Scripture: 1 John 2 v 1-2:
"....and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world."
While we are alive on Earth, yet not part of the Antichrist world system, having been born again into citizenship of Heaven, we nevertheless get into scrapes or fall into error. We are still overcoming the problems and their consequences that we had as sinners.
Jesus is the propitiation, the substitute, for the sins of the whole world. During the Old Testament times, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest of Israel sent a goat or a lamb into the wilderness bearing the sins of the Jews for one year. It was called the scapegoat. Jesus was the scapegoat for every sinner who will ever be born. He was crucified outside the city like the goat sent into the wilderness.
When we err or fall into sin, we need an advocate. Someone to take our place before the Judge and bear our problems for us. Our Advocate is Jesus Christ. In our courts the advocate we pay pleads our case as if he was the guilty party.
If we sin Jesus intercedes for us before God the Father. Our Accuser (Satan) blames us for many true and false things. He comes before the Throne of God with his list of our faults. The Father looks to Advocate Jesus to find out if the accused has his/her name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The name, Satan, means Accuser of the Brethren. That's what he does continually. He wants us to feel guilty.
If our name is there in the Book of Life, Jesus says 'I am guilty of this sin, I took it on while I was on the Cross!'. The Father says 'I forgave You every sin. Your Blood covered them all!' To Satan God says 'Case dismissed!' To the one who sinned the Holy Spirit brings him to his knees to say 'Sorry, Father, I will never do that again. Thank You Jesus for bearing my sin.'
If a person's name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life, there is no relief of pressure or stress. He has to pay the price. The world system is rigid and unyielding and on every level it is meted out. Spiritual, mental, emotional, financial - your master, the Accuser, Satan enjoys seeing you suffer.
The only way out is to beat the system by dying to selfishness, rebellion, lust, fraud, corruption, lies, jealousy, hatred, fighting and greed. When you make Jesus Lord of your life, you will meet your Advocate and wonder how you ever lived in such horrible slavery. Jesus liberates your soul and sets you free of wrong thinking and desires and removes all pressure as you follow His ways. He takes away your guilt.
Prayer: Father God forgive me, I have sinned and hurt Jesus Your Son. I forgive those who have hurt me. Cleanse my heart, mind, mouth and life of all evil and sin, with the shed Blood of Jesus. I appreciate Jesus being my Advocate. Amen.
