When Love Took the Wrath We Deserved
"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2
In my devotional reading this week I was captured by the word "propitiation." Jesus is the propitiator and the propitiation for our sins. Some translators use the term "atoning sacrifice" in place of propitiation.
At F4L we often talk about helping people find their place in God's great story. I suppose we could think of the story as one of an angry God who is frustrated and angry with the people he created and he is determined to punish them for not living up to the standard he set for them. However, since I began to read the bible as a story about a loving and caring God who does not want to punish the people he loves, it has helped me better understand the concept of propitiation.
It is important to separate who we are in God's eyes from the sins we commit. About us God says: "I have loved you with an everlasting love." (Jeremiah 31:3). It is also true that throughout the bible God is absolutely opposed to sin. In fact, the bible talks about God directing his wrath toward sin.
I found one definition for propitiation that stated: "the act by which God’s wrath against sin is satisfied or appeased through Christ’s sacrificial death."
As I have contemplated propitiation this week I have come up with my own definition.
"God hates sin and he is filled with wrath toward sin but because he loves us as sinners he decided to become the object of his own wrath and become sin for us."
In 23 countries of our world we now have the privilege of training disciple-makers who go into their schools, work places and communities with the message that God loves all people and people do not have to be punished for all the wrong things they have done because Jesus took care of their sin on a cross. He became sin and died to pay the penalty for sin which satisfies the wrath of God toward sin. And there is a huge bonus - Jesus also overcame even the last enemy of all people by rising from the dead. Death has lost its fear for people who know Jesus. Simply accepting this fact by faith puts people in right relationship with a God who loves them with a love that is unshakeable and everlasting. When God looks at those who have taken this step of faith he sees the righteousness of Christ instead of the sins that cause him wrath.
