Tag: Jesus

Eternal Intercession

but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:24-25

Jesus is alive. He is at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us. While the enemy hurls accusation after accusation at us, Jesus declares what is true about us. Paul said it to the Romans this way:

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Romans 8:32-34

Have you ever had a friend tell you that they are praying for you? And not just in the casual way. But you know this friend is truly interceding for you night and day. It is humbling. Praying is one of the most loving acts that we can do for one another.

What these passages of scripture are saying is even better than that! Jesus Himself is interceding for us. He is advocating for us before the Father. He is representing us to the Father. He is our eternal high priest that goes into the Most Holy Place. He is our sacrificial offering, our bread of presence, our light from the lamp stands. He is our scapegoat and our spotless lamb.

This is why Paul can declare with confidence:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31, 37-39

A Gospel of Prepositions

The gospel is all about prepositions not just propositions. Notice how Paul says it in Galatians 3:26-27, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 

Not only is Christ in us through the Holy Spirit, but we are in Christ through faith. As followers of Jesus we were baptized into Christ and invited to be baptized in or with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). This is the command not only to receive the Spirit (John 20:22) but also to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

So not only does He reside on the inside making us Temples of the Holy Spirit, but we are also clothed with Christ on the outside. We no longer wear the blemished rags of our past sin but wear white robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10) and celebratory garments of praise (Isaiah 61:3).

So are we in Christ or is He in us? Yes! Is the Holy Spirit in us or are we in the Spirit? Yes! Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you” (John 15:4). And in Jesus’s prayer for all future disciples, He takes it a step further and reveals how believers have now been brought into the divine Godhead:
“Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:21-23).

Paul expands on this idea in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus:
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…”(Ephesians 2:4-6). We were dead in sin but are now alive with Christ. So the way God sees us is seated with Christ even as Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Not only is Christ in us, and we are in Him; not only are we clothed with Christ, but we are also seated with Him in the heavenly realms. So we don’t just look forward to moving from earth to heaven, but we live, right now, from heaven to earth.