Glory in the Lowest pt2

Scripture Reading (Hebrews 2:10-18)

¿Why did Jesus have to come into our world?

Hebrews 2:17 states, “Therefore [Jesus] 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.”

Jesus came into our world in order to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Propitiation, that’s not a word you use often in conversations (sounds like a body part, “my propitiation is giving me trouble.” )

Here’s why propitiation is important: It will change your life.

What is propitiation?

Propitiation: a sacrifice that satisfies the wrath of God against us and our sin.

Doesn’t propitiation sound so primitive where God looks like a blood-thirsty deity throwing a temper-tantrum demanding a sacrifice in order to appease him?

Far from it! The wrath of God is a function of his holiness, righteousness and justice (character).

Why do we need propitiation?

We need propitiation in order to be rescued from God’s judgment and wrath to come. (1 Thess 1:10)

Scripture declares that our sin separates us from a Holy & Righteous God (Isaiah 59:2)

Moreover, God cannot excuse in. Instead, he must act in accordance with his holy and righteous character.

The wrath of God in Scripture is an expression of his holiness in response to our sin. Wrath is simply the judgment and punishment that sinners like you and I justly deserve.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul has to say about the wrath of God in the NT. In Romans, he begins to explain the message of the gospel by declaring In Romans 1:18 that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven because of humanity’s ungodliness and unrighteousness. ”

God is completely separated from sin because he is holy and always does what it right. As a result of his holy and righteous nature, he intensely hates sin and those who practice it. The Bible makes a connection between God’s righteous wrath and the unrighteousness of humanity. You can see this clearly in Romans 1-3.

Those who have a hard and un-repented heart are storing wrath for the day of “God’s righteous judgment” (Rom. 2:5).

For those who are self-seeking and obey unrighteousness, “there will be wrath and fury” (Rom. 2:8).

God is righteous “to inflict wrath” on those who practice unrighteousness (Rom. 3:5-6).

Those who live in the passions of the flesh and carry out the desire of the body and the mind are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3).

The wrath of God comes “upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6).

The “wrath of God is coming” upon those who actively practice sin (Col. 3:5-6).

Everyone stands guilty before God, even religious people like the Jews: “no one is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). There is no distinction he adds, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

When you look at the human condition against the character of God (holiness, righteousness & justice): we are toast!

However, there is a way out...

Who can provide propitiation?

Show “Propitiation” graphic.

Jesus is the one who delivers us from God’s judgment and wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10)

I want to show 4 passages that shows how God himself has provided what is need to satisfy his justice.

Romans 3:24-25 “ [Sinners] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

Notice, God himself provided what was needed for our justification.

On the cross, God put forward Jesus as propitiation, the sacrifice that satisfies his wrath.

1 John 2:2 “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Jesus is the sacrifice of propitiation. Jesus is the one who turns away the wrath of God and satisfies the justice of God

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.”

Why did Jesus have to come to earth (incarnation)?

God sent his Son because he loved us.

God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God sent his son to remove God’s wrath against us by providing a substitute.

This is the good news of the gospel: There is nothing we can do on our own efforts for God to love us and forgive us and restore us into fellowship with him. God took the initiative and sent his Son even though we are the ones who have rebelled against God.

Final fourth passage. Our text for today.

Hebrews 2:17 “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.”

Here we see Jesus as priest who offers propitiation. Which the the ESV Study Bible note says, conveys the sense of an atoning sacrifice that puts away sin and satisfies God’s wrath

In Hebrews 2:17 Jesus is is the propitiator (the one who offers the gift of propitiation) and propitiation (the gift of propitiation itself). In other words, Jesus is both priest and sacrifice.

What God required, God himself provided in Christ.

The book of Hebrews clearly establishes that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice.

Hebrews 10:4, For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

OT sacrifices were like a credit card.

Hebrews 10:12, But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 9:12 states that Jesus “entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption”.

Jesus entered into the Most Holy Place. God provided a place called The Tabernacle where God could meet his people.

In Exodus 25 we read about a piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant that was found in the Holy of Holies.

Graphic Mercy Seat

The ark of the covenant was to be covered with a lid called “the mercy seat.”

On top of the mercy seat were two cherubim (angels) on each end.

At this very place, at the mercy seat, God told Moses, “There I will meet with you.” (Exodus 25:22)

The literal translation for “mercy seat” is “the place of propitiation.”

The high priest would then sprinkle blood on the mercy seat or the place of propitiation.

Jesus is both the High Priest who offers a sacrifice of propitiation and the sacrifice of propitiation.

Now, something amazing happens in John 20:12. Mary Magdalene found an empty tomb and she stooped down to look in, “She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.”

Back in Exodus 25, we see two carved angels on each side of the mercy seat. One at the head and one at the feet.

Let’s connect the dots. God desires to have communion with his people. He desires to meet with his people.

Not only is Jesus the propitiator (the one who offers the gift of propitiation) and propitiation (the gift of propitiation itself). He is also is also our mercy seat, the place of propitiation. There, in Christ, God meets us.

At the cross Jesus took our place. Jesus is the sacrifice that satisfies the wrath of God against us and our sin.

So what?

At the beginning of the message I stated that propitiation will change your life. Here’s why.

Because Jesus stood in our place to bear the wrath of God, we can experience peace and reconciliation with God.

In Romans 3:25 we read that we receive the benefits of propitiation by faith.

This passage speaks of the glorious truth of justification by grace alone, trough faith alone in Christ alone.

Turn to Christ in repentance

Hebrews 4:16 “16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Confidence = No Fear

No fear of shame and rejection. According to Hebrews 2:11, Jesus is not ashamed of calling us brother.

In Christ, you are accepted. You are part of God’s family. You belong here!

In Christ, You have a seat at the table in the Father’s house. You belong here!

No fear of death. Hebrews 2:15 states that Jesus delivered us from the fear of death.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

My eternal destiny is secure in Christ. No fear of condemnation & punishment

Hebrews 2:14 states that Jesus destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. Satan is the accuser

Colossians 2:14-15, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Because Jesus stood in our place to bear the wrath of God, we can experience peace and reconciliation with God.