DOCSLIB.ORG

The Cross and God's Justice

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Cross and God's Justice THE CROSS AND GOD’S JUSTICE Isaiah 5:16; Romans 3:24-26 INTRODUCTION I want to continue my plan of preaching on some aspect of the Cross for our Communion Sunday sermons. The reason I want to preach on the Cross is to follow Paul’s example in I Corinthians 2:2 1 Corinthians 2:2 NKJV For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And because the message of the Cross or Christ crucified is the power of God unto salvation according to I Corinthians 1:21-24. Christ and Him crucified is the event that changed the world. It is the only atoning sacrifice available to God and man. It is essential to our spiritual health to seek to go beneath the surface and plumb the depth of meaning of the Cross. The Cross of Christ is so full of meaning and significance that the Bible has to use several images to reveal its full orb of meaning. This morning I want to focus on the Cross and God’s Justice. I see the connection between the Cross and God’s justice in Romans 3:24-25 Romans 3:24-25 NKJV being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, It says that Christ was set forth as a propitiation…to demonstrate His [God’s] righteousness or justice. The Cross proclaims that God is just to forgive us our sins. The Cross was necessary not only for our salvation, but necessary for God’s justice. The Cross was necessary for God to be God! It was necessary for God to be true to Himself. Let me try to explain that! Let me start by looking the key word ‘propitiation.’ PROPITIATION MEANS THAT THE CROSS AVERTS GOD’S WRATH AWAY FROM US ONTO CHRIST When I was a new Christian I was involved in a small-group Bible study and we would run across this word time to time. I was hard for me to pronounce – propitiation. The teacher taught us guys how to say it. Pro pish May 5, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 1 (like in dish) iation. Propitiation. It is may be hard to pronounce but it’s not that hard to understand. The idea behind propitiation is to offer something that would turn away someone’s wrath. There is a story in the book of Genesis that illustrates this basic idea of the word. The story is found in Genesis 32 and it concerns Esau and Jacob. Jacob had deceived Esau of his birthright and left the country. After 14 years working for Rachael and Leah he came back to Palestine with his family of 12 sons, wives, herds, servants, etc. He was worried about meeting Esau. He knew that Esau was angry at him and may try to kill him. What would he do? He devised a plan to send goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, etc. in three groups ahead of him as presents to Esau. Jacob explains his plan in Genesis 32:20 Genesis 32:20 NKJV For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me." The word translated here in English as “appease” is the same Greek word (hilaskomai) translated ‘propitiation’ in the New Testament. Jacob was hoping that his gifts would turn Esau’s wrath away from him. Most husbands understand the basic idea of propitiation. Have you ever said something that offended your wife, that made her mad? Most of us have. One time husband got into an argument with his wife and left for work with her steaming mad at him. On the way home he saw a vendor selling flowers. The thought comes to him that he may avert her anger if he gives her some flowers. He offers the flowers as act of propitiation to her. Averting anger or turning away anger by the offering of a gift is the basic idea of propitiation. The question for us today is, “Do you feel that your sins have offended God?” Do you see that you need to give some gift of avert his anger? You don’t have to give a gift because Jesus is that gift which has already been given to avert God’s anger. SOME OBJECTIONS TO THIS TEACHING OF PROPITIATION Now this word ‘propitiation’ doesn’t set too well with our modern mind. Even in the main-line churches many don’t want to think of the Cross as God’s means of averting His anger towards sinners. Why? Because they do not see God as angry. God is a God of love, not wrath or judgment. Isn’t He? To think that God has to be pacified or appeased sound too much like a pagan sacrifice to appease their gods. It is a primitive idea. We are more advanced and enlightened to think this way. But there is an infinite difference in Christ as our sacrifice and paganism’s sacrifices. First and foremost it is God who is making the offering, not us. We are not bringing an offering to God to avert his wrath as May 5, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 2 the pagans would do. It is God himself who “sets forth” Christ as a propitiation in His blood as Romans 3:25 says. This is a huge point and of supreme importance. There is nothing we can bring to God to satisfy His wrath against our sins. Only God can provide the adequate sacrifice. And He did. His only Son, Jesus Christ! God’s wrath is his righteous response to evil. I preached on the wrath of God last month. Our sins and the evil of the world provokes God’s wrath. God is holy and when a holy God responds to evil it is by pouring out his white-hot wrath on it. Our God is a consuming fire, the writer of Hebrews says. Another objection some have to the idea of propitiation is that they would say that it is immoral for God to require an innocent person to take the punishment of a guilty person. But it is not immoral if the person has agreed to be the substitute and be qualified to make the payment. Jesus agreed to be the substitute from the foundation of the world. He was not just an innocent person who God grabbed up off the streets of Jerusalem to go to the Cross. Jesus is the Eternal Son of God , the 2nd Person of the Triune God, who in eternity past was part of the plan of redemption. He was slain from the foundation of the world as John tells us in Revelation 13:8. Others will say that propitiation overshadows the love of God. God is a God of love. The irony is that it is because that God is a God of love that Christ had to be our propitiation. God sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins is His supreme act of love. The Apostle John is the one who clearly connects the love of God to this act of propitiation. 1 John 4:10 NKJV In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God doesn’t love us because Christ died for us. He died for us because he love us. Christ’s death doesn’t dispose God to love us more. No, His death proves He loves us. This great act of love should move us to love Him with all our hearts, mind, and soul. It is interesting that in the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement the High Priest would take the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkle it on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. In that Ark was the law of God which condemns all who do not keep it perfectly. On top of that Ark is what is called the ‘Mercy Seat.’ On the Mercy Seat was the blood applied for the sins of Israel, to cover them, to remove them, to avert the wrath of God they deserve. The Greek word used to translate the word we use ‘mercy-seat’ is hilaskomai, the same word as in Romans 3:25 and I John 4:10 ‘propitiation.’ Jesus is our mercy-seat. Jesus is our propitiation. His blood satisfies God’s wrath, God’s law, God’s righteousness, God’s justice. May 5, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 3 Does seeing Jesus as your mercy-seat cause you to want to humble yourself and hold tight to him in faith? This is what God wants you to do. THE CROSS WAS NOT ONLY NECESSARY FOR OUR SALVATION, BUT WAS NECESSARY FOR GOD’S JUSTICE One of the ways you can see that even some Bible translators are not comfortable with using the word ‘Propitiation’ to describe what Jesus did for us on the Cross is seen in the way they translate ‘hilaskomai.’ Several of the newer Bible translations don’t use the English word ‘propitiation’ to translate hilaskomai, like the New English Bible, the RSV, and the New American Bible (Catholic). They use the word ‘expiation’ rather than ‘propitiation.’ The NIV, NRSV and the NLT use “sacrifice of Atonement” or just ‘sacrifice.’ The question behind this different choices of words is, “What separates us from God? Is it our sin or is it God’s wrath?” Is Christ’s death to remove our sins or to remove God’s wrath? It is both, but the passage in Romans 3 certainly puts the focus on the necessity of the Cross as doing something for God.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Expiation–Propitiation–Reconciliation
    Expiation–Propitiation–Reconciliation by Chrys C. Caragounis (Professor Emeritus in New Testament Exegesis at Lund University) 1. Introductory1 As is well-known, the New Testament does not present a systematic theology of the Christian Faith. Nevertheless, it supplies all the necessary ingredients toward a systematic theology. Of all the writings of the New Testament, the most systematic is the epistle to the Romans. The epistle to the Hebrews offers a more or less systematic presentation of the sacrificial system in Israel as this is fulfilled in the high priesthood of Christ, who is not only the high priest but becomes also the sacrificial victim. But the scope of this epistle is quite narrow as compared with the wide vistas that open up in the epistle to the Romans.2 This absence of a formally systematic theology in the New Testament is to be explained by what constituted the pressing needs of the young, growing Church. The epistles of Paul, for example, were written to solve practical problems that had arisen in the various congregations. And even Romans, the most systematic of all Paul’s epistles, was written as an occasional letter with practical aims in view.3 1 This study has been written in as simple and non-technical manner as was possible. However, in order to discuss the subject somewhat adequately, it was impossible to avoid some technical terminology as well as a few references to ancient and modern literature. In order not to burden the main text, such technicalities have been relegated for the most part to the footnotes.
    [Show full text]
  • How Can a Just God Pardon Evil? – Romans 3:21-31
    How Can a Just God Pardon Evil? – Romans 3:21-31 John Piper in his book Desiring God says that verses 25-26 may be the most important verses in the Bible. In His Solid Joys devotional he calls this the ‘Best Passage Ever’. God is both Just and ‘The Justifier’ – how can this be possible? Because of Jesus Christ, because he was put forward as a ‘propitiation by his blood’, so that He may be seen as righteous and that we too might be declared righteous. This truth, is the greatest truth! 1) What is Propitiation? “Propitiation is a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath so that God becomes ‘propitious’ or favorably disposed toward us.” - Wayne Grudem. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Verse 23). Jesus said “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). People don’t like this statement as we want to consider ourselves good. For a person to be good or bad we need a. A standard for Good and Bad b. An assessment of someone’s goodness compared to the standard c. A judge, someone to decide whether or not they pass. Where do we get that standard from, who assesses and who gets to decide? Surely, it’s only the person who has lived a perfect life. Who has never wronged anybody, who is utterly selfless, kind and without prejudice. And that person said ‘no one is good, except God alone’. There is still hope as Paul has just stated that this justification, this being acceptable, being judged as ‘good’ comes to all who believe.
    [Show full text]
  • Paradise - Purgatory - Perdition
    PARADISE - PURGATORY - PERDITION A short time before the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, He said, concerning His disciples: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of PERDITION: that the Scripture might he fulfilled:” John 17:12. Judas Iscariot was “the son of perdition.” Then note II Thessalonians 2:3: “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of PERDITION.” The coming of the “man of sin” will also be “the son of perdition.” Then note Revelation 17:8: “The beast that thou sawest was and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottom less pit, and go into PERDITION: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they, behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” Then we read in Hebrews 10:39 and II Peter 3:7 concerning some who shall go to perdition: “But we are not of them who draw back unto PERDITION; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” “But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and PERDITION of ungodly men.” PARADISE When the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, a thief near by on another cross called on Him.
    [Show full text]
  • PAUL's THEOLOGY Lesson 28 Salvation – Part 4 Metaphor – Propitiation
    PAUL’S THEOLOGY Lesson 28 Salvation – Part 4 Metaphor – Propitiation One of the many people who help our class “go” is Mike Hudgins. For seven years, Mike has led the effort to make sure the sound is working each Sunday morning. Mike has worked through multiple soundboards, with different incarnations of microphones (no Mike/mic bad puns here!), and in multiple venues week in and week out to make sure these lessons are heard in class and beyond. Like so many others, Mike consistently makes personal sacrifices for our benefit. Thank you, Mike! Now when I write of Mike’s sacrifices, I need to pause for a moment. Because if you know Mike well, then you know he is a huge baseball fan. In fact, in addition to Mike’s regular job, Mike also umpires baseball games. These games are serious games, not simply the Saturday afternoon Little League fair. Mike is one of our area’s top umpires. “Sacrifice” has a special meaning to Mike. It is when a batter hits into an out to advance a runner. Today, we are studying “sacrifice.” We are not studying the kind of sacrifice that so many make in order for this class to be as effective as it is. Nor are we studying the kind of sacrifice we might see in a baseball game. We are studying a special type of sacrifice that makes our salvation before God Almighty. We are studying the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As we study the sacrifice of Christ, we look specifically at a metaphor Paul uses to describe the working of our salvation: propitiation.
    [Show full text]
  • Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory
    Catholic Doctrine Of Purgatory Intro: Prior to making a study of this doctrine, I did not realize just how repulsive and evil the doctrine of purgatory is. After studying it, I am now convinced that there is no doctrine as immoral and ungodly as the doctrine of purgatory. It strikes at the very heart of Christianity and the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son. I am not sure that I possess the capability of expressing the disgust which should permeate our very souls because of this ungodly doctrine and the wicked practices which arise from it. I. WHAT IS PURGATORY. A. Let them speak for themselves. 1. Catholic catechism (Catechism Of The Catholic Church (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994), p. 291.): “1030 All who die in Gods grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. 1031 The church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the church, by reference to certain text of Scripture, speaks of the cleansing fire: ‘As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that who ever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age or in the age to come.
    [Show full text]
  • Defending Your Catholic Faith
    Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center The Book of Armaments ܞ Defending Your Catholic Faith by Gary Michuta CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE - SALVATION WHAT IS SALVATION AND JUSTIFICATION?.........................................................................................2 A Word of Warning...............................................................................................................2 Defining Terms: ....................................................................................................................2 Grace .....................................................................................................................................3 Faith.......................................................................................................................................3 Works ....................................................................................................................................5 -In Brief-....................................................................................................................................6 UNDERSTANDING JUSTIFICATION ........................................................................................................7 The Preparatory Stage ...........................................................................................................7 Justification Proper................................................................................................................8 After Initial Justification .......................................................................................................9
    [Show full text]
  • Propitiation & Atonement
    Study Notes Propitiation & Atonement November 2, 2014 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD. 29 "The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days. 31 "You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy. 35 "Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it.
    [Show full text]
  • Propitiation in Old Testament Prophecy
    QUARTERLY Wume 49, Number 1 JANUARY 1985 Propitiation in Old Testament Prophecy . .Douglas Judisch 1 Luther and Moltmann: The Theology of the Cross . .Bum11 F, Ecknrdt, Jr. 19 Theological Observer . .29 Homiletical Studies . .31 Book Reviews . .65 Indices to Volurrle 48 (1984) Author Index . , . .71 Title Index . .75 Subject Index ......................................77 Scripture Index to Homiletical Studies . .79 Propitiation in Old Testament Prophecy Douglas McC. L. Judisch A study in a previous issue of this journal emphasized the centrali- ty to Old Testament theology of divine wrath and its propitiation.' Having established "propitiate" as the usus loquendi of k p r, we found the whole complicated system of animal sacrifice a monumental mech- anism designed to placate the wrath of God against the sinners of the Old Testament era. We concluded, in&&, that the sanguinary sacrifices of Israel pointed forward to Messiah's propitiation of God on behalf of all men, and those who trusted in this propitiation which was to come still enjoy eternal lit with God? It was not only by means of types, however, that God sought to excite in the hearts of the an- cients faith in His propitiation by the Coming One. He also used the explicit words of His prophets-although often still using imagery bor- rowed from the sacrificial system to discuss the future things which it symoblized. I. Basic Considerations God made the point, first of all, that no mere man could assuage His wrath against even one of his fellaws, much less God's anger with all humanity (Ps. 49:8-9 MT; 7-8 EV): No man can by any means redeem his brother, Or give to God a ransom for him - For the redemption of his soul is costly .
    [Show full text]
  • New Translation of Bible a Disappointment
    NEW TRANSLATION OF BIBLE A DISAPPOINTMENT "IF any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life" (Revelation 22:19). While rejoicing over the recent nation-wide publicity given the Bible, one could not help wondering what improvement the new version could be over the King James Version which has been a source of greatest comfort, the highest means of inspiration, and the builder of the noblest character of men and nations since its issuance in 1611. Upon examination of this new version, it was saddening to learn that some very vital changes had been made which obscure if not substantially deny fundamental truths of the Bible. "Such fundamental changes have been made that it would be nothing short of a calamity of infinite proportions if the Book should be accepted by the English-speaking world, and replace the King James Version." The author of that statement is the President of the International Council of Christian Churches, a group of churches which have sought to adhere to the historic Christian faith and have not formed an alliance with the National Council of Churches of Christ. The Modernist Viewpoint The reason for some of the objectionable changes may best be understood if one knows something of the theological viewpoint of those who did the revising. No doubt the entire committee of translators concurred in the statement that "the Biblical translator is not an expositor; however pronounced his views about Biblical doctrines, he has no right whatever to intrude his opinions into the translation, or to permit his dogmatic convictions to qualify or shape its wording." However, one is strongly inclined to believe that their theological convictions did lead the translators to "intrude" their opinions into the translation.
