Jesus Our Intercessor
Whence he is able even to be saving unto the very end, Them who approach through him unto God; Since he evermore liveth to be interceding in their behalf. (Hebrews 7:25, RV)
This verse demonstrates another aspect of Jesus’s Present-Day Ministry. At the New Birth, our spirits (spiritual bodies) are reborn by and in the life of God. Our minds, however, are not instantly reborn, but have to be renewed by the washing of the Word.
not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5, RV)
And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2, RV)
This is a gradual process. During this process we need Jesus’s intercession for us because many times we strain our fellowship with the Father by saying or doing things that are not pleasing to Him. We stumble many times because we have not fully learned our rights and privileges in Christ or we have deviated from His plan for our lives. When we do such things, Jesus stands before the Father interceding for us in order that our fellowship with Him may be restored. The Word says that he “evermore lives” to make such intercession on our behalf.
Another reason that we need Jesus’s intercession is that we live in a world that lies in wickedness.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. (1 John 5:19, KJV)
As God’s children in the world, but not of the world, we need His intercession to endure. We can see the effects of Jesus’s intercession in the life of Paul. He was commissioned by Jesus to carry the gospel to the Gentiles and he suffered persecutions, shipwrecks, animal attacks, hunger, and even stoning. Paul, a man like any one of us, could have gotten discouraged and quit, but the Lord continued to intercede on his behalf. Vitally knowing Jesus’s ministry of intercession provides us comfort and strength to continue in God’s plan and calling for our lives.