Our Advocate - A Gift from God

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. (1 John 2:1-2, NLT)

Can you even begin to imagine what it will be like when we stand in front of God to give an account of our lives? Think about your life and all the things that have happened during your short time here on earth. How have you "measured up" to the standards that God has written before you? I know I have fallen short. The Bible says in Romans 3, that none are righteous, none are seeking God, and all fall short of God's glorious standards. (Romans 3:10, 23) As much as I, and many, many others, would like to believe, there is such a thing as a "good person", those passages clearly state that there is no such thing! I am not a good person. I have made mistakes, fallen short, and broken the heart of my loving God. If I'm really honest, I have spat in His face and I have chosen to ignore the direction and guidance He was giving me, all to pursue my own selfish desires. I chose sin. What about you? In light of that, how do you think it will go when you stand in front of God? Now, if I chose sin, then I can choose righteousness, right? I can choose to everything right that I possibly can. I can choose to try to make up for all the things that I have done wrong and I can follow each and every commandment to the greatest detail. It makes me feel good to do what is right. The Pharisees knew the law front and back and yet they never knew God. They followed the laws, but they didn't love others, and they certainly didn't believe Jesus was who he said he was. The Bible says, that there will be some people who will stand before God and give account of all the things they have done for him and in his name, and God will look at them and say, depart from me, I never knew you. (Matthew 7:21-23) Imagine that scene. You are waiting in line to see God and the man in front of you steps forward and says to God, "I have lived a good life. I have followed all the laws and I have obeyed your commandments. I have done many things in your name. I am ready for my reward. " God looks right at him and says, "Depart from me, I never knew you!" Can you imagine that! What heartache! God's love, grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation are not things we can earn if we are "good enough". God gives them freely to those who ask for them and to those who believe in Him. (This is not just knowing of God in your head, this is knowing God intimately in your heart, loving him with all you have and seeking him and his will in everything you do.) There is absolutely nothing we can give or do to earn these things. Actually we could never give or do enough to even come close to earning these things. God knows this. The Word of God plainly tells us that the wages, or what is earned, for sin is death. (Romans 6:23) If we all sin (and we do), then we all deserve death - that is what we earned for our sin. But God has chosen out of his great love for each of us to send his only son Jesus Christ to take on the punishment, and to pay the penalty for each and every one of our sins. Imagine that I bought you an amazing gift and I wrapped it neatly in colorful paper and I even put a pretty bow on it for you. What good would that gift do if you placed it in the closet without opening it and allowed it to collect dust? What good does it do for you to know that God gives you the gifts of salvation, love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness, (and much, much, more) if you never choose to actually receive them? God has given to each one of us the opportunity to choose to receive each one of these gifts from him. Some choose to be content just with the head-knowledge of God and knowing of God and because of that, they are very rule driven, legalistic, judgmental people. There is no intimate relationship with God Almighty! Sure they know of the things that God offers to them and they know what Jesus Christ did on the cross, but they set the gift that God has given to them, un-opened on the shelf. It's collecting dust and doing them no good! They never let God into their hearts and into their lives to transform everything from the inside out. They have chosen to slam to the door and ignore the gentle knocking on their hearts. Jesus still waits patiently for them to answer. What about those people who have opened the gift and receieved it completely; those who have heard the gentle knocking on the door to their heart and have answered? What did they find on the other side of the door? I picture it this way. Jesus standing there, smiling, open arms waiting to take me in his loving embrace and hold us. Then he takes my hand and leads me through each one of the doors in my heart, illuminating the darkened rooms, showing me the truth, healing my broken heart, and transforming me slowly from the inside out. It's tough letting Jesus open all those doors I have shut so tight, but he goes through them with me. He takes me by the hand and leads me. I trust him. One day when I stand before God to give an account of my life, Jesus will be there, smiling. When it's my turn I'll stand before God and Jesus Christ will wrap his arms around me and say. "This one's on me." Then I will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." What joy fills my soul just thinking of it! What will you hear when you stand before God? Have you opened and received the gifts that God has given to you or are they collecting dust?