Two Cups Part Two: While We Were Yet Sinners...

Note: This series is adapted from speaking notes, which only partially excuses the sometimes awkward prose.

The reality of hell as historically understood (which is to say the understanding of hell as unending eternal torment for all those who are outside of the salvation of Jesus Christ) has been much discussed within the church in recent days and not without considerable angst.  This is of course not shocking, as a more uncomfortable and devastating topic could not be proposed.  If the idea of a perfect and holy God punishing men with hell for eternity on account of their sins seems hard for you to fathom, you must surely admit that this is even more amazing: that God the Son would take all of that wrath, all of that hell for those who put their faith in Him.  What is more shocking: that a place like hell would exist in God’s creation, or that God incarnate would bear its fury for those who truly deserve it?

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Propitiation: Big Word, Bigger Meaning

This is the meaning of the word propitiation.  Propitiation means that Jesus Christ has satisfied the wrath of God against sinners.  It means that the cup did not pass, that in the perfect will of God he drank it for us.  It means that lost sinners like us can stand in the presence of God without the weight of condemnation.  It means that we can take a seat at His great heavenly feast and drink the cup of his blessing.

When Jesus Christ was taken outside the gates of the city to the scene of his crucifixion, the spotless lamb was being led to the altar.  Just like the priests of the Old Covenant would offer a sacrifice as a substitute to bear the wrath of God against the sins of the people, Jesus the greater Priest offered himself as a substitute for His people.  On the cross he drank the cup of God’s wrath. 

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is what propitiation means.  Jesus Christ has satisfied our blood-guilt, He has taken God’s holy wrath, He has drained our cup.

A House Divided Cannot Stand

Propitiation is at the very heart of the gospel, the good news of salvation.  It is a beautiful doctrine, and one that we do not think on enough. It makes sense of the Bible, is unifies what we see there.  Some have wondered about why in some parts of the Bible they seems to meet a God who seems more strict, more judging, more vengeful against sin; and in other parts he seems more loving, more merciful, more forgiving.

There is no conflict of course in God. He is unchanging in his ways. We see in the one set of passages the justice of God; we see what happens when we approach the one we have sinned against without a mediator and without propitiation. We see in those other passages that God is so merciful that he has provided a mediator, that God the Son takes all of that wrath so that we can experience again all of that love.

Some have heard this Biblical scheme of Christ being substituted for us, of his paying our penalty at the hands of the Father, and they have been very uncomfortable with it.  One man has remarked that it sounds a lot like “cosmic child abuse.”  What a grave misunderstanding that is.  Propitiation is not a scheme of God versus Jesus in a battle for souls.  It must always be remembered that it is not only the wrath of God that required this event, it was his love that motivated this sacrifice, as we see in John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son.

And Jesus Christ not only paid the penalty, he required it as much as God the Father did. In Psalm 2 we are advised to

Kiss the Son, 

   lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, 

   for his wrath is quickly kindled.

We worship one God, and all the members of the Holy Trinity were in perfect union on this day of propitiation.  The Spirit as well, was not far from Golgotha.  It was He who anointed Christ with power and bestowed the Messianic commission, and it is he who applies these salvation blessings to God’s people, making dead hearts alive to the grace of God in Christ.

Concluding Thoughts

So let's go back to the garden.  Let’s go back to Christ’s agony in Gethsemane.  Christ said My soul is overwhelmed with sorrows. What a statement.  Man of Sorrows, what a name.

This is not the Jesus of the movies, this is not the Jesus of the popular imagination, this is not the Jesus being peddled as the answer to your health and wealth concerns; this is theJesus of the Bible.   

This is the real Jesus.  This is Him preparing to be the substitute for sin's penalty.  This is Him preparing to drink the cup of God's wrath to the bitter dregs.

It is not always comfortable to talk about subjects like God's wrath, like propitiation- this cup that Christ drank on our behalf. We would rather focus on the more palatable aspects of our theology, such as the mercy, the grace, and the love of God.

The reason that we must talk about these more unpalatable topics, and that we must even love them and hold them dear, is that they teach us what those more palatable aspects of our salvation are all about.

What is God's mercy? What is His grace? What is his love?

It's Jesus Christ drinking the cup of God's wrath for sinners.

Remember, he did not sip, he did not simple taste it, he drained it. After he drank of it you could take it and shake it upside down and not a drop would come out. All of God's wrath against your sins is satisfied in the atonement provided by Jesus Christ.

The cross of Jesus Christ is your hope, it is the guarantee that your sins are forgiven and that you are safe in the Kingdom of God.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

   I will fear no evil, 

for you are with me; 

   your rod and your staff, 

   they comfort me.

  You prepare a table before me 

   in the presence of my enemies; 

you anoint my head with oil; 

   my cup overflows. 

 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

   all the days of my life, 

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD 

   forever.

If you have put faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, if you are born again by God's loving power, this is your song. This is your cup. The cup of God's blessing.

Look to the cross, look to the propitiation provided there and be assured of his grace.

Be assured that none will ever snatch you out of his hand.

This is all because of the two cups.

There are two cups.

Neither is the sort of cup that you can hold in your hand, but both are very real.

One of them is unspeakably glorious.

The other is unspeakably terrible.

One cup is yours by birth right and yours by merit.

And the other you have no right to drink.

But then something amazing happened.

While we were yet sinners…

Jesus Christ drank your cup so that you wouldn't have to.

In fact,

Jesus Christ drank your cup so that you could drink His.