CrossWords: Propitiation and Expiation
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· 10 viewsThis series looks at important words surrounding the Atonement and words of the Cross like Propitiation, Reconciliation, Sacrifice, and Justification.
Notes
Transcript
Just a quick announcement—I know as you come in our services have been fuller; more at coming back which I am very thankful for.
I know if you come in late it can get awkward—where do I sit, is there a room, etc. b/c we have been doing our best to sit every other row.
but let me just say—if you can’t find a seat in this every other row configuration—take a deep breath; it’s ok.
you are welcome to sit wherever you can find. We have been trying to do this; we just can’t guarantee it.
If you are here and you really want your space--
2 options:
I would encourage you to sit more towards the front. Prime seating!
we still have an overflow area out in the coffee area.
so if you have questions—talk to me or one of our deacons.
Intro ideas:
One of the most famous tests that is required for most colleges is the SAT or ACT (although some are going away from it).
And on that test, some students prepare by learning some big vocabulary words.
and I want to see if you know a couple of these big words for vocabulary:
The first word is the word pugnacious:
If you are a pugnacious person are you...
A. Quarrelsome, combative
B. Joyful, cheerful
C. Depressed, melancholic
What is it?
Answer: A Quarrelsome, combative.
How many of you have felt pugnacious over the last year?
Another example: Punctilious--
If you are a punctilious person are you...
A. rebellious
B. eager to follow rules
C. someone who loves punctuation
Answer: B.
These are practical words—you’ve probably known pugnacious people over the last year and punctilious.
Final word:
Propitious:
A. Intimidating
B. Overwhelming
C. Favorable
Favorable—
The beautiful weather last week made it propitious to go on a walk or play outside.
Today, we are beginning a new brief sermon series. leading up to Easter and the cross and resurrection.
And then after Easter we are going to be looking at what the Bible says about sex, homosexuality, gender and transgender issues in April and May.
But for now…I want to look at some Big vocab words related to the cross—the series is entitled Cross Words— b/c I suppose they could help you with a crossword puzzle...
We are specifically looking at some words from the Bible that tell us what the cross actually achieved.
what the cross of Jesus Christ actually accomplished.
because even though the cross looks weak, and bloody, and gross—it is so precious to us. The Bible calls Jesus’ blood the precious blood of Christ. I personally don’t like the sight of blood…but Jesus’ blood is precious.
Why?
Because...
It is the means by which you and I are saved from our sin to a holy God—because Jesus Christ paid our debt of sin on the cross in our place.
It is the means that demonstrates God’s love for us and guarantees us eternity with Jesus forevermore...
It is the means by which you and I are life is changed when we realized what Jesus Christ the God of the universe did for me on that cross.
And each Gospel writer—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—spend about 1/4 of their material focusing on Jesus and the cross and the events surrounding the cross-- 1/4th!
It is why Jesus came---to die.
so…crosswords...
So I have 2 crosswords today—that show us what Jesus’ cross achieves.
Let me give them to you: (on the cross)
Propitiation (we used the word propitious earlier)
Expiation
Nail them...
Big words…what do they mean?
Expiation means: removing or taking away of our sin and its guilt (through the death of Christ on the cross)
you see the prefix “ex” “out of” of “from”. Our guilt and sin are expiated — taken out of us or from us.
Some of the older translations of the Bible actually use that word—but no modern translations do.
The other word—related to it—and the main one we are focusing on...
Propitiation:
Remember we said Propitious means favorable.
well propitiation is this: the pacifying or appeasing of God’s wrath. let me say it again.
if you put those words together--
because our sin is expiated or removed because of the cross—the result is that God’s wrath against sin is propitiated. God is now propitious or favorable to us.
If you see that prefix—pro. Kevin Deyoung says “God is made pro-us.”
now step back—stay with me…do you see what these words are getting at.
big picture—in terms of the gospel
we are saying:
That there is a holy God—completely without sin. perfectly happy in and of himself. never sins or thinks sinful thoughts.
He made us—in his image—to reflect who he is and enjoy Him and worship Him.
but we, starting wtih Adam and Eve, we cast off God’s rule—we said—you can’t define what is right and wrong—we know better! WE will do. We will be our own authorities.
this is called sin. and sin—introduced all sorts of horrible consequences in our world—our relationship with God is broken—and with others, and ourselves and the entire created order.
and the result is this: we are guilty sinners before a holy God. and we deserve his punishment, his justice. and his WRATH!
in fact, this word propitiation gets at the idea that we didn’t just break a law—we broke God’s law. the king of the universe who loves us. this is a relational word!
and so his righteous perfect wrath is now against us. we need his wrath to be propitiated.
The Bible backs this up...
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Paul said again:
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
notice—all of us can identify with at least one of these, if not all...
so we need to be propitiated—we need God’s wrath to be propitiated and become favorable—pro—us. because his wrath is a function of his holiness.
Now, that word propitiation is actually found in Scripture—the modern translation ESV actually uses that word.
look at Romans 3:23-25
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
the way that God’s wrath is turned to favor for us—that it’s propitiated is by blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ, his perfect sacrifie on the cross—makes God favorable or propitious toward us.
because our sin and guilt is expiated (removed, taken away), God’s wrath is propitiated—He is pro us.
this is not something we could have earned.
