The Price of Propitiation

So far, we have covered holiness, transgression, and condemnation. These all outline a hopeless outlook for mankind without merciful circumvention appeasing God’s wrath. To summarize, God is holy, we are not, and no sin can enter His presence or spend eternity with Him. There is nothing we can do on our own to compensate for our sins against His perfect holiness. So, our sin condemns us to an eternity separated from Him in hell.

Ouch

But God…

Our loving God, holy and just, had every right to turn His glance away from us due to our choice to disobey Him and yet He wanted us to have an opportunity to be made right with Him. He knew there was no way we could atone for our own sins because the requirement was so specific that payment couldn’t come from any human. However, due to His great love for humanity, even in the midst of our sin, He made a way. This provision came through great sacrifice to Himself.

Propitiation noun:

pro·​pi·​ti·​a·​tion

the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something; appeasement; specifically, an atoning sacrifice

Christian implication ~ propitiation = Through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, God’s wrath was appeased, allowing sinful mankind the possibility of a reconciled relationship with God.

So, what exactly were the requirements?

Old Testament Law required the Israelite people to offer routine sacrifices to God to temporarily appease His wrath concerning their sin. But was that enough? No, and it was never intended to be. God gave them the Law and its requirements to show them that no matter how many sacrifices they made, additional sacrifices would be required for additional sins. It was a perpetually turning, exhausting wheel of sin and forgiveness.

But did God establish this Law to simply watch His people jump through hoops they could never fully clear? Actually…kind of, but not out of ruthless intention.

God had something much more merciful and miraculous in mind.

Because God created humankind, He knows our innate tendencies even more than we do. He knew that we would be inclined to attempt to fix our own problems in our own ways so that we could stay in control of our outcomes and expectations. When humanity took matters into its own hands by choosing sin in the Garden of Eden, a condemning chasm occurred between God and humankind. In their humanity, they immediately tried to find a “fix.” Adam and Eve hid, fashioned clothing to cover their nakedness, and began deferring blame to take negative attention off of themselves to elevate their position and limit their consequences. None of those things did any good, although they proved much about the immediate inclinations of our sin nature.

God shared his Law with humankind to show us that our very best attempts at providing a “fix” for our sin would be futile.

In addition, He provided the Old Testament Israelites means of temporal sacrifice that would make them long for a more permanent solution. They performed sacrifice after sacrifice, only to turn around, sin, and know they needed to do it again. No matter how many sacrifices, the solution to their problem was outside the realm of their capability to resolve.  Prophecy spoke of a Messiah that would come and make the ultimate sacrifice. This perpetual cycle was to show them their sin, their need for the promised Messiah, and to cultivate a longing for Him to come.

Why did payment have to come through the Messiah?

Jesus said… “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

Only God, Himself, could provide payment so pure and perfect that it would be sufficient to cover the sin of all humankind. This payment required the shedding of blood and death. Because of His great love for us, God the Father caused His Son, Jesus, who was equally holy and fully God, to become sin our behalf, shed His blood, and die so that we might be made right with the Father (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus gave Himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice made to appease God’s wrath and by His death, our debt is paid in full (Eph. 5:2; Is. 53:6; Rom. 3:24-26).

The absolute beauty in this is that our opportunity to be reconciled and at peace with God comes not because we love Him, but because He loved us so greatly that He sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning payment) for our sins and the sin of the entire world (1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10; Eph. 2:4-5).

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Rom. 8:1-4

One Big Word | One Simple Meaning

Propitiation ~ Our sin left us hopeless and condemned. God provided hope by having Jesus pay the Father’s required price of death to cover our debt and appease His wrath once and for all.

Out of love, God the Father and God the Son initiated and fulfilled this process for us with no input on our part. The next step, though, requires our cooperation…

Continue Back to Basics – The Road To Repentance.

Angie Ward

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