From this mind-blowing intercourse between Jesus and Nicodemus I would like to bring up some points which are in no way fully comprehensive:
1. As you read this passage please remind yourself that in Greek and Hebrew the word for wind and spirit is the same: pneuma and ruach. The wind may be invisible but you can see its effects; so it is with the Spirit of God. Look around you and witness what He does in the hearts and minds of those who have turned towards God!
2. Please drop to the very corners of your mind the judgement of God. Yes, He will judge and Christ's coming was in one way a dividing point as there were those who loved darkness and turned from Him and those who were open-hearted to His call, such as Nathaniel. But far and above that, the Father sent the Son to be the SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD! He came not to condemn but to rescue! Hallelujah, what a Saviour! This is good, good news, the best news there could ever be!
3. You may have a Bible which has the words of Jesus in red. That can be a good thing, but there are difficulties in passages such as these, as we don't know what are His spoken words and what is John's written commentary on those words.
4. Nicodemus should have known all this! He is surprisingly blinkered. Here is an expert on Scripture, who would have read and studied such as the prophecies of Ezekiel deeply and repeatedly, but not stopped short questioningly at 18 v 31 or 35 v 26! Be wary of becoming bored with reading the Bible!
5. So, back to John 3 v 16. All our Scripture reading must spring from this statement. Reading Genesis 1? Remind yourself of this before doing so. The initiative in salvation lies with God. We can get confused and picture in our minds an angry God who requires pacifying and a gentle Jesus who ultimately takes God's anger on Himself. AT THE BACK OF EVERYTHING IS THE LOVE OF GOD. It was God who sent His son and they remained in perfect union through His life an earth and at His death, ''My glory'' Jesus termed it (John 17 v 1-does it appear that He is frightened of His Father??). Who is it whom God loves? Just a few of us lucky ones? NO. John declares that He loves the world, every single person who has ever lived.
6. The gift is free for all; no one has committed a crime so bad they are beyond the bounds of God's grace. I recall going to a local church when I was a teenager and there hearing a talk by an ex-satanic high priest, Doreen Irving. I sat there and listened and thought to myself that she was very ordinary and then I began to recognise that she had been melted by the love of God, utterly transformed!