1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Ever since Adam & Eve rebelled against God’s loving authority, mankind has been plagued with the problem of sin. And what a huge problem sin is! There is nothing worse than the power, presence, and penalty of human sin. As believers in Jesus Christ we are promised ultimate deliverance from sin. But right now sin is an ongoing reality for us. Recently I preached three truths you must know about your relationship to sin. I think you will be encouraged if you read them.
1. Know Your Responsibility
- “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.”
- Your responsibility begins with your identity: you are a child of God, loved by Him, loved by your leaders, and loved by your brothers and sisters in the faith. As a child of God your responsibility is clear: Don’t sin, don’t rebel against God’s truth & holiness, don’t turn away from His good & glorious will for your life. Know this: your responsibility is achievable. You can defeat sin in your life because you have the SPIRIT of God (Galatians 5:16-26), the WORD of God (Psalm 19:7-10), & the PEOPLE of God (Matthew 16:18). Your responsibility is to lean on the Spirit, the Word, and the Church to fight sin and pursue holiness.
2. Know Your Defender
- “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1b)
- John is saying, ‘I don’t want you to sin. And I’m writing so that you won’t sin. But if and when you do sin, you need to know who your Defender is.’
- He is an Advocate. He is your personal defender. He pleads to the Judge on your behalf. You have a personal Advocate who doesn’t merely “know” the Judge; He is the Judge’s Son! He is a Man. John calls Him by His earthly name – “Jesus.” As a man, Jesus lived as the representative of all men. Your Defender is one who is like us in our humanity. He is the Messiah. John calls Him the “Christ,” which means “the Anointed One, Messiah.” He is God’s anointed one who redeems His people from their bondage into the place of blessing and honor and glory. Your Defender is the one whom God has chosen to deliver you from your sins. He is Righteous. Your Defender perfectly meets the standard of righteousness that God has set for humanity. You have the perfect Defender. Rest easy. The One speaking on your behalf cannot lose in the court of divine law.
3. Know Your Defense
- “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (2)
- An Advocate doesn’t just stand in your place. He also argues your case for you. When John says that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, he is telling us what Jesus’ argument is. It’s summed up in one word: Propitiation. Your Advocate comes into the divine courtroom to stand in your place. When God the Judge asks your Advocate to speak on your behalf, all your Advocate has to do is utter one word: “Propitiation.”
- Propitiation occurred at the cross. It is imperative to understand that at the cross Jesus endured torment not only from the hands of men but also from the hand of God. As Jesus hung on the cross He received & experienced the righteous wrath of God against human sin. And that act of Jesus absorbing & satisfying the wrath of God in the place of sinners like you and me is what John calls in verse 2 “propitiation.” A succinct definition of propitiation is this: a wrath-satisfying sacrifice.
- But why is propitiation necessary? “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” That is to say, God is the essence and source of all that is true and holy. Nothing about God’s character or actions is false or sinful. So God rightfully hates sin. He hates it because it contradicts everything He stands for and created us for. The biblical testimony from Genesis to Revelation is that God sets His righteous anger toward sin and those people who commit sin. If we are ever going to be forgiven, something must be done about God’s anger.
- Praise be to God that divine wrath is not the final word! Jesus entered the world, lived as your representative & suffered as your substitute on the cross. God placed all His anger for you and your sin onto Jesus at the cross. Therefore, God is no longer angry with you. Why? Because His anger has been satisfied. His righteous wrath has been quenched. Jesus is your wrath-satisfying sacrifice. Therefore, your relationship with God is not dependent on what you do for Him, but on what Jesus has already done for you! And the most staggering truth about propitiation is that the application of God’s wrath on Jesus is motivated by God’s love for you. “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” (1 John 4:10). Wow!
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
by Ryan Limbaugh