We have considered three of six ways Jesus saves His people from their sins. Do you remember what they are? Jesus (1) lived for us, (2) died for us, and (3) rose for us. Most believers are aware of the first three, at least in a cursory manner. But the fourth is an often forgotten and/or undervalued action Jesus took on behalf of His people.
Jesus ascended into Heaven for those He came to save. This is important because once Jesus ascended into Heaven, He stands in the presence of the Father, as our Great High Priest, interceding for His people.
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The most obvious action of Christ’s role as our Great High Priest rests on offering Himself on the cross as the once-for-all, never-to-be-repeated sacrifice for our sins. Are you aware that our Great High Priest continues even now in Heaven as He intercedes for us all day, every day?
Our Intercessor prays in two ways:
First, that He prays for all of His people all of the time means that Jesus also intercedes for us when we are not explicitly sinning. He prays for us just as Christian friends pray for each other—except that He never stops praying for us, and His prayers are always according to God’s perfect will. How wonderful that because our Savior prays for us, we do not sin as much as we would otherwise!
Second, Jesus’ continuous intercession is good news, especially since even as believers we still sin.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if [since] anyone sins, we have an Advocate [a defense attorney] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
The great news is that, while the devil accuses us (Revelation 12:10), our Savior continually advocates for us before the throne of the Father every time we sin! And what is the basis of His plea? “Father, I died and rose for that sin too!” When you confess your sin, rejoice that Jesus paid for that sin too! How wonderful that our Savior continues to save us from our sins by praying for us when we sin!
The God-Man, Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven where we have a Man interceding for us and pleading our case when we sin.
Having considered four ways Jesus saves His people from our sins, next time a fifth.