Pastor’s Corner: “Heavenly Lawyer”
1 John 2:1 (NIV) – My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
The apostle John wrote: Revelation 12:10 (NLT) – “I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens…‘For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night’” – satan has only one aim: “To steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (Jn 10:10). He’ll steal your peace, kill your dreams, and destroy your future. And he has deputized a horde of demons to help him. He enlists people to peddle his poison. Friends dredge up your past. Churches proclaim all guilt and no grace. Some distribute it twenty-four hours a day. We can still hear the words: “You’re not good enough….you’re a failure…..you will never measure up…….you will never amount to anything………you are shameful!” We often feel isolated, alone and beat down.
So what’s the answer? Jesus! He’s “in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us” (Ro 8:34 TM). Let that sink in for a moment. In the presence of God, in defiance of satan, Jesus Christ rises to your defense. He takes on the role of Advocate (lawyer) & Priest. “And since we have a great priest over God’s house, let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience” (Heb 10:21-22 NCV). A clean conscience. A clean record. A clean heart. Free from accusation—free from condemnation. Not just from our past mistakes, but from our future ones. “Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for [our] sins with his blood” (Heb 7:25 TLB).
So don’t listen to your accuser—trust your Advocate! We live defeated lives because we spend our time focusing and listening to the wrong voices and the wrong words and we forget who and where Christ is and who we are in Christ.
I want you to picture a throne room with the devil standing up there, before God, reading a list of charges against you. He’s got a whole pile of lists and he goes through line by line, the Devil throwing you an accusing glance and sneers, “Look at this, God, this person doesn’t even deserve to stand before you. Just look at all the things he’s done; the thoughts he’s had, the people he has hurt. And he has the nerve to call himself a follower of Jesus. Come on, this wretch deserves to die. He says he’s a Christian but his life stinks. He claims to know your Son, but you’d never be able to tell from the way he acts.”
Then, picture Jesus stepping forward as your Advocate. He speaks confidently and with authority, and He says, “Uh-uh, no! This person is mine. And none of these accusations are a surprise to me – none of these allegations catch me off-guard. I know them all because I died for every single sin he ever committed.” Now that would be enough, but Christ adds an amazing announcement, when He says: “What’s more, I’ve not only erased his debt, but I want you, Father, I want you to credit to his account all of my righteousness.” Is that amazing or what? Jesus, our advocate, would be generous enough in canceling the debt of our sin on the cross. But He goes further. He not only paid the penalty and cleared sin’s slate, but He gave you and me right standing. He gave us His goodness. When the Father looks at you, He sees all the good things His Son has ever done. Such a debt, we can never repay.
Jesus stands at our side, having paid our spiritual debt for all our sins, and then remains there beside us, claiming us as His own, defending us, sympathizing with our struggles, lifting us up when we are weak. The word παράκλητος – paraklētos comes from a compound word meaning “called to one’s aid” (Strong’s Bible Dictionary). Whether we are in need of a lawyer or an encourager, Christ is called to our aid. Your aid. My aid. What a thought! There is no other God like this!
YOU ARE NO LONGER ALONE……YOU ARE NO LONGER CONDEMNED……YOU ARE BLESSED AND YOU ARE MADE NEW! No longer do those old words of the accuser carry any authority or power over you. Only the words of God. Isaiah 43:1-4 – I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. 4 Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton