The idea of propitiation is alluded to throughout the scriptures and the word translated as propitiation is used specifically four times:
Romans 3:25 (NASB)
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
Hebrews 2:17 (NASB)
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
1 John 2:2 (NASB)
and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 4:10 (NASB)
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
This is a word with foundational importance in regards to the atonement. So how do I I teach a deep subject involving the paradoxes of God's divine attributes (love and justice, mercy and wrath) and is summed up in a word I can barely pronounce? To compound matters, how do I teach it to a young child? "Daddy what does that mean?"
Thefreedictionary.com defines propitiation as following:
1. The act of propitiating.
2. Something that propitiates, especially a conciliatory offering to a god.
OK, that won't work for a child; let's try Wikipedia.
Propitiation is appeasing or making well disposed (from Latin propitiāre, to appease, from propitius, gracious), especially a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding Divine retribution.
… it is satisfying the perfect justice of a holy and righteous God; thereby making it possible for him to show complete mercy without compromising his righteousness or justice.
Truthfully, I had not originally set out on a mission of how to teach the idea of propitiation to my daughter; it was more a matter of God’s providence mixed with my rash dispensing of punishment for misbehavior.
Picture this, my daughter is acting up again (it wasn’t too bad; I can’t even remember what she did to get in trouble). I’ve told her to stop several times and finally I start dishing out the punishments. First, a small timeout. Soon, followed by a swat on the bottom. Next, a longer timeout. I’m sure my patience was wearing thin at this moment. So, I decide to finish this contest of wills and go all in.
“Olivia Fern… If you do that again, I’m going to throw this Veggietales Suduko Sticker book away…” My first time to threaten throwing one of my daughter’s toys away. Appearently, she thinks it's an empty threat… She acts out again… I throw away the book… … … The next few moments (seemingly hours) were not what I had anticipated.
She changes from acting out to acting as if I’ve ripped her heart out and stomped on it; uncontrollable crying ensues for at least the next 20 minutes. The story gets worse when my wife gets home and informs me that this is one of my daughter’s favorite books [good job dad; not only have I hastily thrown away a book of my daughter’s, but I picked one that she plays with often and will probably remember to complain daily to my wife about – now I’m in the dog house with my wife as well].
So, in my scattered search of what to do, an idea begins to develop (totally the grace of God). Now that I'm in this fine predicament, I can actually teach a really good theology lesson, keep my daughter from incessantly complaining to my wife, and end up padding my stats for not being "Worst Father of the Year". Sweet!
I call my daughter in and have her sit down (she has calmed down a bit). I begin with “What did Daddy say would happen if you didn’t stop?”
Daughter – “You would throw away my book.”
Daddy – “Did you stop?”
Daughter– “No.”
Daddy – “What deserves to happen now?”
Daughter – “My book should get thrown in the trash.” – she begins to cry again…
Daddy – “Hold on… I’m not done… I want to tell you a story… This is a story about Jesus and His Father and what they did for us…” I continue to remind her about the gospel and how Jesus took our punishment for us because He loved us so much.
Then I go to the book shelf and pick out one of my books. Holding her book in one hand and my book in the other hand, I walk over to the trash can and begin to lower her book. I pause for effect, throw my book away instead, and give her book back.
She looks in surprise, smiles, and gives me a big hug. Then as she giggles, she runs over to the trash can and picks up my book and brings it back to me.
“Hold up darling… You can’t take that out. Daddy said he would throw one of your books away, but I put my book in the place of yours because I love you. The book has to stay in the trash…"
She smiles again in surprise to my resoluteness and gives me another hug. Maybe it sunk in a little.
Thinking about my insignificant sacrifice compared to God giving His Son… It's still sinking in for me.
PCCA Father - Wesley Bond
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