Justice, Mercy, and the Role of Intercession (Part 3)

Christ is the Ultimate Intercessor

The first case of bloodshed in the Old Testament was in the Story of Cain and Abel. Cain burns with jealousy over God’s acceptance of his brother Abel’s offering and not his own. In his anger, he murders his brother. In Gen 4:10, God says, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!” God loves and values Abel so much that there is a lingering injustice that results from his death that cries out, demanding the justice of God. God’s justice will not allow him to ignore the crime. If just the blood of one innocent life taken cries out to God demanding justice, what does God hear due to the injustice of abortion worldwide? What does that sound like? What does that do to His heart?
Just as God looked for a man to stand in the gap in the Old Testament, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to stand in the gap on behalf of man in the New Testament. He conquered death, bearing the weight of the sin of the world and rising from the grave victorious. Christ is the ultimate intercessor, who took on the penalty of the sin of the world and made a way for God to be both just and merciful at the same time. It is through Him that we are found righteous, and because of Him that we are reconciled. In Hebrews, Paul talks about this perfect sacrifice in relationship to the Old Testament:

“For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. (Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them, for they could not bear what was commanded: And if even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned! And the appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am terrified and trembling.) Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:18-24.)”

Praise God that the blood of Christ speaks louder than injustice. The grace and mercy God can give through Christ, the ultimate intercessor, is enough to cover our sins. We no longer find our righteousness through the law, but through Christ. We are able to live righteously not by our own strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who transforms us and Christ that live inside of us. “For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galations 2: 19,20).
With Christ inside of us, empowered to stand against sin in the strength of the Holy Spirit, we become a revelation of the character of God to the world, a light to the world. We get to be like Christ to the world. Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” It is good for the world that he was alive as a testimony to it because Christ lives through him. Christ death and resurrection was enough to atone for the sin of the world, but through Christ living in Paul, the work of the cross is applied to whatever situation God leads him to. He is applying the victory of the cross in his own life, and bringing victory and grace through the spreading of the Gospel.
Similarly, we are called to represent Christ to the world. He lives inside of us and as we yield our hearts to the leading of the Holy Spirit, it is no longer us that is serving, praying, teaching, prophesying, or loving, but Christ in us. We know that “…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). And in Colossians 1:27, “God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So as we humble ourselves here in D.C., we recognize that our authority in prayer comes from the power of Christ living in us and through us. We are applying the victory of the Cross to the sins of America, calling forth the plans and purposes of God in our nation. Jesus says, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). God, end abortion and send revival to America. Amen.

Justice, Mercy, and the Role of Intercession (Part 2)

Dominion and Authority
Man holds an important responsibility given to him by God. To some degree, we have been given authority over the earth. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth’” (Genesis 1:26). One of my favorite teachers suggests that one way that we are created in the image of God is that, just like Him, we are creators as well. God has given us the paint, but we create the painting. God has given us a mind and a body, but God has given us the freedom to make choices, or rather to create our choice. He has created the earth but puts us in charge of it with the freedom to choose to care for or neglect it. We have been given authority over our own choices and are mandated to operate in love and stewardship of God’s creation. Knowing God’s desire and purpose for us to rule over the earth, a heart yielded to Him can result in a beautiful cooperation in which we get to partake in the governing of the world. In combination with a heart enslaved to sin, however, authority can be a very dangerous thing. God honors the authority structures he sets in place, and as such, our abuse of our authority hurts ourselves, others, and ultimately God.
After their deliverance from Egypt, Moses is meeting with God on Mt. Sinai, but the Israelites below have built a golden calf as an idol to worship (Exodus 32). God tells Moses that he is going to destroy them, and start over a new nation through Moses. But then Moses intercedes on Israel’s behalf, remembering God’s promises and desires for them as a nation. Because of his intercession, God has mercy on Israel. Moses has submitted his life and heart to God. He has yielded the authority he’s been given on the earth to the heart of God. God can use a heart like that to lead and to change a nation. When the authority God has given to man is submitted back to be in line with His will, He can freely move and work on the earth and still honor the authority structures he set up. God can work with and through Moses to lead Israel back into His plans and purposes. But there hasn’t always been such submission in the history of Israel.
In Ezekiel 22:23-31, God presents a case against Israel, listing the offenses of their rebellion. Because of God’s great love for the world and his plans for Israel, He cannot allow them to continue on in sin and rebellion. His justice cannot let it go on. But unlike the golden calf incident, this time there is no intercession. “I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one. So I have poured out my indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their actions down on their own heads” (vs. 30, 31). If only someone would have submitted the authority given to them back to God, maybe He wouldn’t have had to bring his judgment. Maybe God could’ve worked with them and through them to mercifully restore his plans and purposes for Israel.
This is the heart of intercession. When our lives are yielded to the heart of God and the authority He has given to us is laid back at his feet, God’s plans to work with and through us in the governance of the earth can be fulfilled. The beauty of relationship manifests between the heavens and the earth, and we create along with God the fulfillment of His dreams. Intercession is not just the words in a prayer, it is a yielded heart. And this is my desire, that whatever authority God has given me may be submitted back at his feet, and He can use me for whatever means He sees fit to call forth His purposes on the earth. It’s no wonder that prayer is so powerful, and that Jesus says to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Let the dreams of God live through your yielded heart.