Scripture: Hebrews 7 v 25 - 26: "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."What is an Intercessor? An Intercessor is one who takes the place of another. He takes on the burdens of others that they may be free. He takes on the punishment, even death, that others may live, and he must do this without any guilt being attached to himself.
This is what Jesus Christ did for us. And now He sits at the Father's right hand, interceding for us by name. Those who are born again through His sacrificial death, identify with that death because the penalty for sin is death, eternal separation from God is the ultimate death. Once death is declared upon you, it will come in whatever form your enemy decides for you.
Jesus our Intercessor stands in the gap that sin made between God and man. He bridges that gap to make a way for us to be reunited with our Father. There is no other way, no other name, religion, god, idol, or person, who is acceptable to the Father. He sent Jesus from Heaven to bridge that gap, and without that bridge we are forever lost.
Today, back in the day Jesus lived here, was the day He was arrested after the Last Supper, wherein He celebrated Passover and instituted Communion with those who follow Him. Tomorrow would be the day He made the ultimate intercession for us, taking the place of the whole human race, dying for our sins, crucifying sin by nailing it to His Cross. Our gratitude should know no bounds.
All religions are made by man in an effort to appease and placate an angry God. They are futile in whatever form they take as none of them can bridge the gap that Jesus did through His intercession for us when He took our sins and death penalty on Himself. It was the single most unselfish and love-filled act ever done for mankind. Therefore, Christianity is not a religion of rules, rites and rituals, but a way of Life contrary to the world.
Jesus hated the Pharisees for their arrogance, religiosity, piety, judgment and criticisms of any lesser mortal. He challenged them with miracles, and healings even on the Sabbath. He told them they were whitewashed sepulchres full of dead men's bones. And that's what religions are today. The worship of long-dead men who cannot hear nor answer, or of false gods who saved no one.
Jesus is not only our Intercessor, He is also our Advocate before God. 1 John 2 v 1 - 3: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
John refers to us as little children because in the grand scheme of God's universe we are but babes. If we keep His commandments, its because we know Him. If we sin, then Jesus is our Advocate.
Satan, his name means accuser of the brethren, us, continually approaches God to accuse us of every error we make. He wants God to reject us, have another Flood, wipe out humanity. He wants God to be disgusted with us and keeps the pressure on high.
If our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, our Advocate hears the accusations and says, I am guilty. I, Jesus took that sin on Myself and it killed Me. God the Father says, the full penalty for that sin has been paid, case dismissed.
Back on planet Earth the Holy Spirit tweaks the conscience of the one under discussion in Heaven, to clean up his or her situation, repent, restore, sort out hurt feelings, forgive. Or else. If this is a persistent sin there comes a day when the Holy Spirit releases the wayward soul to its own devices.
This is scary because if the Advocate does not choose to keep on taking this particular sin then Satan can invade that life. 1 Corinthians 5 v 4 - 5: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
This was how Paul dealt with a man who was guilty of fornication. In another instance it was for blasphemy. We are given a good space of time to get our lives right but if we make a bad choice, it could cause us discomfort.
Jesus Christ created this Earth, the planets, stars, mountains, rivers, animals and man. He is the Alpha and Omega, the sum of all things. He became a man, throwing off His kingdom from Heaven, to save mankind from death and Hell. He is our great Intercessor living to plead our case before the Father, whenever we fall into disobedience.
Just don't take it for granted as a license to keep on sinning. That "Super Grace" being preached so eloquently and fashionably by some is not Biblical. Jesus made that clear in Revelation 3 v 4 - 5:
"Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
In verse 5 if we do not overcome things which defile us, we will not be counted worthy, and Jesus will delete our names from the Book of Life. We have choices to make, and friendship with the worldly people and their ways causes us to be at enmity with God. Our interaction with the world is to be a witness for Jesus to them, to pray for their salvation. We cannot serve God and Mammon.
We ignore Him at our peril. We owe everything to Him, our lives, wealth, careers, possessions, health, vacations, children, every luxury and all abundance. But most of all we owe Him our salvation, and should be willing to do our part to help others. Do not bury the opportunities to share your faith with the lost souls around you. We are only here to choose whether we follow Jesus Christ or reject Him, and to win others to His kingdom.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we love our great Intercessor, Jesus, and all that He has done for us. We owe our lives to Him, and are grateful that He intercedes for us before You, day and night. We have many weaknesses and He adds His strength to them so that our lack enables us to overcome. We have life, joy, love, peace, truth, harmony, and faith because He gave everything and took nothing. Let us show Him our gratitude with selfless love and care for others. In Jesus' name. Amen.