Welcome to Word of Life Study Series- Our glorious inheritance! According to the Scriptures Jesus is not just passively sitting around in heaven marking the days as they go by, just waiting for the Father to send Him back for the Church- NO! Now the ministry of Jesus encompasses the whole Church Universal throughout the earth. He is busier now than He was two thousand years ago when He had walked upon the earth. In fact His entire earthly ministry for us would not have been complete if He were not carrying on a ministry now on our behalf at the right hand of the Father.
1. Jesus our Great High Priest
Jesus had made the ultimate sacrifice for endless ages, the sacrifice of Himself for the remission of our sins. Just after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus entered the Holy of Holies in heaven with His own blood as our new High Priest of the New Covenant, in order to purchase our eternal redemption. When His blood was accepted by God the Father, it was then made possible for God on legal grounds to remit the sins of every person who would accept Christ as Savior and confess Him as their Lord.
2. Jesus our Intercessor
The moment a person puts their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are immediately placed under the protective care of the Great High Priest of the Universe. Jesus is our personal high priestly Intercessor! Jesus never takes a vacation, a nap, or is ever unaware of our situation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Because He is God, He is omnipresent (everywhere at the same time), omnipotent (all powerful), and omniscient (all knowing). There is nothing He can’t take care of for us! Jesus is always up close and personal, so let’s cast all our cares upon Him- 1 Peter 5:7.
3. Jesus our Mediator
Another office He fills today is that of Mediator. He mediates on our behalf as High Priest between God and man. Akin to intercessor, a mediator is a person midway between two parties who establishes an agreement or relationship between the parties and may act as a guarantor of that relationship. Mankind having been in a hopeless position of eternal separation from God, needed a mediator, one to represent their cause before God.
4. Jesus our Advocate
The word “Advocate” is the translation often given to the Greek word “parakletos” in 1 John 2:1. A word found elsewhere only in John’s Gospel as a title referring to the Holy Spirit; translated “Helper,” “Comforter,” “Counselor,” or “Advocate”- John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7. Ancient Greeks used the term for one called in to assist or speak for another, frequently in a court setting. Rabbis transliterated the word into Hebrew, using it to denote an advocate before God.
5. Jesus our Shepherd
One of the most endearing and yet practical offices that Jesus holds for us today is that of our Great Shepherd! The Bible mentions shepherds and shepherding over 200 times. However, the Hebrew word for shepherding is often translated, “feeding.” Shepherds led sheep to pasture and water (Psalms 23) and protected them from wild animals (1 Samuel 17:34-35). Shepherds guarded their flocks at night whether in the open (Luke 2:8) or in sheepfolds (Zephaniah 2:6) where they counted the sheep as they entered (Jeremiah 33:13). They took care of the sheep and even carried weak lambs in their arms (Isaiah 40:11).