Jesus, You are my Defender;
My destiny with You is secured,
through Your sacrifice for me!
Focus of the Month: Jesus Messiah
Will the defendant please rise? That’s right. That’s me, the defendant. When I think of standing up to make a defense for my life’s actions, words, discretions, secrets, lies, or charges against me – I shudder. After all, I cannot deny them; I own them.
But, Jesus…
“That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15, NLT)
Looking in the Old Testament (the Old Covenant) at the Names of God we see Him as our provider, our healer, our all in all. He is always with us. When Jesus was sent to earth to become flesh, God provided a New Covenant! God gave us our great Defender. By sending Christ to live among us, to take our sin upon himself- He now stands in our defense. We have a mediator with us before God. Jesus represents those of us who have placed our trust in Him before God’s throne of grace. He mediates for us, just like a defense attorney works for his client. There is nothing we can do on our own that would redeem us in God’s sight.
Fully understand – no sacrifice we offer, no apology, no good deed (penance) can offer resolution to God – it is ONLY through Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven. The Apostle Paul confirms this in his letter to the church in Corinth: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NLT)
Because of the undeniable sacrifice Jesus made for us, we must also remember that HE alone is our Advocate. Jesus is the only human who was given this power. We must be careful not to put ANY others, such as saints who have died, angels, Mary, apostles, priests or any who we may believe to be holy in this precious place. God himself gave this place to Jesus, His son. Although we can pray for one another and go before God with requests; the mediating of our sins and making us right with God is something only Jesus can do.
Let’s look at the following scriptures so that we can absorb this truth.
Romans 8:34
“Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
1 Timothy 2:5
“There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.”
1 John 2:1
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”
Father, we thank you for our great Defender, Jesus Christ!
Holding Fast to Hope,
Jen
Scripture References: John 14:6; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 3:4; Romans 3:10, Romans 6:23; Romans 3:20; Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10