    [Show full text]
  • Propitiation
    Propitiation Propitiation is the work of the Lord Je- finally, “put away” the sins “done previously in the sus Christ by which He appeases the forbearance of God”. Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:15, 26. wrath of God and conciliates Him who The word “atonement” does not occur in the New would otherwise be offended by our sin Testament; the word in Rom. 5:11 is “reconcilia- and would demand that we pay the tion”. penalty for it. The beginning of the subject of propitiation is found far back in the Bible, back to the designing Propitiation is translated from the Greek word of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the tent which (hilasterion), meaning “that which expiates or God had the people of Israel set up which would propitiates” or “the gift which procures propitia- be the center of His presence on earth. tion”. The word is also used in the New Testa- ment for the place of propitiation, the “mercy seat.” The tabernacle occupies a large portion of Scrip- (Heb. 9:5). There is frequent similar use of hilas- ture, sixteen chapters in the book of Exodus and terion in the Septuagint. Ex. 25:18 ff. The mercy the whole book of Leviticus. Every feature of the seat was sprinkled with atoning blood on the Day tabernacle, of the worship carried out there, of the of Atonement (Lev. 16:14), representing that the priestly life and duties, of the vestments of the righteous sentence of the Law had been executed, priests, the sacrifices, the feast days–every feature changing a judgment seat into a mercy seat (Heb.
    [Show full text]
  • Words 'Fitly Spoken': Tyndale's English Translation of the Bible
    David Rolph Seely, “Words ‘Fitly Spoken’: Tyndale’s English Translation of the Bible,” in Prelude to the Restoration: From Apostasy to the Restored Church (Provo, UT and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University and Deseret Book, 2004), 212–227. Words “Fitly Spoken”: Tyndale’s English Translation of the Bible David Rolph Seely David Rolph Seely is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. David Rolph Seely William Tyndale (1494–1536), reformer and translator, is the true father of the English Bible. His English translations of the Bible printed in 1526, 1530, and 1534 provided the basis for the King James Translation, and through his translations, Tyndale became one of the founders of the modern English language. In the process of translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English, Tyndale coined several new English words—transforming older English words or in some cases inventing unique and striking new English words—that have since become central terms in religious discourse. From a study of just a few of these words, we can better understand Tyndale’s genius for language, his methodology, and his theology, and we can gain insight into the complexity of translation. Most important, we can better appreciate the gift Tyndale gave to English speakers: the word of God in our own language. Truly, for Tyndale and for us, “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). Born in Gloucestershire, England, William Tyndale studied at Oxford and possibly Cambridge. He joined the reform movement there, and in 1524 he moved to Hamburg, Germany, never to return to his native country.
    [Show full text]
  • Expiation–Propitiation– Reconciliation
    Expiation–Propitiation– Reconciliation by Chrys C. Caragounis (Professor Emeritus in New Testament Exegesis at Lund University) 1. Introductory1 As is well-known, the New Testament does not present a systematic theology of the Christian Faith. Nevertheless, it supplies all the neces- sary ingredients toward a systematic theology. Of all the writings of the New Testament, the most systematic is the epistle to the Romans. The epistle to the Hebrews offers a more or less systematic presentation of the sacrificial system in Israel as this is fulfilled in the high priesthood of Christ, who is not only the high priest but becomes also the sacrificial victim. But the scope of this epistle is quite narrow as compared with the wide vistas that open up in the epistle to the Romans.2 This absence of a formally systematic theology in the New Testament is to be explained by what constituted the pressing needs of the young, growing Church. The epistles of Paul, for example, were written to solve practical problems that had arisen in the various congregations. And even Romans, the most systematic of all Paul’s epistles, was written as an occasional letter with practical aims in view.3 1 This study has been written in as simple and non-technical manner as was possible. However, in order to discuss the subject somewhat adequately, it was impossible to avoid some technical terminology as well as a few references to ancient and modern lit- erature. In order not to burden the main text, such technicalities have been relegated for the most part to the footnotes.
    [Show full text]