Here is what I preached at the early service this morning at St James,
Westgate:
1 John 2:1-6
1. JESUS IS THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS 1-2
Our word Propitiation (hILASMOS) is from the Latin /propitius/, meaning
/favourable, kindly, gracious/. We have roused God's wrath against us by our
sins; a Propitiation has to be made to God before he will look favourably upon
us again. Jesus made such a Propitiation by dying the death penalty for our
sins, thus reconciling us to God. Some translations put "expiation". You
"expiate" an Offence (by serving its sentence); but you *propitiate* the
Offended Party (God), extinguishing His Wrath which was against us. Jesus did
this on Calvary: "who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered)
a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the
sins of the whole world" (Book of Common Prayer, 1662). A Propitiation is a
Full Satisfaction for sins.
a. Jesus is our Advocate with the Father.
By reason of his full Deity and his sinless Humanity, he is able to be our
Advocate with the Father. He represented us before the Father as our
Substitute Victim upon the Cross; now he represents us before the Father as
our Advocate in Court. He is our Defence Attorney with a perfect Plea. Not a
Plea of Mitigation, but a Plea of Exoneration. Our conviction is quashed; we
are "justified": declared Righteous ("Not Guilty"). Jesus our Advocate took
our sin, our guilt, and our punishment.
b. Jesus has an Advocacy for the whole world.
On the Cross he died the full penalty for the sins of the whole world. God
wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-6); but they have to want to be
saved. "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). He is our
Substitute, our only Saviour; "there is no other name under heaven, given
among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). "How shall we escape, if we
neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3).
2. JESUS IS THE PRESCRIPTION FOR OUR SERVICE 3-6
God said he wanted Obedience, not sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). We need to obey
our God and Saviour in gratitude for what he did for us.
a. The Knowledge of God. 3-4
Forty times in this Epistle the words GINWSKW and OIDA are used (25 and 15
respectively). We really can "know" the Lord, and we really can "know" that we
are saved. This is not presumption on our part: it is presumptious to *doubt*
the word of God. This knowledge is not a Gnosis nor a mystical vision nor an
existential experience; this is an objective reality which issues in our
determination to obey the commands of Christ (as opposed to the Law of Moses).
Antinomians who claim to know God are liars. An Antinomian is one who
continues in sin, "that grace may abound. God forbid" (Romans 6:1-2a).
b. The Love of God. 5-6
Eighteen times in this Epistle the word Love AGAPH is used. When we keep
Christ's Word, then the Love of God is a reality to us and to those who
observe us. Christ dwells in us and we in him through the Holy Spirit. Love is
seen in us as we walk in love and in the Spirit. Didn't anyone notice the
change in you after you were saved? "What's happened to you? Have you got
religion or something?". What a cue to give them your testimony! You "know
God" by your faith; you "show God" by your Love.
__________________________________________________________________________
In Christ,
Ben
--
Revd Ben Crick BA CF, and Mrs Joanna (Goodwin) Crick
232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm
