1 John 2:2
Christ Our Atonement
And 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
Introduction:
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Adam: covered by sacrifice. Israel: the day of atonement. The prophets: Isaiah 53. John the Baptist: behold the lamb!
Atonement is the central theme of the Bible. I am shocked at how preachers can quote Bible verses, and preach sermons, and create entire ministries about anything and everything BUT the cross of Christ. There is no Christianity without the cross. There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. Christianity is about Christ and Him crucified, not me and me glorified. If you’re trying to scope out the legitimacy of a church or preacher, listen for the message of sin and redemption through the blood of Jesus; and if that message could be summarized with one word, it would be propitiation.
The Great Dilemma
Relate this back to verse 1, how can Christ be our advocate without compromise? I told you about how Christ pleads for our forgiveness in the times that we sin. That should be scandalous and shocking to you, not in a good way. It ought to be offensive. Christ advocates for evil doers??!
Sleezy lawyers: king of the hill rednecks who hurt themselves and Sue people for money. Lawyers who represent thieves and murderers, who know their clients are guilty, and fight for their freedom anyway.
Prov. 17:15, Gen 18:25; our God is the God of justice! How can God advocate for evil ones, and not compromise His justice?
Propitiation means the removal of wrath, or satisfaction of justice. Only by propitiation can God maintain justice and justify the wicked
Romans 3:23-26
He put Christ on display! You want justice? Look here! Here we see the wrath and justice of God displayed in Christ bearing our punishment AND we see the love of God displayed in Christ willingly taking it in our place.
Romans 5:8-9
What are you saved from? Yes, sin (Matt. 1:21). Yes, the devil (Hebrews 2:14 “through death He destroyed the one who had the power of death, the devil). But the primary Gospel message of the Bible is God saving us by His grace, for His glory, FROM HIS WRATH.
Objections
Divine child abuse: wrong views of Genesis 22
The petty nature of needing sacrifice to forgive: “I don’t need to punch my kid to forgive my neighbor!” No but you are a misguided person if you think evil crimes don’t deserve punishment. We forgive in our relationships, but the state is not supposed to forgive. If a person goes free from a court of law, a price must be paid. God has a court, He would be unjust to forgive without propitiation. ALSO, we are only free to forgive in our relationships because God has paid for the sins of the world. Without the cross, any forgiveness is unjust.
“God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loved us. If it is God’s wrath which needed to be propitiated, it is God’s love which did the propitiating.”
The sacrifice doesn’t change God, it changes the way God deals with us. He always loved and pitied us, propitiation made it possible for Him to show us that in its fullest.
Election: The Whole World
For four thousand years, God was only dealing with Israel. Other nations could be included at certain times (Nineveh, etc.), but Israel was the apple of His eye and that's what this audience still thinks.
Here, John means Jews and Gentiles are included in Christ’s propitiation. John is telling a Jewish audience that there are gentiles from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people that will be in heaven because Christ died for their sins.
WE ARE NOT UNIVERSALISTS: I don’t have time to go into all the details this morning, but I don’t believe this means Christ died for every individual person that has ever lived on the planet, otherwise, everyone would go to heaven. Sin is either punished in Christ, or in hell, and there are still many people who go to hell.
What’s the point of preaching the Gospel then? We don’t know which people have been chosen, so we proclaim to everyone! Election lets us have confidence that when we preach, people will get saved because God has people there.
Conclusion:
The Penalty Box
Look to the cross…
if you are lost
look to the cross...
