Knowing God Study - Lesson 21 Ý
Copyright 2004-5 by William Meisheid

Chapter 18: The Heart Of The Gospel Part I

Today’s theme: Where God’s sacrifice meets our soul.

Scriptural background: 1 John 4:10  ”This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice [propitiation] for our sins."

Quotes for the week

“…yielding momentarily to sin when sorely tempted, acknowledged his error when calm reflection had shown it to him, and came forward with noble frankness and offered up his grandmother as an atoning sacrifice—in those old days when the luckless sinner could keep on cleansing his conscience and achieving periodical happiness as long as his relations held out.”  Mark Twain. Roughing It.

“The effects of the incapacity shown by the popular leaders in all the great members of the commonwealth are to be covered with the “all-atoning name” of liberty.”  Edmund Burke. Reflections on the French Revolution.

“I do not charge the merchant or the manufacturer. The sins of our trade belong to no class, to no individual. One plucks, one distributes, one eats. Everybody partakes, everybody confesses, with cap and knee volunteers his confession, yet none feels himself accountable. He did not create the abuse; he cannot alter it.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson. Essays and English Traits: III. Man the Reformer.

Concern: That we understand the difference between expiation and propitiation, and not minimize God’s wrath over sin.

There have always been those who have argued against God being angry against human sin and therefore claim no need of appeasement, as if the mere thought was denigrating to God. The very idea that God should need to be appeased was/is anathema to them, as therefore the passion and cross is anathema also. However, what is forgotten in this approach is an appreciation of God’s utter holiness and the clear attempt to put aside the obvious statements of his wrath against sin.

“Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads," declares the Lord GOD.”  Ezekiel 22:31

1   Why do you think the “progressive” church focuses entirely on God’s love, allowing it to crowd out any other possible representation of God’s nature?

“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience…”  Colossians 3:5-6

2   What key do you see in this verse to understanding God’s wrath against sin?

Interacting with the text

Goal:.To grasp the biblical meaning of propitiation over and against the pagan usage or the lesser context of expiation.

1   Explain propitiation in your own words.

2   How is propitiation fundamentally different in Christianity as over against the same concept in Paganism? How does Ephesians 2:8 relate to this difference?

3   What is at the heart of the argument of changing propitiation to expiation? Why refuting this argument significant, especially when you look back at the order of our study. (anger/wrath/jealousy) preceding this chapter?

4   How does Packer explain the nature of God's wrath poured out on Jesus at Calvary?

5   Why is 'representative substitution' an important concept?

6   How is God's forbearance tied to propitiation?

What To Do Next

Reread this chapter, taking into consideration our discussion today as you deal with the remainder of the chapter. Remember, we are examining the heart of the Gospel, the engine that drives everything else in God’s plan of redemption, spreading the sanctifying grace of salvation throughout all of human history.

Goal: To forever meld God’s justice with his mercy without giving short shrift to either.

Remember, most of what we learn about God requires us to balance the seemingly disparate attributes of his nature, in this case his perfect justice with his perfect mercy. We should also remember that most heresy can be traced to trying to remove these kinds of tensions from our understanding of the nature of God and his relationship to us and his creation. Therefore let us always be willing to live within that tension and leave the resolution to the God in whom trust.