The Exalted Christ, Our Advocate , Pastor W. F. kumuyi
1 John 2:1; Philippians 2:5-11.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1). The command to humans to ‘sin not’ is as strange as telling a fish not to swim and telling a bird not to fly. It is impossible for humanity to not sin, but God has made a way for that to happen, yet if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father who is Jesus Christ. When we talk about an advocate, you come before the judgement seat of the Almighty God because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In the legal system, there is the accused (all sinners), the accuser, the prosecutor, the judge, the condemned, the Advocate, and the acquitted. The Advocate is the Defender that comes to protect you from the broken law. No human advocate can defend you before God because all have sinned, and that human advocate is also waiting his turn for God’s judgement. The only One identified and approved by the Father to be an Advocate is Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus Christ who knows the heart of the Father, the expectation of the Father, and as the only Sacrifice that can plead the Father, He comes between you and the broken law to take your place. The moment you accept Christ as your Advocate, all your sins are forgiven and forgotten, and you are set free and acquitted. There is a need for you to know that there is no other advocate in heaven or on earth except Jesus Christ the exalted One. There is no other one appointed, anointed, and approved in heaven except Jesus Christ the Advocate. When you accept Christ as your advocate, your problems are solved for time and eternity.
1. OUR LUST AND LOSTNESS UNDER THE ADVERSARY
John 8:44; Romans 1:24-32; 1 Peter 5:8-9.
There is an adversary that gives his ‘chocolate’ with an addictive substance in it, coated with a good taste and covered with a beautiful wrap. Once this is accepted by him and bitten, the poison gets in and affects the mind and reasoning, affects the interpretation of what is seen, and magnetises one towards the wrong direction. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44). The Jewish people ate the adversary’s chocolate without knowing the consequence; they became children of the adversary. The problem comes when the adversary so influences our lives that it starts going down the slope and we can’t help ourselves out of the situation.
2. THE LOVE AND LIBERATION BY OUR ADVOCATE:
1 John 2:1-2; Hebrews 7:24-26; 1 John 3:5.
When a person is accused and prosecuted by the accuser, he will have to pay anyone who stands in for him as an advocate, and he could still lose the case. However, Jesus Christ our heavenly advocate stands in for us free of charge. He saves us by His grace and presents Himself to us as our Advocate, Defender, and the One who pleads our case in heaven. Jesus pleads for everyone because He has suffered for everyone, therefore, whosoever calls on His name will be saved. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25). Our Advocate never sleeps or slumbers. He is watching over you every time, and He stands for you, intercedes for you, and protects you. Jesus saves us now and His salvation continues with us because He is able to save us to the uttermost. When the time comes for you to cross over from this world to the next, this Advocate is the only One who will still be with you. No angel or man has the possibility to cross over with you when you breathe your last, but Jesus our Advocate ever lives to make intercession for us. You have to ask Jesus to be your advocate and open the door to Him as He stands at the door of your heart and knocks.
3. NEW LIFE BY LOOKING UNTO THE ALMIGHTY: Isaiah 45:21-22; Hebrews 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18.
When the Advocate comes to you and takes up your life and case, He does something that other advocates in the world cannot do: He changes you and gives you a new life. Jesus Christ the Advocate from heaven pardons the past and gives you a new life for the present. The only Advocate that can change a sinner is Jesus Christ the righteous. The advocates of the world are limited in the sense that after pleading with the accused person’s cause, they do not go to live with him and guide him from going back into past crimes. Christ is the only Advocate that secures forgiveness for us and stays with us until the end of the world. He is the Advocate that saves us, forgives us, and comes to live with us. He is never tired of us being with us in times of challenges and providing whatever help or support we need for us. Jesus the Advocate wants you to tell others about Him. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:22). Look unto Christ and be saved, healed, delivered now and for eternity. Take your look and mind away from all the helpers in the world because none of them can save you. Look unto Jesus and be saved. The look comes with salvation, healing, deliverance, and freedom. You look unto Jesus with the eyes of your mind and with your faith because He is the source of all our blessings. Look unto Jesus the Advocate who has paid all our debts and has promised to take all our condemnation and guilt away. There is salvation for the look of faith.
