OUR GREAT SALVATION - Jesus Our PROPITIATION!

FOCUS: The justice of God demands that every sin receive it's punishment of death.  Jesus Christ satisfied God's righteousness and secured for us a pardon for our sins. Romans 3:25  (Jesus) ...whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins...

As we approach the Easter season, how thrilling to look again at the power and “Wonder of the Cross”, and remember what exactly was accomplished on my behalf when “The Lamb” satisfied sin’s demands, defeated death and rose victorious. Hallelujah what a Savior!

   I find the word "propitiation" such a rare and interesting word.  

Propitiation is the sacrifice or the covering that becomes the basis upon which God satisfies Himself concerning man's sin. Jesus was our Propitiation!  

God pardons sinful man through the propitiatory death of Jesus Christ.  The background for a study of propitiation is found in the Book of Leviticus.  Here, the underlying principle and purpose of blood sacrifice as an atonement and propitiation for sin is fully explained.

   Israel came out of Egypt corrupted by idol worship.  The people were unfamiliar with the God that delivered them.  God desired to make them a peculiar treasure, and revealed to Israel the basis upon which they could commune with and please Him. 

   The only way to approach a holy God is by means of a redemptive sacrifice.  This sacrifice must be satisfactory to God as a covering for sin.  In Old Testament times, only a lamb without a blemish was satisfactory to be used as a sacrifice.  This Old Testament law was a pattern (a foreshadowing) of things to come!  The only hope of our reconciliation with God is through a propitious sacrifice that brings man back to God through forgiveness and remission of sin.  God decided to offer His son Jesus as a one-time sin covering to those who believed on him.  Jesus was the only one without the blemish of sin, and thus is referred to “the spotless Lamb”.

   In the old covenant, the high priest carried the blood of the sacrificial lamb inside the Temple and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant –then the work of atonement was completed.  Jesus was not only the spotless sacrifice for sin; He also was His own High Priest to complete the work of the blood of atonement for sin.  Jesus Christ, our High Priest, arose the third day from the grave and ascended on high into the heavens. As our High Priest, He took His own life blood, as a ransom for many, into the prescence of God.

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence

   The divine plan of redemption began in Genesis and culminated in the sacrificial death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is my sin covering or “propitiation” for my sin.  
When God looks at me, he only sees the blood of Jesus Christ covering me!!!  

When I trusted Christ through Faith and repented, he forgave me, and my sin is covered under his blood.  I am so thankful for that!

   Only what happened at Calvary can cancel the debt of your sin – Jesus Christ paid the account in full!

NEXT: OUR GREAT SALVATION - JUSTIFICATION

Adapted from Word Aflame