Leadership Thought : An Important Theological Term You Might Not Know

Dear Friends,

One of my favorite pastors and Bible commentators is Jon Courson who has written a set of Old and New Testament commentaries that I find of great use when seeking to illustrate difficult biblical truth.

One such truth is the term propitiation; a word John, the apostle of love, uses to describe what Jesus did for us on the cross. 

In 1 John 2:1-2, John, writes: “My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father- Jesus Christ, the righteous One. He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for those of the whole world."

In bringing to light the meaning of the theological word propitiation, he shares a wonderful illustration to reveal its significance.

Jon writes. “The tactic of our defense attorney is not to manipulate the evidence for us or to make excuses for our Sin. No, our advocate bases his entire case upon the fact that He is the propitiation for our sins. That is, He took upon himself, the righteous indignation of the Father that should have been hurled on us.  

“Think of it this way. While driving 80 miles an hour through downtown Medford, Oregon, I’m pulled over by an officer of the law and taken into a courtroom. But although I walk in with knees knocking and face perspiring, I am greatly relieved to discover that the presiding judge is my dad.

That is why there is a smile on my face even after the evidence against me is presented. After all, the judge is my dad, and he knows boys will be boys.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I hear his voice thunder, “Guilty. The fine is $5000 or five years in jail.”

“How can this be?” I cry. “You’re my dad.”

“Sir,” he answers, “in this courtroom I am your judge. And justice must be done.”

So, I opened my wallet to pay the fine, but all I found was a crumbled dollar bill and some change. And just as a bailiff is about to slap cuffs on my wrist and haul me to jail, the judge stands up, deliberately takes off his robe, and leaves the bench to stand beside me and to pay my fine.

Thus, justice is served because the price for my sin of speeding was paid – not by me, but by my father who paid a debt. I was completely unable to pay.

And that is exactly what happened when Jesus Christ became the propitiation, the payment for my sin.

And now you know the meaning of this significant theological word. God in his infinite love for you chose to appease and satisfy His righteous anger against sin through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. In doing so, He turns  away His divine wrath and makes reconciliation possible by satisfying His justice while still allowing Him to be just and merciful. Aren’t you glad He did?

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Faith and Fear, The Tale of Two Wolves

Dear Friends,

Recently I visited a friend who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. The news was a shock for her, and she was concerned about how she would address the fear that comes when one faces a life-threatening situation.

As we talked, I thought of a simple story I heard several years ago.

It’s an old Cherokee tale of two wolves. One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, “My son, “There is a battle going on inside us between two wolves. One wolf is faith, and the other wolf is fear.”

The grandchild thought about his words for a moment and asked, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

In this simple but profound little story, there is a wonderful lesson. Each of us has choices in life, and the choices we make will make us. They will shape our experience, for good or for bad.

One can face life’s challenges with faith or fear, and the choice is left to us. The wolves of fear and faith are constantly fighting to control our mind and our thoughts and the one that prevails will be the one which we feed. Feed fear and you will be fearful. Choose faith and you will be hopeful.

Faith and fear cannot exist together. Faith is described in Hebrews 11:1 one as “Being certain of what we do not see.” It is an absolute belief that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of our lives, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that fact. On the other hand, fear, simply stated, is unbelief or weak belief. As the “wolf” of unbelief gains the upper hand in our thoughts, fear takes hold of our emotions. But if we feed the wolf of faith, we find that hope and encouragement begin controlling our life.

 We need to understand that faith is not something that we can produce ourselves for faith is a gift produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit. The Christian’s faith is revealed in a confident assurance that the God who loves us, who knows our fears, and who cares about our deepest needs, will continue to provide and protect as we face whatever situation might confront us.

Our faith will continue to grow as we feed the ‘wolf of faith’ and learn of God’s many faith-filled promises as seen in the Bible. The more we learn about God’s faithfulness in trials (Read all of Hebrews 11), the more we will see Him working in our lives and the stronger our faith will become.

My closing comment to the person I was visiting was  to stay in God’s word and memorize it- “hide it in your heart”- and after returning home I sent her the following 10 verses to help feed her “wolf of faith.”

Hebrews 11:1-40, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 23:4, 2 Timothy 1:7, Isaiah 41:10, I Peter 5:7, Psalm 91:1-10, Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:34-35, Psalm 56:3.

I hope that any of you who might be fighting the faith versus fear battle will cling to these verses and find the hope and victory that God promises you.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom