"The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" (Ezek. 18:20).

It is apparent that the basis of judgment is justice. God’s rule is based on his righteous character (Psa. 89:14), therefore the wicked and the righteous shall be rewarded according to their works.

But there is a factor involved that maybe we ought to consider. God is a God of justice, but he is also a God of love. When man was created, he was created as an expression of the great love of God. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen 1:26-28).

Paul quotes the philosophers of his day, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:28).

All humans in the sense of being the creation of God are his children, and God has ever been a loving and attentive father. As David contemplates the place of humanity in the creation of God, he asks, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas" (Psa. 8:4-8).

But the love of God is not just for humanity, but each individual. Jesus said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father: but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matt. 10:29-31). God knows every one of us and is watchful for our care.

The ultimate expression of God’s love is in the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus’ death on the cross is not only the proof of his love, but the measure of it as well. God, loving us, sent his son to die in our stead, to pay the price for our sin.

Again, we know that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). We have attempted to explain that this means that man deserves the punishment of death for his wrongs. And all sin (Rom. 3:23), therefore all are subject to the penalty of sin. We have it coming to us. But God loves us. He does not want us to die for the things that he has done. He stands ready to forgive us, to let us off without paying the penalty.

That creates a problem. If God forgives us without meting out justice, how is justice served? "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen 18:25). God wants none to perish. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:3-4). But as the righteous judge, he must satisfy justice. We must die.

God is wiser than us, so he is able to satisfy the dilemma of our sin. He reveals to us that he has sent Jesus to die in our place as a propitiation. "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:23-26).

All have sinned and deserve the punishment of death. But Jesus was set forth by God to be a propitiation. This word seems to be central in understanding the role of Jesus in the expression of God’s love. God’s judicious wrath is to be visited on the sinner. But Jesus is the propitiation of our sins. Thayer says of this word, used in Romans 3:25: "relating to an appeasing or expiating, having placating or expiating force, expiatory; a means of appeasing or expiating, a propitiation. a) used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated); hence, the lid of expiation, the propitiatory (Thayer). Vincent says about this word and one related to it in 1 John 2:2, "hilaskomai, to appease, to conciliate to oneself,’ which occurs Luke 18:13; Heb 2:17. The noun means originally ‘an appeasing or propitiating,’ and passes, through Alexandrine usage, into the sense of "the means of appeasing," as here."(Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament).

Jesus is the propitiation in the shedding of his blood, in his death upon the cross.

The key to all of this is what Paul says in verse 26. God set forth Jesus to be a propitiation, "

For the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). If God is a righteous judge, then the sinner must die. But God has provided Jesus to appease himself in justice.

How could God let us go scot-free when we deserve punishment. He provides one to die in our place. Jesus, though he was sinless and pure, died for our sins, that God might retain his claim to righteousness and, at the same time forgive us who have sinned.

We know the injustice of one who has murdered or stolen walking free as though he was not guilty. We have felt that before. If there is one who would set such a person free, how can he justify himself? Let him provide an adequate substitute. Let him provide something of his own to sacrifice to justice. This God in his love did in sending Jesus, the innocent one, to the cross. "But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved)" (Eph. 2:4-5). "Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

This notion of God sending a substitute to die in our place is found throughout the Scriptures. For instance, Romans 6:7 tells us, "For he that hath died is justified from sin." But justification is not something that we wait for till after death. It is ours now (1 Cor. 6:11). How can this be if we must die to be justified. Paul says, "Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:3-4). We participate with Jesus in his death when we are baptized, so that his death becomes our death. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again" (2 Cor 5:14-15). "One died for all, therefore all died." His death is mine, I have died, though it was not me, but him. I died with and through him.

Someone quibbles, "If Jesus died in the place of all, why are not all saved?" The simple answer given in the Scriptures is that there are conditions that must be met. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16). "And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). "Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (Rom. 6:3). Salvation is available to all (Titus 2:11), but not all are saved, because they do not do what they are supposed to do.

God sent his son to the cross to die in my place. His intent was to express his great love for me and to make it possible for me to be forgiven. Jesus is the propitiation of the wrath of God, the answer to both love and justice.