Journey of Worship

Posts Tagged ‘forgiveness’

Consider the concept of an advocate. How many of us really understand that concept? While advocates still exist in our society today, most people don’t think they will ever need an advocate. An advocate is someone who supports or speaks in favor of something. The advocate concept comes from the legal world. Attorneys were to speak in favor of their client’s case.

We see the advocate role still working today. In hospitals, there will be people serving as patient advocates when a family member is not available. For children in abusive and neglectful situations, the welfare and DFS systems play the role of advocate.

But dig a little deeper and discover that the meaning of an advocate is much richer. An advocate is also someone who acts or intercedes on behalf of another. We have a hard time accepting this truth, but as humans we are in desperate need of an advocate when it comes to having a relationship with God. We cannot speak for ourselves before God because our lives are marred by sin from the moment we are conceived. Without an advocate, we can never hope to enter into God’s presence, gain forgiveness of sins, or know the power of God at work in our lives.

God knew this and gave the role of advocate to Jesus Christ. As our advocate, Jesus throws open the doorway to heaven. He makes it possible for us to enter boldly into God’s presence as we place our trust fully in Him. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 10:19-20).

As our advocate, Jesus is constantly before God on our behalf interceding for our sins. We will continue to struggle with sin until the every end, yet Jesus is before God on our behalf as we confess and seek forgiveness. Without the blood of Christ interceding for us, we would not have any hope of forgiveness and cleansing. 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 (1 John 2:1). Christ does what we cannot as our advocate.

Jesus is uniquely suited to fulfill the role of advocate before God because He has conquered sin and death. All power is given to Him over all things. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else-not only in this world but also in the world to come (Ephesians 1:21). There is no one who can take that power away and no one who can usurp that power. As we trust Jesus as our advocate, we can have confidence that He has the ability and power to do it.

If we grab on to the reality and depth of Christ as our advocate, it could revolutionize our perspective and understanding. To realize that we have, interceding on our behalf, He who has conquered the chains of death and sin is huge. Take some time today to give thanks to God that He gave His Son as our advocate and that we can rest secure in that. Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend (Job 16:19-20a).

Thank Jesus today for being your advocate before our Holy God and go boldly into His presence through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:11-14 (NIV):

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory.

Came across this passage last week. When you stop to think about what it says, it’s pretty significant. As we live on this world and walk in this life, we need to remember what God has done for us, who we are in Christ, and why that is.

As we place our hope in Christ, it is for God’s glory. As we trust in the forgiveness and completeness of Christ, it is for His glory. As we allow our life to be fully conformed and in the hands of God, it is for His glory. Life isn’t about us, yet God allows us to be a part of the inheritance to come beacause He loves us so much.

And no matter what the future holds, our future is secure and is not in jeopardy. Just as you make a deposit on a house or a custom order or a car to secure it, our future place in God’s Kingdom is secure by God’s Son – Jesus Christ. And it’s still for His glory.

So rest secure because we are God’s and live for His glory.

When someone is in their final days, those who are close to the person often lean and listen hard to their final words. As Jesus hung on the cross, the Scriptures record Him saying seven final phrases that those who were gathered near Him listened to and recorded. What do they mean for us today, and why should we still listen to them?

We began a series this week called “Final Words” that will look at those seven phrases over the next four weeks leading up to Easter. Read the rest of this entry »