December 18: Advocate
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
Jesus Christ is our advocate, what a wonderful truth. Not only did our Jesus leave his heavenly throne, to expose himself to this corrupt world, to live as a human, to face temptation, persecution and trials, to die the sinners’ death that we should have died, but because of his great power he rose again, and now sits at the right hand of the Father, where he is now the ruler of all (Rev. 17:14). But here is the amazing part. Right now, he is using his position of power at the right hand of the Father for your benefit and good. You have someone who is always speaking on your behalf to the Father, advocating for your place as an adopted child in God’s family, interceding for you in a way that you cannot, in a never-ending, loving, sacrificial and altogether perfect way.
What does this mean for you? It means that you can have full assurance of your faith. It means that you can know that God’s love for you is not dependent on you being a “successful” Christian. It means that for all eternity, you will have always have Jesus Christ lovingly interceding for you. It means that on this side of eternity you never have to worry about whether you will find favour with God when you meet him, and it means that you are promised eternal joy in paradise with him.
Today, pray that God would help you find joy and overwhelming peace in this fact, and that he would protect your heart against Satan’s lies and fears in your heart that this might not be true for you. Also take the time to pray that those around you who don't have this assurance that they would come to know Christ as their advocate.