Mensa Otabil - Jesus, Our Atoning Sacrifice
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First John chapter 2, verse 2: «And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.» This is a very fundamental truth of Christianity, and the Apostle John, one of the last living apostles of Jesus Christ, is reminding the believers of his time who Christ was and what he did for us. He’s reminding us in our time too of the same truths, because sometimes, as Christians, we abandon our foundation and start to follow something that is not right in God’s sight. He tells us earlier that Jesus is our advocate when we sin in God’s court. We don’t plead our own case; God has given us a defense lawyer, an advocate, Jesus Christ, who stands with us and uses his righteousness to vouch for us.
But then he says that in addition to being an advocate, Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sin. In other words, he is the one who bears our sin and makes peace with God by his sacrifice. So when we stand before God with sin, God does not just forgive us for our own sake, but he forgives us because somebody has done something about our sin, and that person is Jesus, our advocate, the righteous one, and the propitiation for our sin.
So what does it mean, «propitiation for our sin»? Two main ideas: first, it means he paid for our sins. He paid for it. In the Old Testament, there was a practice: when sin was committed, depending on the magnitude of the sin, a sacrifice had to be made. It could be a bull, a sheep, a ram, or a goat. That offering had to be made to be a propitiation for the sins of the people. But that was not sufficient because a human being sins, and a goat’s life is not equal to that of a human being. So it was a temporary arrangement, done so that God would see that the sin has been punished. And in what way was the sin punished? Not on the person who committed the sin, but on an innocent animal that did not commit a sin.
The concept is set out: the same must be punished, even if the one who committed it is not punished; something or somebody else has to be punished. That’s what Jesus came to do; he became the Lamb of God, the propitiation, so that our punishment would be placed on him. Our judgment goes to him, so in his propitiation, he pays for sin and makes peace with God.
But not only does he do that; he removes the sin. He removes the sin so that it is forgiven, but he takes it out from God’s presence. What does that mean? It means that it is one thing when God forgives your sin but the sin is still before him. He says, «Okay, I’ve forgiven you,» but it’s like a pile of debt; it’s still before him. He sees it all the time that you have sinned. But Jesus goes the second step and takes the sin from the presence of God so that when God looks at you, not only has he forgiven you, but he doesn’t see the sin any longer. That is what propitiation does: he makes a full payment and a removal of our sin.
That is why, when we sin, we have every confidence to go to Jesus because he is the one who can present us to the Father so that our sins can be forgiven and removed out of the way. And so John is telling the eloquence: don’t try to be defensive, don’t lie about your sin, don’t try to pretend you didn’t sin, don’t say, «Well, sin is nothing.»
Sin is something; it is very serious. When you sin, don’t defend yourself-go to Jesus. He’s our advocate; he’s the propitiation for our sin, and he knows how to handle our sin before the Father. That’s something we all have to learn: to be honest with God, honest with ourselves, confess our sins, repent of them, turn away from them, and Jesus takes care of the rest before the Father.
That’s a good way, isn’t it? Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, I receive forgiveness of sin from you. Thank you for making me acceptable in your presence. In Jesus' name, amen.» And amen. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil; shalom, peace, and life to you.