Therefore, Jn 3:16 must be understood in its limited, qualified sense to mean elect Gentiles in the world, since the Jews never considered themselves to be part of the world -- to be associated with any pagan nation.
Finally, you want to deal with Jn 3:16 so badly? Fine. I'll deal with it from a Word Usage and context standpoint. Something you cannot do. All you can do is argue in circles, i.e. "The text says 'world', so that has to mean each and every person in it." Stay tuned. You will get your wish -- plus!
P.S. One more little interesting detail about choice of words in the last sentence, especially:
PS. the word translated "world" in John 3, Is KOSMOS, it means the world order. satan's domain, his system.
He died for those people who are trapped in that world..
You might want to choose your words more carefully! "TRAPPED", you say? You mean "trapped" like the ancient,
helpless Israelites were in Egypt who God
rescued from Pharaoh? You're beginning to wax like a "Calvinist". Tsk, tsk, tsk.
![Roll eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I guess that's why God had to "force" the Israelites to evacuate Egypt, right: Because they were helpless and powerless to leave under their own power? They wre trapped in Land of Darkness? A rather peculiar way you look at God's great salvation -- like he forces himself on helpless sinners he chooses to save instead of leaving them to die in their own sins to burn in hell forever. In your world, it would be better if God did the latter rather than he act mercifully and compassionately to do the former.