The Whole World “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not
for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John
2:2).- 1 John 2:2 In today’s passage, John expands on the idea
of Christ being our Advocate as explained in 1 John 2:1. In
verse 2, we see that Jesus is the “propitiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
The idea of propitiation is central to the atonement. We learned
yesterday that God is a just and holy God and therefore must
punish sin. But God also loves His people and desires to be in
relationship with them. In order that God’s love and justice
might both be satisfied, the wrath of God against our sin must
be placated; this happened in the atonement. On the cross, the
sins of God’s people were imputed to Jesus and He bore the full
wrath of God that is due them. This wrath having been satisfied,
God can now be favorable, or propitious, to His people. His love
provided a way for His wrath to be satisfied so that we might be
reckoned as r