Propitiation

1 · Icebreaker · 7 min

Open the room

When a real storm hits your town, where do you feel safest, and why?

Leader. Shelter. You will contrast a feeling of safety with an actual lightning rod. Say that passing is allowed, especially the first few weeks.

2 · The word · 8 min

See it, then say it

Definition, from the book

Propitiation is the act by which God’s just wrath against sin is fully satisfied through a sacrificial substitute, Jesus Christ, so that God’s favor and forgiveness can be extended to sinners.

In the original language

Greek hilasmos — a sacrifice that turns away wrath, an appeasing.

Memory verse · 1 John 2:2

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Together, open the flashcard for Propitiation. Say the word, the definition, and the verse once. Then put the phone away.

3 · Open the Bible · 15 min

Romans 3:24–26

Exodus 34 was the devotion’s text. Romans 3 is the paragraph where Paul uses this word to solve a problem inside God: how He can be righteous and still justify sinners.

And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Have two readers if you can. Bibles open. The excerpt is only here so a forgotten Bible does not stop the night.

From the passage

1. 1.What problem of God’s, not only ours, does the propitiation solve in verses 25 and 26?Core

   Leader. How a righteous God can pass over sin and still be righteous. The cross displays justice and justification together.

2. 2.How does a person receive what God put forward? Find the phrase.

   Leader. “By faith” / “received by faith.” Not by intensity, pedigree, or sorrow measured in tears.

4 · Around the room · 20 min

A conversation this chapter did not assign

1. 3.If God “just forgave” with no cross, what would Romans 3 say had happened to His justice?Core

   Leader. He would not be just. Forgiveness without propitiation would be God pretending. The bolt has to strike somewhere.

2. 4.Mark 15:34: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Who is standing in the open field from week 7’s drawing?

   Leader. Jesus, the Son, under wrath that was ours. Say it with weight and without theater. Then be quiet.

3. 5.1 John 2:2 says “the whole world,” and Romans 3:25 says “received by faith.” How do we honor both without telling people they are safe while they refuse Christ, or shrinking the cross to our little circle?

   Leader. See the leader note. For a young room, skip the debate and say the pastoral sentence in the note instead of hosting an argument.

5 · Say it · 5 min

In one sentence

Propitiation means Jesus took the wrath we deserved, so God can be both just and the One who justifies.

Ask for two volunteers, not the whole circle. They may look at the sentence, then try it without looking. Clumsy and true is the goal.

6 · Pray · 8 min

Leave silence between these

1. Thank the Father for putting His Son forward.
2. Thank the Son for standing in the storm.
3. Pray for someone who thinks God is either too soft to judge or too hard to approach.