Confession and Declaration 8
Romans 3:25 Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment.
We overcome the accuser of the brothers through the Blood of Jesus. Yet many of us do not understand the full implications and ramifications of the great gift Jesus has given unto us. Often this simply is the result of ignorance on our part, and poor teaching on the part of us pastor’s. The word “propitiation” is a case in point. What is propitiation?
The word was used concretely to refer to the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Why is this significant? Once a year the High Priest would come before God to make atonement for the sins of Israel through sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice on the Mercy Seat 7 times. Also the Mercy Seat was to be the place where God promised that He would meet with whomever was the High Priest: Exodus 30:6 You shall put the altar [of incense] in front and outside of the veil that screens the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony (the Law, the tables of stone), where I will meet with you. Thus we can draw the conclusion that through Jesus’ Blood we are brought near to the Throne of God’s mercy in order to meet with God. But there’s more. Propitiation in English simply means to ease the anger or disturbance of; changing resentment, anger or bitterness to good will; ending an estrangement and settling the differences. Thus Jesus’ Blood accomplishes all of these things and more.
Another word used to describe propitiation is expiate. Expiate implies extinguishing the guilt incurred. Scripture records: “Disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to expiate. That ominous biblical prophecy (Isaiah 47:11, RSV) shows that expiate was once involved in confronting the forces of evil as well as in assuaging guilt. The word derives from expiare, Latin for to atone for, a root that in turn traces to the Latin term for “pious.” Expiate originally referred to warding off evil by using sacred rites or to using sacred rites to cleanse or purify something. So we can also conclude that the Blood confronts the forces of evil, and renders us pious.
The Greek derivative for “propitiation” means to make reconciliation for. Another Greek word, hilasmos, is used for Christ as our propitiation in 1 John 2:2; 4:10; and in the Septuagint (Leviticus 25:9; Numbers 5:8; Amos 8:14). The thought in the OT sacrifices and in the NT fulfillment, is that Christ completely satisfied the just demands of the Holy Father for judgment on sin, by his death at Calvary. Did you catch that last part? Christ completely satisfied the just demands of the Holy Father for judgment on sin, by his death at Calvary. Christ completely satisfied! Let that sink in when you doubt God’s willingness to forgive. When you believe that you hadn’t said, “I’m sorry enough. When the enemy helps you to recall the seemingly unforgivable things you have done. Jesus completely satisfied the Father’s demands.
Jesus’ Blood is the Mercy Seat for overcoming the accuser of the brothers. Do you get that? Ready to begin declaring and making confession?
Declaration 8: Merciful Father I come before Your Throne of Mercy by the Precious Blood of Your Son. What a great and precious gift You have bestowed upon me. How can I thank you enough? Your Love and Mercy has no bounds. You are worthy of all my praises. You are worthy to receive every breath I breathe as a token of thanks and praise to You. Thank You my Jesus that You have become for me the Mercy Seat of God. I now can enter boldly the Father’s Throne Room not because of my performance but because of Your Great Gift and Sacrifice. I Praise You that through Your Precious Blood you have eased the Holy and Righteous Anger of the Father. You have reconciled us back together. I no longer have to see the Father as punishing me or angry with me – because now I come standing on You – my Mercy Seat. You have extinguished my guilt – past, present and future. You have warded off the evil one, and replaced my guilt with your piety – making me pious. Hallelujah! You have purified me doing it perfectly and completely! I love You Jesus for loving me even when I was still Your enemy. Thank you again and again. And for a thousand life times I will thank You again and again!
