ICS Daily Devotions
Jesus Is Our Advocate
1 John 2:1-2 (NKJV) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Picture a courtroom where God is the judge and the prosecutor is the devil, who is constantly bringing charges against us because of the weakness of our flesh, but praise be to God that He has engaged the best lawyer to defend us when the devil accuses us day and night. Jesus is our advocate in heaven!
God has made a twofold provision to restore sinning Christians by appointing Jesus as our advocate to plead our case, and He is most certainly able to secure our pardon. Second, God has provided Jesus as the propitiation for our sins so that those who call upon His name will be saved.
An advocate is someone who is summoned to one’s aid, someone who pleads another’s cause before a judge. Christ in His exaltation at God’s right hand, is pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins, so we can take comfort that we have the best advocate, or legal counsel in heaven whenever the devil attempts to bring something against us before God. All Jesus needs to do is to show His nail-pierced hands and side whenever the devil demands that we get what we deserve for the wrongs we did. Jesus will also remind the Father that it has been forgiven and forgotten, so the devil has no case against us. Therefore, we need to conclude that nobody is able to bring a cause against us if it is God who has justified us.
Romans 8:31 (NKJV) What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
James 5:15b (NKJV) And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Scripture assures us that we will be forgiven if we have sinned, and God will forgive us our sins and remember our lawless deeds no more. Therefore, we need to remind ourselves that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant established by His blood. We have the best advocate in heaven, and God is our covenant partner who bound Himself through the blood of the new covenant to see us through any crisis that we may face.
Sermon Series: Job & I (Part 2)
