Christ’s Advocacy and Intercession

Jesus Christ, risen and glorified, has ascended into heaven. He sat down at the right hand of Majesty, having been enthroned as King of glory. With all authority in heaven and on earth having been given to Him, we acknowledge that He reigns, being Lord of all. This identifies one of His offices: King.

There is another office afforded to Jesus Christ, that of Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). In this office, our Lord Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession on behalf of His people (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). The prophet Isaiah records the intimate relationship of Messiah’s suffering with His intercession, “Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He Himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors (Is 53:12).”

The purpose of Christ’s intercession is to bring application of His meritorious work on the cross. Although His people sin against God (1 Jn 1:9), Christ is the propitiation for our sins (Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10) . He shelters His beloved bride from the wrath of God, rightly directed against them, in God’s just judgment (1 Thess 1:10). God shows mercy, however, because of the blood atonement of the unblemished Lamb of God (Rom 9:15–16, 23). Jesus Christ has entered God’s presence for us (Heb 9:24).

Christians do sin, but we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous (1 Jn 2:1–2). Advocacy implies a legal conflict. Man sins against God, and sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4). Transgression of the Law requires a just judgment of justice (Gen 18:25), in order for God’s justice to be maintained. God is just and the justifier of those who come to Him in Christ (Rom 3:26; 1 Pet 3:18).

Jesus Christ is the way into the presence of God’s holiness (Jn 14:6). Perfect righteousness, that is, perfect right standing is attained by only One person. We must approach God the Father through God the Son. There is no other way.

At His death on Calvary, when His work on the cross was finished, the curtain separating the holiest of holies, from the holy place, was torn from top to bottom. This was symbolic of Christ’s death opening access to God with His one time, once for all His people, sacrifice for atonement. Thus, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1).

With the Law being satisfied with Jesus’ substitutionary atonement for sins, justice no longer looks to inflict wrath upon those who now owe no debt of sin, for their debt was cancelled by Christ’s full payment, in His blood (Col 2:14). Christians are justified by His blood (Rom 5:9), by His grace (Rom 3:24), and by the faith given to them to trust in Christ alone for their salvation (Rom 3:28; 5:1).

He lives to pray for their continuous receipt of His grace and benefits. In this, there is a differentiation between advocacy and intercession. Advocacy is for justification’s sake, while intercession is for sanctification. Jesus is praying His people home to glory. In this, the prayer of a righteous Man availeth much (Jas 5:16). Jesus’ high priestly prayer, in John 17, is exemplary of His ongoing mediatorial work.

Jesus Christ’s position in heaven serves as an immovable memorial of ongoing forgiveness (Mt 26:28; Eph 1:7). Jesus’ sacrifice happened once (Rom 6:10; 1 Pet 3:18). Jesus’ advocacy is also a one-time event, whereby, His righteousness is imputed to the one accused by Satan, before God (Rom 2:15). Christ represents His people, and He only pleads their criminal case once, before the Father. Then, there comes the intercessory prayer of our great High Priest (Heb 4:14). Thus, advocacy and intercession are different, but they are related.

Effectual advocacy gives hope to the redeemed of the Lord, while intercession gives them the strength to press on toward the mark of their high calling in Christ (Phil 3:14). Christians, having been transferred to the kingdom of Christ, now find themselves in spiritual warfare (Eph 6:10–20; Col 1:13). This is not against flesh and blood, but it is against principalities and powers in heavenly places.

Christians, born again of God, are babes in these matters. They must grow in faith, which means they must grow in grace and knowledge of God (2 Pet 3:18). They must become ambassadors for Christ, representing His kingdom in hostile territory…this world (2 Cor 5:20). Representatives must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves because of the craft and power of the adversary, the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), who wants Christians expelled from his domain of darkness (Col 1:13).

Christ sits as God-Man in glory (Ps 110:1; Rev 7:17). He prays for the members of His body. He has sent His Spirit to them (Jn 14:26; 15:26). It is the Spirit, who prays in our weakness (Rom 8:26–27). The flesh forever fails us because of sin; and the mind is ever befuddled with Satan’s confusion tactics. It is the Holy Spirit, however, who guides us into all truth (Jn 16:13). He comforts us when we feel as if we are failures in Christ’s service. He helps us to fulfill our duties by willing and working in us (Phil 2:13), to perform the good works prepared for us (Eph 2:10; Jas 2:14–26).

The Holy Spirit keeps us focused on Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2), who is permanently in the Father’s presence, at Majesty’s right hand (Heb 1:3; 8:1). It is the Spirit, who receives direction from Christ concerning us, and who then directs our steps (Prv 3:5–6). The means of grace are all in the realm of the Spirit. We pray. We read the Scriptures. We participate in the sacraments. We convene with a local company of believers, in the Spirit.

Christian, if God is for you, who can be against you? Your Lord, Christ Jesus, has pleaded your case as a guilty sinner, and the charges have been met with ample payment. He lives. Go to Him, who is ascended and reigning. He is the satisfaction of all you need, for the completion of your long journey and difficult fight. Go to Him. Go to Him, again and again. Make your request known to Him, for He is ever before the Giver of every good and perfect gift (Jas 1:17).

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

June 28, 2022