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.
I was tired this morning and really struggled with getting myself going. I started talking with the Lord in my prayer time and all I can say is He is super patient because there were many long pauses. I'd love to say long pauses because I was thinking all these awesome things to pray and talk with Him about, but honestly it was just trying to keep my eyes open. I ended up telling Him, I need You to pull me through this morning… and let me tell you something, when I opened the Word up and got into 1 John 2:2, He took over the conversation and I found myself fully awake. Excited even! He never ceases to amaze me how in the blink of an eye He can change anything when we choose to let Him in.
So this verse seems pretty straight forward as we started into it. Except that funky word "propitiation". Another one of those we maybe have an idea what it means or heard a preaching on it once. Even without knowing just using it in context of the sentence you kind of get it. It'd be easy to just move on, but He kept the conversation right there on that weird word.
Propitiation defined by Merriam-Webster: the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something.
In the Greek it's the word hilasmos which is: atonement, i.e. (concretely) an expiator:—propitiation; the means of appeasing.
Okay so now this new word comes up, "expiator". Interesting, I personally didn't know exactly what this one meant. So here we go, Expiate: To make amends or reparation for; atone for.
Phillip, why? Why with all the words and definitions? Because it would be so easy to simply read this verse and move on. To see it but not really SEE it. To hear it but not really HEAR it. As I sat here knee deep in internet browser tabs of words, definitions and multiple Bible translations I stopped. I turned to the Lord and just said, "Lord, what does this all mean. Why are we discussing this today and I don't want this to be some silly head knowledge thing I'm tracking down, I want to hear what you're saying in it."
I talked with Him went back to it and then there was just this simple clarity. All summed up in this little word, "Propitiation" is more than just one thing. It is not just Jesus paid for our sins, it's far deeper than that. He didn't just atone for sins, pay the price that was owed (death) on our behalf, He also gained back favor for us with God the Father!!
What's awesome is immediately had this image of going to someone's house. I walk in and see a beautiful, ancient looking bowl on the table. I pick it up and then somehow drop it. Call me Mr. Butterfingers as a loud shattering fills the house. There are pieces all over the floor when the owner comes in furious. It was passed down for generations. Then Jesus shows up. He steps in and pays the owner exactly what the vase was worth. It has been made right in a way that paid for the value of what was broken. Then Jesus picks up the pieces and takes them off and brings it back fixed. Not just fixed but the pieces are put together with pure gold. The beauty has increased and its value as well. The vase was paid for already but now there is this restoration of goodwill and favor with the owner because of what Jesus did.
So then to top this all off, I went to search for reference for drawing today, which was going to be "broken bowl". Guess what… I find out there is a real Japanese thing called "Kintsugi" or "kintsukuroi" which means "golden joinery. It's literally putting broken things back together with gold or silver in the cracks to make it more beautiful than before!! Wow.
God is so deep, so eternal, so beyond our understanding and most times we don't even pick up his word, or we're satisfied with a quick devotional on a bible app. Even when we do we read it, usually it's with our eyes only as a task to complete to say we did it or feel better about ourselves. Rarely do we include the brain and even rarer do we take the time to include our hearts. Think about it...
As I always say I'm just a man typing up what came from my adventure in walking with the Lord today. Don’t just take my word for all this. Read it yourself! Pray over it, talk to Him about it! Check what I'm saying against scripture and let God show you directly what He has for you!
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