We could not be punctilious enough—remember that word? We could not work for God’s favor or earn it, because we owed him an infinited debt for our sin.
Jesus worked for it.
Hebrews 2:17 says this:
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
your translation may say “atonement” also a great word—showing how we are at one with God. but ESV translates it propitiation.
Jesus our perfect representative...
The Apostle John in 1 John uses this word
Look at 1 John 2:1-2
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
It’s Jesus Christ alone! He is our advocate who comes in from the outside and helps us—our propitiation
He goes on to say it in 1 John 4:10
10 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.
Geek mode for a second...
The NT was originally written in Greek—and the same root word behind propitiation is also behind another word used to describe the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.
1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.
2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.
3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,
4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
show picture of tabernacle--- (and temple)
that word for atonement cover or mercy seat (in your translation) is one word in Greek. and the root word for mercy seat and propitiation it is the same root word in Greek.
It was the cover of the ark of the covenant in the OT—the place where God was said to dwell with His people and meet with them—it was his footstool.
Why does this matter?
because in the OT on the Day of Atonement which happened once per year—this is Leviticus. Leviticus 16
God commanded the High Priest to go into the temple in the Most Holy place—the holy of holies—where only the HP could go. and He had to first offer a bull animal sacrifice for himself b/c he is not perfect.
picture of temple on screen!
and then there were 2 goats.
one goat, he slaughtered and sacrificed—and took the blood of the goat into the most holy place
and he would sprinkle the blood of the goat on the atonment cover, the mercy seat—to make propitiation for sin.
and then he would take the remaining live goat, lay both hands on it and confess the sin of all the people. and then send the goat into the wilderness—cast the goat into the wilderness as a symbol—and that goat was the scapegoat.
so both of these goats—these are images of propitation and expiation.
The 2nd goat—his being cast into the wilderness—sin is being expiated—removed; guilt is being removed as the goat bore the sin to the wildnerness.
and the 1st goat—that was killed and its blood sprinkled—shows that God’s wrath is being propitiated.
Now in the NT—Jesus Christ fulfills both goats.
like the scapegoat—our sins are put on Jesus. He who knew no sin—Jesus Christ—became sin for us. so that when you and I believe in Jesus—it’s like our sins are cast out into the wilderness. They are expiated. The goat has left the building and it is not coming back. Our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west!
and Jesus Christ also fulfills the first goat as our propitiation, bearing the warth of God.
look at Romans 3:25 again
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
that word for propitiation—same root word—atonement cover, mercy seat. In the OT—God dealt with sins at the atonement cover, the mercy seat. Jesus Christ on the cross, was the place where God now dealt with sin. He was the ultimate mercy seat. The ultimat atonement cover.
so Jesus became the scapegoat on the cross—removing our sins
and he became the atonement cover or mercy seat of the ark of the covenant--propitiation our sins.
you see in the OT—the priest, the temple, the sacrifice—were all separate things.
In the NT—Jesus becomes all three. He is the priest—(who is perfect doesn’t need to offer a sacrifice)
He is the sacrifice — he is the goat or goats.
and he is the temple.
so what does the cross achieve---
expiation—our sins are removed; our guilt is gone
propitiation — God’s wrath is turned to favor.
now objections...
Isn’t God a god of love—doesn’t the Bible say this? I don’t like this idea of a God of wrath!!
Answer: keep in mind we want a God of wrath and justice. We really do.
Think of the horrible atrocities going in the world—abortion, war, corruption, human and child trafficking, slave trade, genocide. Don’t we want a God who will deal with these things ultimately and hold those accountable for this? That requires a god of justice and wrath.
or think of a murderer or a rapist or an abuser? When they stand before a judge, we want a judge to give a just and fair punishment. not one who lets them off the hook.
and that is what we have with our God. He is perfectly just. perfectly righteous. He always judge perfectly, justly, and fairly. He will not pervert justice or show favoritism.
and so a God like this—when it comes to our sin—he can’t just let us off the hook. He has to deal with it perfectly justly fairly. because we have offended the God of the universe!
propitiation reminds us that our is never just that we broke some abstract law—but we offended a personal God, the God of the universe!! who loves us and gave himself for us.
in other words—God is always the most offended party—David and Bathsheba.
2nd response: illustration—this thing called love and wrath is more complicated. If you see someone you love and care about, ruining their life, maybe addiction, making a bad choice—what is your reaction? Do you say, “I’m just going to stay out of it b/c I love them.” no—you get angry—and confront them—not because you hate them—but because you love them. If you are a parent, and your child disobeys—if you are a good parent you don’t usually just let it slide. you confront, get angry sometimes, and discipline—not out of anger but out of love. similar with God—He often judges, disciplines out of his love.
