CHRIST My Mediator

FATHER, I am a member of the fallen and rebellious human race and, by nature, hostile to You (Rom 8:7). But, CHRIST is the mediator between You and me (1 Tim 2:5). He quenched Your wrath (Rom 3:25) and changed my human heart (2 Cor 5:17).

“Christ achieved reconciliation for His people through penal substitution…. He…carried our identity …bore the curse due to us (Gal 3:13), and by His sacrificial shedding of blood made peace for us (Eph 2:16-18; Col 1:20)” (ref#56, p1753, “Christ the Mediator”).

“…Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God’s wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn (ref#93, p13-14).

I imagine JESUS as my boss taking the punishment from His boss for all my mistakes. CHRIST’s position now is a perpetual High Priest (Heb 7:24). It creates a picture in my mind of CHRIST constantly vouching for me before His FATHER—always making intercession for me (Heb 7:25). How much does He love me to do that! These thoughts give me more understanding of Scriptures describing the joy JESUS has in His work of mediating for me my entire life:

“Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight] —“ (Jude 24 AMP)

What a word picture that verse creates: at my death I’m standing beside JESUS who says to the FATHER, “Here is ____ one out of the world I have joyfully kept to be now forever with Us.”

CONFESSION

I would wager self-rule is the main sin that erodes our path and keeps us from finding GOD’s way. Our self-reliance can be called, “the idol of our heart.” Our idol is ourselves. It is a most common sin.

When we read Scripture or quotes from SPIRIT-led individuals and the words do not change our hearts, the roadblock is usually this sin. When words in this blog are just words on the page delinquent of any energy to move us, the idol of ruling ourselves is most likely the culprit.

“…if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever” (Rom 8:13 AMP).

“The gospel is so foolish (according to my natural wisdom), so scandalous (according to my conscience), and so incredible (according to my timid heart), that it is a daily battle to believe the full scope of it as I should” Milton Vincent (ref#60, p14).

This is why we need to pray for ourselves—to help us battle our natural nature that still has our selfish interests in mind. It is our responsibility to mature in holiness—to allow the renewed life GOD has fashioned in us to be worked out in our conduct (Eph 4:23-24).

“We are to ‘Strive…for… holiness…to…‘abstain from immorality’…‘…cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit…’make every effort’ to grow in character traits that accord with godliness…We are continually to build up patterns and habits of holiness…” Wayne Grudem (ref#63, p755).

“There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my conscience, the condemnings of my heart, and the lies of the world and the Devil than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the gospel” Milton Vincent (ref#60, p14).

Prayer Facts:

“Real prayer is communion with God, so that there will be common thoughts between His mind and ours. What is needed is for Him to fill our hearts with His thoughts, and then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him” (ref#152, p140).

Reasons for Waiting for GOD:

Because the HOLY SPIRIT imparts grace—that unmerited favor and blessings of You, FATHER (Heb 10:29), I will wait for You.
Because the SPIRIT writes Your law on my heart (Isa 59:21), I will wait for You.

Because the SPIRIT is the down payment of my heritage (Eph 1:14), I will wait for You.

Because the HOLY SPIRIT examines everything even the divine counsels and things hidden beyond my scrutiny (1 Cor 2:10), I will wait for You.