MONDAY 6th
1 John 2:1–2
‘My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.’
We have come to the second chapter and as we do we understand that sin was a big deal with the Apostle John and so it should have been and so it should be for us today. Sin is sin however much we might want to excuse it, disguise it or dress it up. Sin is rebellion against God, sin is that which has caused us to be separated from God, therefore sin is a big deal with God as well, he cannot tolerate sin, he cannot excuse sin, it cannot go unpunished, the message of Scripture is crystal clear, ‘the wages of sin is death’, it is also crystal clear that the end result of sin is to be cast forever into the lake of fire, eternally separated from God.
Sin was and is such a big deal with God that it cost him an enormous price to deal with sin, to give hope for the sinner and to exchange the verdict of guilty to not guilty—it cost the life of his only begotten, his eternal Son, Jesus the righteous.
As John says here in our verses for this devotion, ‘He (that is Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the world.’
John says this again later in this letter, (1 John 4:10)‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ We were all born in sin, we were all deserving of eternal punishment for that sin, but God is love and out of his love for mankind whom he had created, he sent his Son to be the One who would take on our behalf the punishment we deserved, the wrath that we deserved so that in exchange, as we come to him by faith he grants us forgiveness and eternal life.
But, even though God is a God of love and of mercy, he is also a just God and he cannot allow unforgiven sin to pass by, to be over looked or swept under the carpet. Therefore we cannot do the same, not in our own lives nor in the lives of others, we ourselves must confess our sin and we must preach about sin, we must warn about the consequences of sin, we must share the good news of the gospel that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Sin is sin, but God has provided a way out, a way to be forgiven, yes it cost the life blood of his Son, but as far as God was concerned it was well worth the tremendous cost to see men and women reconciled back to him.