Our Responsibility to Intercede for Others

 “The increase of his house shall depart, And his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God.”

‭‭Job‬ ‭20‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Job’s friend Zophar the Namaathite took it upon himself to speak against the wicked as he called Job, “God will strip them of their sin-soaked clothes and hang their dirty laundry out for all to see. Life is a complete wipeout for them, nothing surviving God’s wrath. There! That’s God’s blueprint for the wicked— what they have to look forward to.”  Instead of interceding for his friend, Zophar was accusing Job.  The prophet Daniel was a true intercessor who knew to intercede appropriately, ““O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away..”  Jesus prayed for those crucifying for Him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”  Our great High Priest Jesus, is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens.  May we agree with our Intercessor.  Amen!

The Holy Spirit Sees & Celebrates Perfection

 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬ ‭KJV‬‬

In a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.  Earlier it was the creation which groans for the glorious freedom of God’s children.  We also groan for the fullness of our status as God’s children.  The Holy Spirit groans for our complete destiny to be fulfilled.  He sighs within us with words too deep for articulation, assisting us in our prayers when we struggle to know how to pray properly.  When we feel restricted in our flesh, He supersedes our clumsy efforts and hits bulls-eye every time!  He only sees and celebrates perfection.  Let’s agree with Him.  Amen!

Our Redeemer Lives

 “For I know that my redeemer liveth, And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God:”

‭‭Job‬ ‭19‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Job laments that his loved ones, friends and servants have given up on him, “Still, I know that God lives—the One Who gives me back my life— and eventually He’ll take His stand on earth. And I’ll see Him—even though I get skinned alive!— see God myself, with my very own eyes. Oh, how I long for that day!”  Being rejected in the greatest trial of his life by his loved ones, friends and servants, Job still made this confession that he knew his Redeemer lives and that he would see him.  What faith, and that too in the old covenant!  But now, our Redeemer came in the flesh, was crucified and rose again and we see Him by the Holy Spirit, in our relationship with Him and through His Word.  Jesus said “I promise that I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans—I will come back to you! Soon I will leave this world and they will see Me no longer, but you will see Me, because I will live again, and you will come alive too.”  What an awesome promise, let’s believe it.  Amen!

Freed from the Laws of Sin & Death

 “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul explains, “What an agonizing situation I am in! So who has the power to rescue this miserable man from the unwelcome intruder of sin and death? I give all my thanks to God, for his mighty power has finally provided a way out through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! So if left to myself, the flesh is aligned with the law of sin, but now my renewed mind is fixed on and submitted to God’s righteous principles.”  Paul is saying that it doesn’t matter how he weighs himself by his own efforts, he just doesn’t measure up to expectations!  The situation is absolutely desperate for mankind; is there anyone who can deliver from this death-trap?  Thank God, this is exactly what He has done through Jesus Christ, our Leader: He has come to our rescue!  Mankind is finally freed from this conflict between the law of the mind and the law of sin in the body.  In the human body exactly like ours, Jesus balanced the scales!  He is the true measure of the life of our design - He revealed and redeemed the image and likeness of God in us as in a mirror!  Hallelujah!

Being Kind to the Unkind

 “Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.”

‭‭Job‬ ‭18‬:‭21‬ ‭KJV

Bildad the Shuhite again comes forward and tries to indicate that Job is wicked, that’s why calamity came upon him, ending his speech with, “Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people. This is how the God-ignorant end up!”  Many times, we offer explanations to our suffering friends as to why things have gone wrong for them, without giving any solution to their predicament.  Bildad was like that, quite apathetic towards Job.  For us in the new covenant, the solution is always Jesus and the finished work of the Cross, where the defeat of satan was nailed once and for all.  Let’s be kind, compassionate and merciful to others, especially those who are against us and despitefully use us, because we are the righteousness of God in Christ.  The right thing to do is to be merciful for we obtain mercy ourselves and we are blessed when we do that.  Vengeance belongs to God, He Alone is the Righteous Judge and we surrender to Him all wrongdoing done to us so that we receive His mercy.  Amen!

