What happens when God's love for sinners meets His love for righteousness?

The Propitiation

(1 John 2:2, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 6, 2016)

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

He is...

Jesus is the perfect Savior and Leader for us. He is fully God and fully man, and He has no sin. Simply put, there is no other man that has either of these attributes. Only He could have accomplished our salvation through His death on the cross. Only He can be a present help to us as our “propitiation,” which help is most necessary for us if we are to make progress in our present fight against sin.

Over the last two weeks I read a book by a man who was in a British POW camp in World War II at the foot of Mount Kenya in Africa. The author describes a problem that I have come to believe is a root issue of many troubles in our world today, male boredom. Male boredom leads to all kinds of sin. His solution was to plan an escape from the camp, not to get to the nearest neutral country which was apparently impossible to reach, but to lead an expedition with two other escapees to climb the 17,000 foot Mount Kenya—only to return to the POW camp after successfully achieving their goal. He needed to have something of worth as a project that would give focus to his life. This life-challenging endeavor also provided rich memories that helped him in his remaining years as a POW and beyond.

We have a Captain of our Salvation in Jesus who is leading us on a most worthwhile pursuit. I know of no better antidote to dangerous boredom than to take up the journey that Jesus has prepared for men and women who will follow where he leads. The good news is that this expedition does not end in our return to a prison for sinners who have rebelled against God, but in the Lord's provision for us of what Ezekiel 34:29 calls “renowned plantations.” (By the way, heaven is not boring. It is not a painfully slow-moving worship service that will never end. It is a place of the greatest joys for people who have bodies as well as souls.) Jesus Christ the Righteous lives forever to lead us forward in the best and holiest pursuit.

… the propitiation …

If we are to serve Him well in this life, we need all the help that He supplies in our fight against sin. At various points in the climb up Mount Kenya, one or more of the men in the heroic group of three had a twisted ankle, a strange fever, or a perilous slip. In our appointed journey of faith, sin can be a daily trouble for us, as it was for those who were the original recipients of 1 John.

John reminded his readers in the previous verse that they had an Paraklete-Advocate with the Father in addition to having the Holy Spirit as a Paraklete-Helper in them. In today's verse He teaches them and us that this same Jesus is also a “Propitiation.” What does this word mean? This term has to do with a special sacrifice where God's love meets His own justice and turns away God's anger against sin.

First, let's look at the one other place where this precise Greek word is used in the New Testament. In 1 John 4:10 we read, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Whatever propitiation is, it flows from the prior love of God. 1 John 4:10 does not say that God sent His Son to be a propitiation so that He might change His mind about us and then begin to love us. He loved first and sent His Son as an expression of both His love for us and His love for what is right.

Let's move on now to consider the use of this Greek word in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It was used in Ezekiel 44:27 to refer to the sin offering offered up by the priest in the new temple that Ezekiel was describing. The propitiation—his sin offering—was associated with the priest going into the Holy Place in the temple to draw near to God. In Numbers 5:8 the same word is used as a restitution offering for wrong that should go to the Lord. In Leviticus 25:9 the Jewish Day of Atonement is called a “Day of Propitiation.” It is also used in Psalm 130:4 where it translates a Hebrew word meaning “forgiveness.” “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Drawing near to God, making things right again, atonement, forgiveness...

Now back to 1 John 2:2—This verse also teaches us that propitiation is something that is done in person, and not at a distance. God sent His Son. If God had not sent His Son, there could be no propitiation—no atonement, no forgiveness, no experience of drawing near to Almighty God. The entire Old Testament sacrificial system prepared Israel for the coming in person of One Man who would love us and would also love the Lord's holiness. Without Him as our Present Propitiation, every infraction against the Lord's Law would have presented a barrier to our happy fellowship with the Lord.

… for our sins …

I was recently reading the history of the northern tribes of Israel. It is not a very happy story. The leaders of Israel are not presented as men who could be safely imitated. People like Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel became famous for their rebellion. They loved false prophets, worshiped false gods, and lived false lives. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones. All kinds of sins have ugly manifestations for the church in every generation. It becomes easy to look at others, particularly gutless leaders like Ahab, and to comfort ourselves that we are not as bad as they are. But then we remember what Jesus came to do—to die for our sins. How can we have a present confidence before God? How can we deal with our continuing sin? Doesn't it help, as we repent, to know that there is now a Propitiation Person with the Father?

The church, with all its faults, which are very many in a time of societal distress, is still the kingdom of God on earth, and the recipient of the promise that the gates of hell will not be able to withstand it. Jesus is a propitiation for us, that is for our sins. (It is sin that necessitates propitiation rather than just people.) We have baggage. Like those mountain climbers ascending Mount Kenya with their stuffed packs filled with makeshift mountain-climbing equipment, we are carrying a heavy burden of sin. We need someone to take that pack off us every day so that we can continue to our destination. Jesus, the Propitiation for our sins, will do it.

… and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Now we have a dangerous and fulfilling mission. We fight against sin in our own lives and bring a good word to the entire world. There is no reason for any of us to be bored. John insists that Jesus, our Present Propitiation, is for the whole world. No one anywhere should imagine that he or she is excluded from the propitiation because of the facts of his birth or the mess of his life. Everyone should look for a new birth and a new life. We need to tell this to our children, our neighbors, and to every stressed-out guilt-filled creature on this tired planet. We have a very present help in times of despair. Jesus is with the Father. Everyone can seek to be near the Almighty, even to abide in Him. In Jesus we have the only safe way to live with God. He is the appointed sacrifice to turn away the wrath of God for all who abide in Him. This is not an excuse to keep on sinning, see 2:6, but a great comfort and aid to all who truly want to battle sin.

Old Testament Reading—2 Kings 4:18-37 – Elisha Raises the Shunammite's Son

Gospel Reading—Luke 5:17-26 – Jesus heals a paralytic