Christmas Family Devotional Guide

The Propitiation For Our Sins – 1 John 2:2

Shepherds keeping watch over their flocks. Peace and good will toward men. A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Wise men bearing gifts. All this together in one story that is more beautiful and more moving than any other story ever told. But the amazing thing about this story is that a person can read it, be moved by it, feel great about it and still miss the whole point.

There was a problem that had been an obstacle for ages and the time had finally come for that obstacle to be addressed. What was that problem? What could possibly have been wrong in the midst of such a beautiful story? Simply this; man’s fellowship with God had been broken by sin and something had to be done to restore the relationship. For this reason, Jesus was born to be what the bible calls "The Propitiation For Our Sins." We find this title for Jesus in 1 John chapter two and verse two.

Propitiation is a big word that isn’t used much anymore. Sadly, it has become almost foreign to modern Christianity. Here is what it means. Propitiation is a payment or act that satisfies an offended person and turns aside that person’s anger. You may wonder why this would be necessary when we think of God. There are several reasons why this is true.

First, God’s righteousness demands propitiation. God is totally holy, without any hint of impurity or sin. Second, man is a sinner by nature and a sinner by choice. Third, these two facts have resulted in every member of the human race being under the wrath of God and in danger of eternal suffering and eternal separation from God in Hell.

Now we can return to the manger and all the beauty that surrounded it. Jesus became a human being. He never stopped being God, but he became a man. As a perfect man, he lived a perfectly righteous life. Something, by the way, that we are totally unable to do. For this reason, in 1 John 2:1 he is called "Jesus Christ the righteous." Because he is perfectly righteous he was able to die a sacrificial death. In that death, Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins and paid the price that God demanded for our sins. Having lived the life and suffered the punishment, he is now our advocate. The blood that he shed covers us and stands as our legal defense before the righteous judge of the universe, Almighty God.

Because Jesus is "The Propitiation For Our Sins," Christmas should take on a new meaning for us and elicit a new response from us. We must receive Jesus as Savior and obey him as our Lord. Then we can follow the examples of the Christmas witnesses we see in the gospel accounts. We can fear not like Mary in Luke 1:30, rejoice like the Wise Men in Matthew 2:10, worship like the Angels in Luke 2:14, and witness like the Shepherds in Luke 2:17 & 20.

Merry Christmas in the name of Jesus, "The Propitiation For Our Sins."