Lord's Day Devotion - Jesus our Propitiation

Slowly read through Romans 3:21-26 ESV.  As you read, pause after each verse and consider it.  Are there any words or phrases you don't understand or that have a vague feel to them?  Highlight them and then grab a dictionary to learn the secular meaning.  Then Google a Bible dictionary to ascertain a more spiritual perspective.

It wasn't until I got to verse 25 that I needed to do that.  The word propitation gave me pause.  I have actually been hearing this word all my life as far back as I can remember.  It gives only a vague sort of idea to me even now.

From the Oxford Lanaguage (online) Dictionary I read that propitiation is...

"an act of appeasing a god, spirit or person, to make calm a god or person who is annoyed with you."

The Bible approach explained,

"...averting the wrath of God by offering a gift".

As I grasped this more comprehensive meaning, I gasped at the message the six verses as a whole, illuminated.  WOW! and WAM!

This is what Jesus did!  He offered Himself as the gift (or propitiation) to God to appease His wrath.  It was ever so much more than annoyance, for sure.  It was the terror-striking  wrath of God we human beings would otherwise have to face due to the sin of the human race.

Did you ever consider what the wrath of God is like?  Take two examples from the Old Teatment (OT).  God's wrath is swift and terrifying in implementation.

When the Israelites complained, grumbled and lamented to Moses about the boring manna and like spoiled children, demanded more, in this case, meat, throwing a tantrum so-to-speak to get what they wanted, Moses wasn't sure what to do but he was troubled.

Moses went and lamented about the Israelites and his heavy burden of responsibility.  He asked God what to do.  Well, first God gave him 70 elders of the people to share the burden.  Then He told Moses, manna would still come and so would some meat.

And the meat flew in.  Quail arrived in droves and the people of Israel greedily gathered it up, cooked it and began to eat.  Even as it was betweeen their teeth God's wrath was unleashed upon them, and many died.  Their ungratefulness and contempt of all God was doing for them got heaped upon their heads (see Numbers 11:4-35).

Then there was the man who dared to collect wood on the Sabbath.  He got arrested and put into custody.  Moses again inquired of the LORD as to what to do with the man (see Numbers 15:23-26).

The LORD  told him to take the man outside the camp and the whole congregation of Israel were to stone the man to death.

To us this seems like cruel and unusual punishment; more than what the 'crime' was equal to.  However, disobedience to and disregard for God and His ways will land God's wrath upon the perpetrators' heads.  The Israelites had to learn this lesson the hard way.

We do well to take heed.  No doubt it is now the day of grace and when we repent of our wrong doings, confessing them to the Lord, we gain His forgiveness and the wrath has been averted (see 1 John 1:9).

Actually, because of Jesus our Propitiation, and ones' acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, the ultimated wrath of God has been appeased for us as individuals, thus, our faith saves us through Him.  

Reach out for the broken bread and drink from the cup of wine and God's mercy this Lord's Day, giving Jesus our praise and thanksgiving.  What a gift offering of appeasement this has been!

                                                      ~ERC  May 2024 ~

Based on Romans 3:21-26 ESV and Gordon Cheng's Peace with God on the book of Romans (Pathway Bible Guides).

Sing, Oh What a Savior that He Died For Me Oh What a Savior that He Died For Me, along with Whitehall Metropolitan Tabernacle, Belfast.