Jesus Foretold: Believers' Intercessor (MP 84)

Jesus returned to heaven receiver
Of all power in the heavens and earth,
Sole intercessor for the believer,
His brother and co-heir to His great worth!
For two thousand years He’s ruled from God’s throne,
And will continue till He comes again;
Safely kept in His hand are all His own;
He pleads to God their ev’ry plea and pain!
Satan accuses believers of sin,
Both day and night, before the throne of God;
But Christ’s the advocate for righteous men,
Loaning His righteousness their way to trod!
The devil’s cases tossed out, ev’ry one,
Because of the sacrifice by God’s Son!

Scripture Quoted (NIV) [Brackets added]
Prophecy Made: Isaiah 59:16—“He [Jesus Christ] saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene [to intercede for the righteous]; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.” (Written in the 7th century B.C.)

Prophecy Fulfilled: 1 Timothy 2:5—“For there is one God and one mediator [intercessor] between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,” (Written in the 1st century A.D.)

Prophecy Fulfilled: Hebrews 9:16—“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called [believers in Jesus Christ] may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Written in the 1st century A.D.)

Commentary On: “Jesus Foretold: “Believers’ Intercessor”
We must keep in mind that God planned all this before creation; knowing that helps us to appreciate the magnitude of His love for us. Because of sin, ours and Adam’s, the whole human race was sentenced to eternity in hell, and as Isaiah writes in the quotation above, He saw that there was no one to intercede and save any person, even the righteous, so He gave Himself to die, paying the debt we owed for our sins; not only that, He covered our impurity with His own righteousness. Thus, He became intercessor for us in the form of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

What is this same Jesus doing today, 2000 years after His ascension back to heaven? When the resurrected Christ re-entered heaven, He received a welcome like none other in history. He was immediately ushered into the throne room and given back the authority of all power in the universe, the glory He had relinquished for the interlude He spent in the flesh of Jesus. He is King and ruler of the world, managing all the affairs of men; and He is the intercessor for those who believe in Him, taking care that His own brothers receive all the promises made to the righteous in the Bible. If you read the 10 verses in Chapter 3 of Zechariah, you will see how Jesus Christ intervenes for the believer in life’s trials, as well as in his judgment after death. There is a vision of Israel’s high priest Joshua by Zechariah; Joshua is appearing before God in heaven in soiled garments. There Joshua is accused by Satan (who is constantly accusing all Christians of their misdeeds to God, hoping to have them condemned to hell) of wearing stained and messy clothing in God’s presence; Jesus intervenes and orders His angels to put clean and pure clothing (symbolic of how He imputes His righteousness to believers). When Joshua is dressed properly, Christ rebukes Satan saying (paraphrased), “What’s wrong with Joshua now? Isn’t he a brand snatched from the coals (meaning, a sinner snatched from the fires of hell)?” It is important for us to understand that Joshua, as well as all men and all women, cannot make himself pure and righteous; Jesus Christ imparts His sinless nature to cover our sinful natures, just as He did for Joshua.

In the doctrine of our Christian brothers, Roman Catholics, is the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose soul presumably is already in heaven, can intercede for Christians who address her in prayer; also, they believe that persons they have beatified as saints, will do the same. However, the Bible says there is only one mediator, and He is Christ.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)