First John Message 4

We have been learning of –

III.  The Believer and the Light of God.  1 John 1:5-2:11

And have been studying –

  A.  The Intrinsic nature of Jesus.  He is Light    1 John 1:5

  B.  The Inclination of man is to walk in darkness  1 John 1:6

  C.  The Illumination of that darkness  1 John 1:7

  D.  The Illustration of the Light dispelling darkness and revealing sin.

And we noted from the last message – 

One thing that is not important to Jesus is “Who is going to be the greatest”!  This was followed by –

  E.  The Instruction to believers of how to be cleansed from sin.

        1 John 1:8-10

Today, we continue to chapter two and –

  F.  The Indication of salvation – their walk will reveal the truth.

       1 John 2:1-11

      Truth is known in the heart of the people and is revealed to themselves by

      their actions.  They might believe that they are saved, but God’s Word will

      reveal to them their true nature.

    1.  The Character of believers.   1 John 2:1-3, 5-8, 10

      a.  The desire to do His will.

1 John 2:1-3  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

        1).  The blessed presence which provides confidence in our salvation

              while dealing with temptation of the flesh.

Believers, living in Christ, as opposed to living in sin, should not commit a sin.

Believers who commit a sin, can be forgiven because they are living in Jesus Christ the righteous,

Believers cannot stand before the Father in their own merit.  Nothing in man can satisfy the righteous justice of the Father. Believers who commit a sin can be forgiven by the Father because they are living in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

Forgiveness is available to all men because Jesus Christ satisfied the just demands of the Father.

The Son is the propitiation for man’s sin.

Let’s learn of why the Holy Spirit led John to use this word?

Propitiation is an interesting word, one that is not used in association with any thing other than the Ark of the Covenant, in particular, the lid on the box.  No evidence of it being used in secular writing has been found. It is used in the New Testament four times, twice by Paul, (once in Romans and once in Hebrews), and twice by John in this first epistle.

We begin by learning of Paul’s use of the word –

Romans 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,(ιλαστηριον), through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

And in –

Hebrews 9:5  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat, (ιλαστηριον), of which we cannot now speak particularly.

Part of Speech: Noun;   Case: Accusative;   Number: Singular;   Gender: Neuter; 

This is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word –

כַּפֹּרֶת kappôreth, kap-po’-reth and in the Septuagent,   ἱλαστήριον

Paul used the specific word, ἱλαστήριον, (a place), as it is used in the Old Testament. 

Exodus 25:10-22  And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shalt make a –

כַּפֹּרֶת  kappôreth, kap-po’-reth –  (καὶ ποιήσεις ἱλαστήριον ἐπίθεμα χρυσίου καθαροῦ, δύο πήχεων καὶ ἡμίσους τὸ μῆκος καί πήχεως καὶ ἡμίσους τὸ πλάτος.

–mercy seat (כַּפֹּרֶת) of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat ( כַּפֹּרֶת ). And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat (כַּפֹּרֶת ) shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat  (כַּפֹּרֶת )  with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat (כַּפֹּרֶת )  above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

God then revealed to Moses the Person Who would meet with them at this place.

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

This place of propitiation was sanctified as the place where the blood shed for the atonement of the people would be sprinkled, and where the satisfaction of God’s righteous judgement would be declared each year.  The blood of bulls and goats would cover the sin of men, the statement of the Law which copy was inside the box, under the lid.  When God looked at the Law, He saw the blood that covered the broken law, the sin, and was satisfied, His wrath was appeased temporarily. 

The use of this word in the New Testament reveals to us that Paul spoke of the place of meeting –

Hebrews 9:4-5  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

Man needed a permanent solution for the forgiveness of sin.  The blood of animals could not satisfy the just righteousness of God.

Hebrews 10:1-13  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

(Part of Speech: Noun;   Case: Nominative;   Number: Singular;   Gender: Masculine; ) 

John was eyewitness to both the place of mercy, but also the person of grace, the Lamb, grace and mercy meeting in Him on the cross. God the Father sent God the Son to be both.

Because “he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” – the believer has assurance that he has permanent peace with God.  When God sees the believer, He does not see a man trying to be righteous, He sees a man that has been forever declared to be righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Now, can a believer, one who has been declared to be righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ, perform unrighteous works.  The clear answer from chapter one is Yes! Those unrighteous works, though, do not call for condemnation from God the Father, they call for the chastening work of God the Son.  God the Son declares that this one who is committing sin is mine and he will answer to me.

The believer is living at peace with God and has the peace of God.

Believers came to know Him at a moment in time, and since that moment, have continued to know that they are in Him through living to keep His commandments.   Refer to –

Colossians 3:1-3  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The blessed presence which provides confidence in our salvation while dealing with temptation of the flesh.  Are you confident that you are living in His blessed presence, walking in His Light?