Dane Ortlund recently came out with a book called Gentle and Lowly that I have been slowly working through in my private reading time. It has been a help to meditate on the truths about the heart of Christ and how He really feels about me. This is especially important when I have messed up. My focus lately has been on this concept of Christ being our advocate and how that relates to my relationship with God. Probably one of the most central texts on Christ as our advocate is 1 John 2:1-2:
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: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
As I was spending some time in prayer this morning, I spent that time worshipping God and meditating on Jesus being my advocate. Here are some of the thoughts that came to my heart as I spent time meditating on Jesus:
An Advocate is Only Needed When You have Messed Up or been Accused of Wrong-doing.
I use that word messed up but we all know exactly what that is: sin. If you step into a situation where you have to defend yourself in a court of law, most likely it is because you did something wrong. A lawyer or public defender is going to take on your case and try to either prove you innocent or get you off with a lesser punishment that you deserve, but either way you are only there because you have been accused of wrong doing.
One of the names for Satan is the accuser of the brethren Rev 12:10. Satan would love nothing more than to take us down and to throw it in the face of God. But at that moment, Jesus makes His case for us and defends us. Let's face it, when Satan accuses us before God we are most likely truly guilty from a human standpoint. Thank God even then I have someone on my side fighting for me. And here's the catcher, Jesus knows exactly what we have done and He still fights on my side. I believe it was AW Tozer who once said:
No Talebearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick, no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unexpected weakness in our character can come to light to turn God away from us since He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us.
Our Advocate Paid the Price
When a person cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, the court system will assign them one who usually works pro bono, for free. Lawyer fees can be quite expensive at times and when it comes to my debt that I owe to God; I could never pay the fee I owe. 1 John 2:2 say that Christ the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means to satisfy. Jesus Christ by His death on the cross satisfied the debt that we owed. He paid a debt I could never pay and satisfied the wrath of God against me.
When I do mess up, I don't fear the wrath of God. Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus... Should that excuse my sin? Paul says, "God forbid" Romans 6:1, but in Christ I do not face condemnation. God will chasten me to correct me, but I will never face condemnation because Jesus paid the debt for me.
Our Advocate can't Fail
Jesus cannot fail in the task that is set before Him. In a normal court case, you don't know the outcome until the jury votes and the sentence is handed out. We do not sit back in fear worrying if Satan or Jesus is going to win out before the judgment seat of God's throne. Jesus has already won the victory and I can be secure in that. Jesus being god cannot fail. Solomon looking back over the years at the dedication of the temple made the following declaration (1 Kings 8:56):
Blessed by the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
Today, I praise God that I have an Advocate with the Father.