If we have any claim to love, it originates with God, who first loved us. This love is most fully demonstrated in the sending of His Son as the “propitiation for our sins,” dying on the cross for us. For in the cross we see the intersection of God’s love demonstrated and God’s justice satisfied. Our sin called for death, but God’s love answered the call, sending Jesus to die in our place. That God sent Jesus shows His love. That He offered Jesus as the “propitiation for our sins” shows His righteousness. As the apostle Paul wrote of Christ, “whom God set forth as a propitiation… to demonstrate His righteousness” (Rom. 3:25).
Propitiation is about covering and satisfaction. Christ’s sacrifice both covers our sin and satisfies the proper demands of a righteous God for judgment on sin. God’s righteousness required that He judge sin. God’s love moved Him to send His Son to pay the price for our sin.