| The Holy Spirit, Part 11: The Holy Spirit as Intercessor |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, July 26 2010 00:00 |
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Intercession is a spiritual blessing often overlooked by most Christians. Remembering that the Older Testament in all ways foreshadows the New, we must be aware of the fact that the High Priest offered intercession before God for the people of God, the same people for whom he offered expiatory sacrifice. Jesus as our high priest performs this function for us, the people for whom He gave His life. We read his high priestly prayer of intercession in John 17, and the writer of Hebrews speaks of his ongoing intercession in Heb. 7:25 as a means to the ultimate complete salvation He provides us. Paul comments that Jesus was raised to life and is at the right hand of God ever interceding for us (Rom. 8:34). But why would a justified person need ongoing intercession? Why did Israel require intercession by their high priest after he had offered sacrifice on their behalf? The beginning of the answer lies in our sinful nature. Although forgiven of all sin: past, present, and future, we yet continue to sin. But why should forgiven sin be a problem? The second part of the answer to this question would have to lie with the holiness of God and the degree to which any sin is an affront to Him. Sin is not such a problem to us, and we project our own attitudes and character on to God and ask why it is a problem to Him. John helps us understand when he writes, “My dear children, I wrote this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). In the same passage John speaks of (1) the commandment not to sin (remembering he is writing to “dear children,” i.e. to Christians), (2) of the possibility of sin among Christians, (3) of the ongoing intercession as compared to a defense attorney, and (4) of the atoning sacrifice for us and for people throughout the whole world. From the perspective of God, ongoing speaking on our behalf is a great blessing and assurance, and it forms a final piece of our perfect salvation. The Holy Spirit is involved in this process, as Paul writes: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27). Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God interceding for us; the Spirit is in our hearts and minds, even in our prayers helping us with utterances too deep for words, all in accordance with the will of God! |
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