Our Risen Lord; Our Intercessor

Chuckle: "I once got a post card in the mail and written in big letters across the front of the card was the word 'Personal.' Is that optimism or what?"

Quote: "The world is charged with the grandeur of God." --Gerard Manley Hopkins

"My dear children (Christians), I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John. 2:1-2 NIV).

Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection enabled Him to be our intercessor before His Father, the Righteous Judge. "For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear before God as our Advocate (intercessor)" (Hebrews 9:24 NLT). Here Christ is described as a mediator who acts on our behalf. Further, the Bible says that Christ has offered Himself and continues to offer his sacrificial death as an atonement for the sins of those who accept Him.

"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for us" (Hebrews 7:25 NIV). It is by his victorious resurrection that His ministry of intercession is possible. He is able to save us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, the practice of sin, and eventually even the very presence of sin, because he lives and intercedes for us before the Father.

Many people are plagued with guilt and shame because of their past sins and feel they have committed sins too terrible to be forgiven and deserve to be condemned. To them, John offers powerful words of assurance. When you feel this way, don't give up hope -- the best defense attorney in the universe is pleading your case before the Father. He is your advocate, your defender, and intercessor, and because of his death, burial, and miraculous resurrection, he has already won the case.

Jesus can stand before God as our mediator because his death satisfied once and for all the wrath of God against sin. In him we are forgiven and purified no matter the seriousness of our sin. There is no sin beyond the power of His forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9 NIV). There is no sin for which Jesus did not pay the penalty, and His forgiveness covers them all. Let every believer give him PRAISE!

Love, Jerry & Dotse