The Righteous One – Propitiation Through The Blood Of The Lamb – 1john 2:1-2 Series

THE RIGHTEOUS ONE – PROPITIATION THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB – 1John 2:1-2

1John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 1John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

In the last message we looked at the first part of verse 2 where Jesus was presented as the Advocate, the one who pleads for us with the Father if we sin. An advocate can only do that work if he is properly qualified. Be he a barrister, Queen’s Counsel or Attorney, he must be qualified. Our Lord Jesus Christ is qualified in every way for the work of advocacy. What are the reasons?

1. He is Eternal God who knows the end from the beginning.

2. He is the incarnate Man of Sorrows who sympathies with His people’s sin and hurt.

3. He was tempted in all points as we are, though He was without sin.

4. He shared in the heartaches of His close friends such as when he wept at Lazarus’s tomb.

5. He is the Great High Priest, faithful and merciful.

That being so, John continues in verse 1 – “Jesus Christ the righteous”, and I like to give another capital letter – “Jesus Christ the Righteous”

PART A - JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS

That then leads us to thinking about Jesus Christ the Righteous. “This is not only His character, but it is His plea. It is His character, and if my Advocate be righteous, then I am sure He would not take up a bad cause. What can there be asked more for the sinner than this? Jesus Christ the righteous stands up to plead for me, and pleads His righteousness; and mark, He does this not if I do not sin, but if I do sin.” (Charles Spurgeon)

His Name shall be called Jesus for He will save His people from their sin. As Jesus/Joshua led the battle of victory against the sin of Canaan, then Jesus/Joshua gained the victory over the sin of the world at the cross. He is Christ, the Anointed One, anointed by God in His office and in His ministry. He is righteous because He is God the Son, and Peter stated that very powerfully in {{Acts 3 v 14 “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.”}} We have the Righteous Son of God pleading our case. He who is the Anointed of God, is our Saviour. This is just grace upon grace. We love Him because He first loved us. He serves us with the same love that he had when He died for us.

PART B - JESUS CHRIST OUR PROPITIATION

We move to the last of these great statements of the Lord’s work and divinity, but let us look again at the two theme verses today – {{1John 2 v 1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 1John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”}}

We need to understand the words, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins” for it is difficult for some to follow what propitiation is. Although propitiation is the best word, and used by most translations, there are other translations – “atoning sacrifice” (NIV) because the NIV does not like bigger theological words. If my memory is not failing me, the old Revised Standard Version of the 1960s used “expiation”. There are even those who dislike the word “propitiation” because they associate pagan practices with it. Gods/idols were appeased with offerings – the sacrifice of a chicken or pig, even human sacrifices, or bowls of fruit or grain in the hope that the idol would excuse them. That can be called propitiation which is why some don’t like the word.

The Christian truth of propitiation is pure and spiritual. God is not appeased like a pagan god, but the divine justice was fully met, and the righteousness of God completely satisfied. That happened at Calvary. The propitiation occurred at Calvary. Let me say again the propitiation is related to Christ's sacrifice and the shedding of His blood for sin. We are going to look into this.

I want you to turn with me to Leviticus 16 and we will read most of the chapter. This is the account on the Day of Atonement.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Leviticus 16 v 6 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household, Lev 16:7 and he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, Lev 16:8 and Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. Lev 16:9 Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering, Lev 16:10 but the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.”