Some time ago, I made a post saying “The sacrifice of Jesus was not to appease God; it was to save us from our sins.”
Some opined that the sacrifice of Jesus was to appease God and save man from his sins. Their submission was drawn from 1 John 2:2.
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
— 1 John 2:2 (KJV)
An emphasis was put on the word, “propitiation,” stating that it means to appease or placate someone often a diety to avoid punishment or wrath.
But I differ in opinion because the scripture does not teach that Jesus came to appease God.
I devoted time to doing a relative study on the word “appease” in relation to God’s interaction with the man outside Christ.
Here is my submission on this subject.
When I looked up the word “appease” in the dictionary, I discovered that it means to dispel anger or hatred. Even the word “placate,” when looked up in the dictionary, means to make someone less angry or hostile.
In the face of Christ, we know that God was not angry with sinners, neither was he hostile towards them. He loved them from the beginning and that love, not anger, compelled him to interact with them and experience death on man’s behalf.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8 (KJV)
Yes, man sinned, but we know, in the face of Jesus Christ, that God was never angry with man; so, there was no need for him to be appeased or placated.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, we never saw him get angry at sinners. He wined and dined with them. And when religious folks tried to discredit his association with sinners, he defended his actions by saying that he did not come for the righteous but for the sinners.
While the word “Propitiation,” according to the English dictionary means “The act of propitiating; placation, atonement,” we have to be selective of the synonym that we choose as our choice of a synonym must reflect the state of God’s heart towards the sinner.
Even Strong’s definition, not Thayer’s definition of the word “Propitiation” means atonement. The word “Atonement” means the reconciliation of God and mankind; or the repairing of a damaged relationship.
As seen in the Garden of Eden, we know that it was man who walked away from God as seen in their movement from where God wanted them to be to the place amongst the trees of the garden. God didn’t walk away from man. Man walked away from God.
God never left man; Man left God. God never broke his relationship with man; man broke his relationship with God. The parable of the prodigal son captures this clearly.
So, we understand that the sacrifice of Jesus was to make a way for man to get back to God and not to make a way for God to get back to man.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
— John 14:6 (KJV)
So, in this situation, all we see is a loving God who made a way for man to come to him. We do not see an angry God that needs to be appeased or placated.
Even the condemnation to the lake of fire is not one meted out by God; it is the man who refuses eternal life that chooses the lake of fire automatically.
John 3 (KJV)
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¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
So, the condemnation to the lake of fire, which is dubbed the “Wrath of God” is not one that God places on a man, but one that man brings upon himself because of his choice.
Lastly, the mission statement of Jesus’ life says that he came to save his people from their sins. It does not say that he came to dispel the anger of God.
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
— Matthew 1:21 (KJV)
Logic reasons that if God was angry with man, a matching action would be for him to condemn them to the lake of fire – but he didn’t do that.
Because he always loved man from the beginning, hence his action in saving them from the eternal death they brought upon themselves.
I hope this brought clarity.
Apostle Destiny Kingston