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True Intercession

True Intercession

by | Aug 31, 2015 | Church Newsletter Columns

person-371015_1280All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
Isaiah 53:6

Mom was the disciplinarian at our house, and a strict one at that, when I was a kid. Over the years, I watched my older sister, a crusader and rebel by nature, charge full speed ahead and bear the brunt of Mom’s wrath many times. Being averse to personal pain and suffering I chose to be a more compliant child, for the most part. But every now and then, I would stand my ground and wait for the wrath of Mom to descend. Sometimes it did.

But sometimes, Dad would wheel into the middle of the fray and intercede on my behalf. “Dorothy,” he would say, “Jo-Jo doesn’t usually argue with you. This must be important to her. How about you give her a break?”

At the same time, I would intercede on my own behalf by squeezing my eyes shut and silently praying, “Please, God. Please, please, please. If Mom gives me a break, I’ll never do anything bad again. Please, God. Please!”

Sometimes our pleas were ineffective, and I got a spanking. Other times Mom relented, and Dad gave me a wink and a smile. I went on my merry way, soon breaking my impossible promise to never do anything bad again. Because I was a kid, and that’s what kids do.

For years, until very recently in fact, my understanding of Christ’s intercession for sinners was stuck at a kid’s level, too. My vision of intercession was based on what my dad for me. Whenever I read these words from Isaiah 53:12–Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors–I pictured Jesus talking to His Father like my dad talked to Mom.

“You know,” Jesus would say according to my faulty interpretation, “silly little Jolene is doing the best she can. How about You give the girl a break because of my work on the cross.

Dad,” Jesus would add with a wink and a smile, “we both know I’ve got this.”
My picture of intercession changed a few weeks ago when I did a word study of “interceded.” I was surprised to discover that paga, the Hebrew word for intercession in Isaiah 53:12 was translated fall in Isaiah 53:6. As in But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

Immediately, my skewed picture of Jesus’ casual intercession on my behalf before His Father was replace by a darker, horrifying vision. I watched as the monstrously heavy anvil of my sin fell upon Jesus. He watched as it fell, saw it bearing down upon Him, and had time to step out of the way. Instead, He stretched His arms out wide to embrace the weight of my sin. I watched as my sin leveled Him to the ground. All that remained was the shape of the cross and the echo of His pain. Speechless, horrified, humbled, and undone I gazed upon His cross, His pain, and the words to an old hymn came to mind.

What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

Alleluia! What a Savior!

Abundant Grace

Abundant Grace

by | Jul 1, 2013 | Church Newsletter Columns

cherries

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,
much more those who received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:7

Summer in Iowa is a time of abundance. Our neighbor’s sour cherry tree is covered with enough fruit for their family, our family, and the birds. Hiram and I are working our way through a two gallon bag of lettuce given to us by friends. Every week, we feast on fresh-picked strawberries from our CSA share.

But the abundance of summer garden produce pales compared to the abundance of God’s eternal grace described in Romans 5. Over and over, Paul reminds us of two things: the abundance of human sin and God’s abundant grace. He reminds us that have a choice: to walk in the path of sin, or to follow the path where God’s grace. Whichever choice we make leads to abundance. The first, to abundant sin. The second to grace abundant enough to wash away our sins through the sacrificial love of Jesus.

The love of Jesus demonstrates God’s abundant grace. His vast capacity to absorb darkness into his light. His ability to take what was meant for evil and turn it to good. Not just for some sins in a few lives here and there. But for every sin in the lives of all who come to know him.

God doesn’t force this life-giving grace upon us. But it is always present, as long as we live. Always available, hiding in the mundane circumstances of our lives. Present in the midst of challenge and sorrow. Waiting to be discovered in the unexpected compassion of friends and strangers. Breathing hope into despair.

God doesn’t use an invading army to reveal and deliver this abundance. He uses one man, his Son. And he doesn’t grant blanket absolution to everyone on earth. Instead, he saves us one-by-one. Then he initiates a tender, intimate relationship with each believer. Not an elaborate, one time ceremony, but a daily, quiet conversation. Not a lightning bolt, once-and-final change of character, but a process of sanctification that begins when a person gives his heart, once-and-forever, to the Savior who died so we might live.

God offers his children an abundance of relationship. A relationship that lasts a lifetime, an eternity. A relationship in which we are free to explore his character, delight in his presence and enjoy his gifts. Through that relationship, we see him more fully revealed. We come to know the God, the One-and-only who intimately, simultaneously, and eternally lavishes abundant grace on all who come to know him as Lord and Savior.