Let's Share in the Satisfaction of His Sacrifice

"If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2)

Advocate is a bad word to use because it makes it seem as if the Father wants to kill or hurt us if Jesus doesn't convince Him not to, that Jesus must plead on our behalf to keep the Father's wrath at bay. The word would be better translated as "helper" or "comforter" as it is the same words used by Jesus for the Holy Spirit in John chapters 14-16. We have an advocate WITH the Father as in the Father is our helper too. They both help us. They both comfort us.
   
"Jesus himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins." Atoning/propitiation could be translated as satisfying, satisfaction, content, contentment.
   
Of course God is unsatisfied to not have a relationship with us. Jesus's sacrifice opened to us the door of that relationship. God is satisfied when we enter that door because He wants to know us but these scriptures don't picture God aiming to please Himself. It is God aiming to please us so that if sin ever comes to our mind we can be completely secure in the fact that He has taken care of it for us. Sin was our problem that God fixed not God's problem because He has issues with anger.

"Jesus himself is the satisfying sacrifice for our sins." That means WE CAN be satisfied with nothing else but His sacrifice concerning our sins. His sacrifice satisfies us concerning "sin" to where we can need nothing else; not our performance, behavior, emotions; to make us confident that we know God without barriers, are fully reconciled to God, & fully cleansed of sin/failure.

John is saying Jesus's sacrifice IS enough to assure us beyond doubt that our sins are taken away & forgotten forever. His sacrifice IS enough to make us content, satisfied, & fulfilled in regards to knowing that our relationship with God is secure. And yes it satisfied God to do this for us.
   
How distant is this from the typical interpretations which say, "God the Father hates us (gets offended) so much when we sin but Jesus will keep Him off our backs if we tell Him what we've done wrong. Jesus stepped in & appeased God's wrath for us because God really wanted to kill us all." That is the message that words like atonement & advocate convey. That God was so against us He just had to keep Himself from going nuts on us by killing His Son.

Jesus revealed that the Spirit is our comforter. Here John reveals that Jesus is also our comforter with the Father because the Father is our comforter too. They comfort us by reminding us that Jesus's sacrifice for the world can completely satisfy us & make us content with God because our sins are no more. 1 John 4:10 says, "This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to give us contentment concerning our sins." That means no more worry or fear concerning sin EVER! It's true! It's true! I know it & I live it.

Saved: Cured of Sin & Made Whole

It has come to my attention that the Greek word for "saved" (as in "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved") can have other meanings. It is translated as "make well," "heal," or "make whole" in many places. In Mark 6:56 it is translated as cured.

To save means to:
    heal, cure, make well, restore to health
    make whole
    preserve, keep safe and sound
    rescue from danger or destruction, deliver

I went through all the scriptures where this Greek word appears and found the places where the synonyms of "save" make sense to see how impactful they can be. I have also paired some up with other scriptures so we can see how these wordings agree with truth found in other places.

• God did not send the Son into the world to find fault with the world but to make the world well through Him (John 3:17).
  • Jesus said, "I did not come to find fault with the world but to make the world well" (John 12:47).
  • God in Christ made relationship with Himself available to all by no longer counting people's sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19).
• The Son of Man has come to look for and to cure those who are dying (Luke 19:10).
  • The Son of Man has come to look for and to make whole those who are damaged (Luke 19:10).
• This is a statement that can be trusted and deserves complete acceptance: "Christ Jesus came into the world to cure sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).
• God our Savior desires all men to be cured, to be made whole, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
• Jesus is able to save and cure and make whole forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to act for their benefit (Hebrews 7:25).
• Jesus took God's wrath for sin on our behalf so now, through trust, we are made right with God by the blood of Jesus and cured of sin. We are made whole by His life (Romans 5:9-10).
• Jesus will cure His people, removing them from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
  • He has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
     
• Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be made whole (Romans 10:13).
• By the gospel you are made whole (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).
• We trust that we are cured through the favor of the Lord Jesus. God purified our hearts by trust (Acts 15:9,11).
• By God's loving kindness you have been made whole through trust (Ephesians 2:8).
   
• When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He made us whole, not because of righteous things we had done, but according to His mercy. He made us whole through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been made right with God by his favor, we might become heirs having the hope of knowing God forever (Titus 3:4-7).