Romans 3:25-26, how can a perfectly holy judge just let guilty criminals go free, if a human judge allowed a serial killer to walk out of the courtroom with no punishment, you would all scream that the judge is corrupt. You know that true justice requires evil to be punished, so how can God remain perfectly just while allowing sinful people into his holy family? Redemption. Redemption means buying back a slave by paying a massive ransom price, you were slaves to your own sin, you were chained to your own guilt, you were entirely trapped and the price to set you free was much higher than all the silver and gold in the entire world, the ransom price was the precious blood of the Son of God.
How did this rescue mission work? Paul uses a very intense and magnificent word, propitiation. That word propitiation is not a word you use in everyday conversation, but it is the key to understanding the love of Jesus Christ, propitiation means a sacrifice that takes away the anger of justice and completely satisfies the righteous penalty for sin. Jesus Christ places himself between you and the storm of justice, he becomes the lightning rod, the terrible strike of justice hits him instead of you, he absorbs the full penalty of the storm into his own body, he takes the agony, the pain and the punishment that had your name written all over it.
What happened on the cross, God presented Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate his righteousness, God could not just sweep your sins under the rug, he had to deal with the problem of evil, on the cross, God poured out his righteous anger against sin upon his own beloved son. Jesus Christ willingly shed his blood to pay the debt you owed, because of this incredible sacrifice, God has accomplished something that no human mind could ever invent. God is both just and the justifier, he is perfectly just, because he did not ignore sin. The penalty was fully paid in blood, every lie you ever told, every hateful thought you ever harbored, every selfish act you ever committed was fully punished on the body of Jesus Christ.
Justice was served, but God is also justifier, because the penalty is paid, he can freely declare you innocent the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you do not have to pay for your own sins, because Jesus Christ already paid the bill in full, when he cried out on the cross that it is finished, he meant exactly that. The work of saving you is completely done, your only job is to receive the gift with empty hands, when you fully grasp the reality of what Jesus Christ has done for you, it completely changes the way you look at yourself and the people around you, it destroys every single drop of human pride.
How did this rescue mission work? Paul uses a very intense and magnificent word, propitiation. That word propitiation is not a word you use in everyday conversation, but it is the key to understanding the love of Jesus Christ, propitiation means a sacrifice that takes away the anger of justice and completely satisfies the righteous penalty for sin. Jesus Christ places himself between you and the storm of justice, he becomes the lightning rod, the terrible strike of justice hits him instead of you, he absorbs the full penalty of the storm into his own body, he takes the agony, the pain and the punishment that had your name written all over it.
What happened on the cross, God presented Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate his righteousness, God could not just sweep your sins under the rug, he had to deal with the problem of evil, on the cross, God poured out his righteous anger against sin upon his own beloved son. Jesus Christ willingly shed his blood to pay the debt you owed, because of this incredible sacrifice, God has accomplished something that no human mind could ever invent. God is both just and the justifier, he is perfectly just, because he did not ignore sin. The penalty was fully paid in blood, every lie you ever told, every hateful thought you ever harbored, every selfish act you ever committed was fully punished on the body of Jesus Christ.
Justice was served, but God is also justifier, because the penalty is paid, he can freely declare you innocent the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you do not have to pay for your own sins, because Jesus Christ already paid the bill in full, when he cried out on the cross that it is finished, he meant exactly that. The work of saving you is completely done, your only job is to receive the gift with empty hands, when you fully grasp the reality of what Jesus Christ has done for you, it completely changes the way you look at yourself and the people around you, it destroys every single drop of human pride.