Right now, at this very moment, Jesus is in heaven pleading your cause before God!
Read / Listen
Read Hebrews 7:21-25
Listen to passage & devotional:
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 49
Q. How does Christ’s ascension
to heaven benefit us?
A. First, he pleads our cause
in heaven
in the presence of his Father.
Second, we have our
own flesh in heaven—
a guarantee that Christ our head
will take us, his members,
to himself in heaven.
Third, he sends his Spirit to us on earth
as a further guarantee.
By the Spirit’s power
we make the goal of our lives,
not earthly things,
but the things above where Christ is,
sitting at God’s right hand.
Summary
We've looked at this important concept of covenant often this year. A covenant is a solemn agreement between two parties based on a contingency; in other words, a covenant is a promise from one person to do this if the other person will do that. This covenantal obligation formed the basis for God's relationship with Adam, as well as His relationship with the Israelites in which He promised to be their God if they obeyed Him and lived as His people.
But neither Adam nor the Israelites held up their end of the deal.
That's why the gospel of Jesus Christ is such good news. Through Christ, we are put back into a covenantal relationship with God, but this time it's no longer contingent. In v22 we read that "Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant." Those whose faith is rooted in Christ have fully met the righteous contingency required to live in peace with our God and Father!
Because of Christ's finished work, He is able to save completely those who come to God. The key to not only gaining this salvation, but keeping this salvation is to come to God through Jesus by completely trusting not just in His righteousness on your behalf, but also trusting in Him as He "lives to intercede for" you.
Dig Deeper
Imagine if passages like this one were not in the Bible; if all you had was the initial gift of righteousness from Jesus, but then He said something to the effect of, "Ok, I've paid the debt of your sins and made you right with God. If you just keep this righteousness I've given to you, my Father will be obligated to accept you on my behalf."
That wouldn't be good news at all, since we've all demonstrated over and over our inability to keep God's righteous requirements on our own!
So what a tremendous promise it is that Jesus "lives to intercede" for you. This means that every moment of every day, your risen Savior is at the right hand of God asking Him to give you what you need.
But it's more than just 'stuff' that Jesus is asking God to provide for you. Yes, you need stuff, and yes, both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are advocating that the Father gives you the stuff you need.
But the catechism puts it well in describing Jesus as pleading your cause in heaven in the presence of His Father. Jesus continually asks God to always look at you through the lens of the covenant that Jesus guaranteed! Since you through faith are included in Christ, Jesus continually reminds God the Father of His obligation to extend His covenant blessings to you!
And that's an obligation our Father is more than happy to meet!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God Almighty, who always remains faithful to those He's covenanted with;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank Jesus for always interceding for you, and ask for the peace and contentment that comes from Jesus guaranteeing covenant blessings on your behalf.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 21
