In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 JOHN 2:1,2
MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:
| . Christ is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for your sins, making a way for you to be right with God. |
MY THOUGHTS: That word….Proptiaition…“Propitiation is the biblical concept of appeasing God’s righteous wrath against sin through a sacrifice, thereby reconciling a holy God to sinners. It means satisfying divine justice, with Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross serving as the ultimate, voluntary sacrifice that turns away judgment and provides mercy. ” (courtesy of got questions .org)
So many times I have gotten the question “Why didn’t God make more than one way to Heaven? Why can’t we get there by the path of our choosing?”
To my mind, that’s the wrong question. The real question should be “Why did God make a way to get to Heaven at all? Why didn’t He just write us off and start over?”
To my mind, another good question would be, “Why did God choose to make the one way involve the death of His Son?”
I don’t know that either of those questions have an answer this side of Glory, but they are better questions to ask at least.
If there is anything to say to these two questions I think it ties back to our intrinsic worth. The fact that God would make any way to reconnect to Him through the offer of eternal life, the fact that God would make the one way cost Himself so much speaks to our intrinsic worth. So much of this world degrades and denigrates our human value. That’s the power of sin. The work of the cross of Jesus flies in the face of all devaluing of human life. If anything his death in our place raises our personal worth exponentially. Evidently Jesus thought the act of sacrificing Himself so that we could live a worthy trade.
Lillie-Put 