Importance of our Advocate
Key Verses: 1, 2, 6, 11, 15, 22,
I remember sitting in a police station and wishing I had someone who could come and get me out. I wanted someone to make it all go away, make it all right again. That is what Jesus does as our advocate. His death makes it possible for our relationship with God to be restored. He speaks on our behalf when we feel too aware of our own weakness. He makes it all right.
If we are a Jesus-follower our lives need to reflect that difference. We need to do what he tells us to do. If we aren’t obeying, then that is an indication that we aren’t following either. I am not talking about the occasional sin-blip on the radar. We all stumble. But the trajectory of our life when viewed from a distance should be toward obedience at an increasingly rapid rate. There should be fewer and fewer lapses into sin. Those lapses won’t stop until death or Jesus’ second coming. That is why Jesus still serves as our advocate. We still need one.
John gives us an example of disobedience: lack of love for fellow Jesus-followers. Even when we have disagreements with other Christians, there should be love extended. But too often we allow anger and other attitudes to invade even discussions between believers. When it turns to hate, not good. Do you know the line at which anger turns to hate? I don’t! Besides, we should be moving toward love, not trying to stay in anger as long as possible. We are to love our enemies, how much more our fellow believers.
Our love needs to be directed toward eternity and eternal relationships. If we get too caught up in this world’s values and pleasures we risk wasting our lives. It can be easy to get so comfortable that we become immovable. One advantage about being in the military is that we must be mobile. We move every two or three years, often to very different parts of the country and world. The disadvantage is that we move every two or three years, having to uproot and be repotted somewhere else. We can become so settled spiritually that we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to move us, stir us, or otherwise get us to continue to grow and reach out.
We can never give up on the central Truth of the Gospel: Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised One. Once Jesus becomes just a prophet or teacher or moral leader, He has lost all power to accomplish the essentials of the Gospel. He didn’t reconcile us to God. His death on the Cross was only that, a man’s death, nothing special. He didn’t rise from the grave, His body was stolen, or misplaced in the confusion.
Don’t allow some “enlightened scholar” lead you into error. God is able to communicate to you, to speak to you from the Scriptures. Allow the Scriptures to teach you. Trust them. If something being said doesn’t seem to ring true to your spirit, search and study for yourself. Pray and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. Ask those whose lives are ones you want to emulate, godly in word and deed.
The Arnold Journey 