I don’t want to believe in a God who has wrath. I can’t. I won’t.
first—be careful! What you are doing is your creating God in your own image. that is a violation of the 10 commandments. This is tempting to do—but God must define himself on his terms—not our terms.
second — sometimes we think God’s wrath means he is moody; he is in a bad mood today and he just might strike us down if we mess up or cross him. He is like a pagan god in a remote tribe somewhere—where they would offer sacrifices to appease the angry gods. and that would put him in a good mood.
but God is not presented as moody; temperamental—or pugnacious. remember that word?
look at this:
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
he even allowed the Israelites to be in slavery for 400 years until the sin of the Amorites has reached its full measure—that’s pretty patient!
In addition, it’s been said “The God of the Bible is not appeased or propitiated by a bribe, but by his own blood.”
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
In some ways—God sent Himself to save us from Himself for Himself.
He is the one who initiated our salvation.
For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son!
10 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.
3. The other objection—God having to offer his Son. I just don’t like it. It’s bloody, it’s gross. God should have thought of a better way to do it. he is hurting His Son!
Answer: No.
why?
first—we are not God—and we can’t presume to know a better.
second—keep in mind---because it’s not like Jesus the Son had to sacrifice himself to please grumpy God the Father.
Nor did Jesus the Son go unwillingly to the cross—He went willingly!
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
He gladly and joyrfully endurd the cross for our sins.
Where does that leave us?
Final things
leave justice to God. If you know this—you won’t always take up justice yourself; it will make you more forgiving; we want to be in charge of justice—but God says “Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay” says the Lord.” Leave it with God. God will bring it. this doesn’t mean you don’t confront or hold accountable—but no matter what has happened our God of wrath and judgment will make it right. Rest it with God.
Take sin seriously---
remember God is always the most offended party in our sin. We have a God who hates sin. whose wrath is again sin—his settled, righteous indignation and disposition again sin. A God who hates sin judges our sin and all sin — praise God for that. A God who hates sin is motivating us to change. A God who hates sin is worthy of our worship.
Our sin is not just one small speck—it against the infinite, perfect king; we dare not gloss over sin but take it seriously. and sometimes even in our lives, God will enact his judgment—maybe directly or indirectly. sometimes, Romans 1—says God just gives us over to our sin as a form of judgment— “You want this life—you chose it. you can have it. Let’s see how that works for you.
by the way I believe any faithful gospel presentation at some point we have to talk about the wrath of God. we are saved from God’s wrath.
Rejoice in our salvation and God’s favor. Remember what we are saved to: when Jesus died for us, and we believe in Jesus—no longer is God’s wrath against us. It is propitiated.
this does not mean that now we are at 0; we were at negative with God—but now at 0 and haev to earn and prove that God didn’t waste his sacrifice on me. now, when God sees us—He sees his beloved Son. Now—we are intimate sons of God. children of God. with all the full rights. we can boldly enter the throne of God with confidence in our time of need.
we dont’ have to slip into performance mode with God as if we have to someone earn it; that’s an anxious, depressed way to live with God. we can find weary rest for our souls knowing Jesus paid it for us.
we go from being children of wrath to having incredible favor—all because of Jesus’ Christ life, death, and resurrection on my ehalf.
Rest in Jesus Christ—on the cross Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us—so that we might become the righteousness of God.
46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
Jesus bore the wrath in our place—he removed our sin.
If you are feeling the shame of sin; the regret of sin—Jesus has removed your sin and shame and guilt as far as the east is from the west—he became that scapegoat for you.
His blood was shed in your place.
when you sin, confess it to God, and rest in the one who died in your place.
For God so loved the world that He gave his one and onl Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Closing the service:
Brianna’s Hope trianing
2. John 3:36 has one final warning
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
more info: That is magnificently helpful statement for Bible readers to understand. So wrath is ratcheted up as redemptive history unfolds, this becomes a heavier and heavier theme. But it also invites us to a new appreciation for the cross. If the church loses its grip on God’s wrath, salvation can degenerate pretty quickly and reduced to terms primarily about therapeutic well-being and self-actualizing. Talk to us about the implications here.
That is a common trajectory. It doesn’t have to go that far, but it is a common trajectory. In other words, there are some people who talk about the cancelling of sin and the cancelling of guilt and the cancelling of shame and, in that sense, are remaining true to one of the important themes in Scripture. But if you lose the turning aside of the wrath of God, what you lose is how sin is, itself, bound up with offending God. It is not just offending an impersonal moral code. It is offending God. And, thus, the love of God is lost or, at least, the glory of the love of God is lost.
What you have is a nice God who comes and loves us in some measure to get us out of a trouble that we have found ourselves in, that we have put ourselves in. But you don’t have a picture of a God who rightly stands against us in judicial wrath and loves us anyway, because he is that kind of God. And that is the biggest thing that is lost, it seems to me. And then, with time, a softening view of sin means a softening view of wrath and vice versa. If you have a softening view of wrath, then sin becomes less an offense to God and, instead, a kind of moral failure against an independent, impersonal code. And thus, it becomes less personally offensive to God, and the notion of salvation is changed.
And then it is possible to take further steps along the trajectory until salvation itself becomes more psychological than anything. It is not an inevitable pathway, but it is a very common one.