Enjoying Newness of Life through Baptism

 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul explains what water baptism means, “Or have you forgotten that all of us who were immersed into union with Jesus, the Anointed One, were immersed into union with His death? Sharing in His death by our baptism means that we were co-buried with Him, so that when the Father’s glory raised Christ from the dead, we were also raised with Him.  We have been co-resurrected with Him so that we could be empowered to walk in the freshness of new life.”  What are we saying then in baptism, if we are not declaring that we understand our union with Christ in His death?  Baptism pictures how we were co-buried together with Christ in His death; then it powerfully illustrates how in God’s mind we were co-raised with Christ into a new lifestyle.  The prophet Hosea had already declared it hundreds of years before Christ, “After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.”  May we believe the Word and enjoy newness of life through baptism.  Amen!

We Have Wisdom in Christ

 “But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: For I cannot find one wise man among you.”

‭‭Job‬ ‭17‬:‭10‬ ‭KJV

Job continues his anger towards his three friends, “Maybe you’d all like to start over, to try it again, the bunch of you. So far I haven’t come across one scrap of wisdom in anything you’ve said.“. Job justified his own righteousness before God but he recognised the lack of wisdom in what his three friends were saying to him.  Today Christ is to us the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the wisdom of this world is selfish and devilish. But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness! Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace.  May we always submit to the wisdom given to us in Christ!  Amen!

Law Reveals Sin; Gospel Reveals Righteousness

 “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The conclusion is clear - it took just one offence to condemn mankind; one act of righteousness declares the same mankind innocent.  The disobedience of the one exhibits mankind as sinners; the obedience of another exhibits mankind as righteous.  Just as all mankind became exceedingly sinful through one person’s disobedience but did not know it until the law revealed it, so all mankind became exceedingly righteous through one act of righteousness, but they did not know it until the Gospel revealed it.  The principle of faith is to see what God sees.  God calls things that seem not to be as though they were.  While we look not at the things that the senses observe, we look at the revelation of the unseen as it is unveiled in our understanding through the mirror revelation of the Gospel of Christ.  This is the obedience of faith unto righteousness.  Amen!

Christ Who Mediates for Us

 “My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. O that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleadeth for his neighbour!”

‭‭Job‬ ‭16‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Job now replies to Eliphaz, “Don’t muffle my cry! There must be Someone in heaven who knows the truth about me, in highest heaven, some Attorney who can clear my name— My Champion, my Friend, while I’m weeping my eyes out before God. I appeal to the One who represents mortals before God as a neighbor stands up for a neighbor..”. The heartfelt cry of Job for a mediator to speak on his behalf was the need of all in the old covenant.  Because Jesus was born on the earth as a man, identifying with every need of mankind, He can now speak for us. Jesus, as a man, lived for a short time lower than the angels and has now been crowned with glorious honor because of what He suffered in His death. For it was by God’s grace that He experienced death’s bitterness on behalf of everyone!  There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  May we know the power of the Cross on an ongoing basis to allow our Mediator to represent us personally before our Holy God.  Amen!

Being Righteousness Conscious

 “saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul quotes David as he explains the perfect righteousness we have received through Christ, “What happy fulfillment is ahead for those whose rebellion has been forgiven and whose sins are covered by blood. What happy progress comes to them when they hear the Lord speak over them, I will never hold your sins against you!”  When David wrote this psalm, it was in the days of covering sin by the blood of sacrifice.  Today, in the new covenant, our sins are no longer simply covered, but removed forever.  Now when God takes an inventory and settles accounts, it’s not the blood of bulls, goats or lambs, but He takes inventory by virtue of Christ, the Blood Sacrifice of the Lamb of God at the Cross and the complete removal of our sins.  Through our faith in Him, Christ’s perfect righteousness is now deposited in our account.  It is settled, we are declared righteous by faith.  This is our continual happiness, bliss and blessedness.  May we be righteousness-conscious rather than sin-conscious, enjoying this status that God has graced us with.  Amen!