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1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
The whole world
It is important to remember that in Christ my sins are forgiven. He died for me. He died to reconcile me with the Father. He died to deliver me from condemnation. He died to gather me into the life of God’s reign. The love of God is poured out on me. The Spirit of God is given to me. The life of the age is given to me. He died for me.
But he also died for the whole world. For the sins that are bigger than my sins. For the sins that are bigger than any one man or woman. The death camps are not just the sin of Hitler or Himmler. The pouring of carbon into the atmosphere is not just the fault of ExxonMobil. The wrecking of small town economies is not just the fault of Walmart. We are enmeshed in a world where it is impossible to be free of sin’s taint. It is our government that tortured. It is our society that discriminates. I do not know where my shoes were made and whether the workers work in unsafe buildings amid unsafe air for unsafe wages. It is not just me for whom Christ died; it is us. All of us. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”