Propitiation means the appeasing or satisfying of God’s wrath through a sacrifice. God is angry at sin in human beings, but because of His great love for us, God provided propitiation for our sins in substitutionary sacrifice. In the Old Testament, this was done through the sacrifice of animals in the place of the people, especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). But this only pointed forwards to a far greater atoning sacrifice. In the New Testament, we see Jesus become a propitiation in His death on the cross (1 John 4:10, Hebrews 2:17), bearing God’s wrath for the sins of the world so that, through faith, we might no longer have His wrath directed against us (1 John 2:2). (see Atonement)
See also
Atonement