In March of 2013, a heavy snowstorm swept through northern Japan.  A 53-year-old man and his 9-year-old daughter, Mikio and Natsune Okada, were traveling in their truck on a Saturday afternoon during the storm in Yubetsu, a small town on the eastern coast of northern Japan.  Okada’s truck became stuck in the snow.  He was able to make a call to inform a relative that they were stranded.  Knowing they could freeze to death in their vehicle, Okada and his daughter left their truck to walk the rest of the way to their destination.

About 1,000 feet from their truck, the pair took cover from the heavy winds and below-freezing temperatures.  Okada wrapped his coat around his daughter, and they crouched against the outer wall of a warehouse.  Okada used his own body as a shield of protection for his daughter from the severe storm.

It wasn’t until 7 am the next morning that a rescue team found the missing pair.  They found the little girl wrapped in her father’s arms.  She was alive.  But her loving father had died; he froze to death as he shielded her from the fury of the storm. *

The Bible teaches us that because of our sins, we are facing a severe storm.  The storm is the wrath of a holy and just God against sin (Romans 1:18).  God our Creator has blessed us in every way, but our sins have separated us from Him.  Even though we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), God still desires to save us.  How can a holy and just God save sinful man?

Because of His great love, God gave His one and only Son to be our Shield.  The sinless Son of God took the punishment for our sins on the cross.  He died for us so that we can live together with Him, forever.  A term that is used in Scripture to describe what Jesus did for us is “propitiation.”  “To propitiate” means “to satisfy the wrath of God against sin,” “to turn away God's wrath,” or “to offer a sacrifice that appeases God's just judgment and righteous anger against us and our sin.”

“And He Himself [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” – 1 John 2:2 NKJV

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” – Romans 5:8-9 NASB

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Jesus is the saving Shield to those who will take refuge in Him.  Jesus is the propitiation for our sin.  The cross of Christ reveals the wrath of God against sin but also His great love for sinners.  “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” – 1 John 4:10 ESV

-- David A. Sargent