God's Plan for 2021

God's Plan for 2021 Spring Valley Mennonite; January 3, 2021; Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:1 Happy New Year! As we begin 2021, as believers we should be looking forward with optimism-this year can't be worse than 2020! I've given this sermon the title of "God's Plan for 2021." This might lead you to believe I have some special insight from God of the events which will occur in the next 12 months. I must admit that I am as much in the dark as you are! There are some things I do know, but many things I do not know. I have hope, but no way of really knowing whether the Covid-19 vaccine will effectively end the pandemic. But I do know that the effects on the economy will continue to be felt; whether that will be a positive or negative influence is unknown. I certainly don't know what will happen in the political realm in the next year. I do know that whatever happens, half of the people in the country will be unhappy. I also know that the next year for each of us personally will be mixed with disappointments and blessings, for that is the stuff of which life is made. But of some things I am completely confident: I know that God sovereignly rules over the affairs of men and nations. God will remain the same, for He never changes. His plan for the ages is moving forward according to His will. I know heaven awaits those in Christ, and I know Jesus is going to return, perhaps soon! I know that God desires that all should come to repentance and be saved, although I also know that many reject any idea that they even need salvation on a personal level. We do not know the "particulars" of what God is going to do in 2021, but we do know that He remains sovereignly in control and as we maintain close fellowship with Him, our lives will be blessed. My remarks this morning will center on the revealed will and plan of God as it relates to each of our lives. This morning I am speaking primarily to believers about what Jesus Christ is doing and desires to do daily in each of our lives, through the Holy Spirit and according to the Father's plan. I assume that those who will listen or watch this message have already come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and have a desire to grow in your faith. I have two texts this morning, the first in Hebrews 7:25 and the second in 1 John 2:1. The first verse tells us that Jesus intercedes for us continually; the second tells us that Jesus is our Advocate. It will be helpful if I tell you how I arrived at this message. I. THE GENESIS OF A MESSAGE This has been a particularly difficult Christmas season for me, as well as for many of us. I was disappointed that our whole family was not able to gather as is our tradition. After Christmas Day, packages remained under the tree, and the excitement of watching children and grandchildren opening gifts together was missing for the most part. Because of COVID-19 restrictions and infection our traditional celebrations were curtailed. I never realized how important those traditions of being together were to me! We did have one daughter and her family with us, for which I am so very thankful. My response to this disappointment was to sink into a dark mood early in the week (yes, Pastors do this too!). Thankfully, this didn't last long, for God used it to make me hungry for encouragement from Him. I realized my weakness and God graciously spoke to my heart. I want to share how God encouraged me, for it has tremendous implications for each of us on how to rise above the disappointments we will encounter this next year. I was reminded of the downward spiral which the devil desires for us, which begins with disappointment, then moves to discouragement, then disillusionment, to despair, then ending in depression. We need to be aware of the danger of dwelling on the negative circumstances and disappointments of life, for the deceiver desires to destroy our joy and create doubt about God's goodness. God led me to a book based on the writings of the Puritans of the 17th century. I admit I was incredibly surprised by the encouraging thoughts I read, as my stereotypical attitude toward the Puritans was rather negative, believing them to be overly sober, strait-laced, and uptight. I found this stereotype to be completely wrong. True, the Puritan writers never side-step sin, but their insights about the present and continual ministry of our Savior is refreshingly cheering and encouraging. Let me make a connection with my theme of "God's Plan for 2021": my focus is upon what the Lord Jesus will do for each of us this next year, regardless of circumstances. There undoubtedly will be discouraging times for each of us but knowing these truths will encourage our hearts and as we remember them, will enable us to rise above whatever happens and live triumphantly. I'll begin with examining how: II. CHRIST CONTINUALLY INTERCEDES FOR US Turn to Hebrews 7:24-25. "But He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever (or to the uttermost) those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." The author is contrasting the High Priests of the Old Covenant who died and were replaced, with Jesus Who forever intercedes for us. Why do we need such intercession? Remember that once every year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest took blood and sprinkled it over the Mercy Seat, the lid resting over the Ark of the Covenant. This yearly blood application temporarily covered the sins of the people. In contrast, Jesus' shed blood not only covered our sins but removed once and for all the condemnation and the separation from God caused by our sin. This is the doctrine of Justification. We are declared righteous before God, legally exonerated from the penalty of eternal death. Justification is largely about what Christ did for us in the past; intercession is about what Christ is continually doing for us now. Dane Ortlund, in the book I referred to earlier, writes, "Christ's heart is a steady reality flowing through time. It isn't as if his heart throbbed for his people when he was on earth but has dissipated now that he is in heaven. It's not that his heart was flowing forth in a burst of mercy that took him all the way to the cross but has now cooled down, settling back once more into kindly indifference. His heart is as drawn to his people now as ever it was in his incarnate state. And the present manifestation of his heart for his people is his constant interceding on their behalf." Intercession is when a third party comes between two others and makes a case on behalf of the other. When Christ intercedes for us, He applies what the atonement accomplished. It isn't that Justification left anything undone, we are completely justified and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. As Ortlund points out, "Christ's intercession is a reflection of the fullness and victory and completeness of his earthly work, not a reflection of anything lacking in his earthly work. The atonement accomplished our salvation; intercession is the moment-by-moment application of that atoning work." Romans 8:33-34 links justification and intercession: "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." When our son Michael was running cross-country, even when he was well ahead of many of his competitors, I did not relax my cheering and encouraging him, being satisfied with his position in the race. I continued to yell at the top of my lungs encouragement and affirmation! So it is with the Lord's intercession for us. It is a matter of His loving heart toward us. The King James version does a superior job when it translates Hebrews 7:25 as saying, "He is able to save us to the uttermost." The Greek word translated "uttermost" or "forever" is a word meaning completeness, comprehensiveness, and exhaustive wholeness. The point of this is what we know about ourselves: we are sinners to the uttermost. We need a Savior who is "to the uttermost." One demonstration of our continuing sinfulness is our tendency to think we need to add something to Christ's work, to contribute. Its like we read this verse to say "Christ is able to save for the most part those who draw near to God through him." Some small part in us, some small pocket of sin causes us to have difficulty believing in God's complete forgiveness. But to the uttermost means that God's forgiveness reaches down deep into even the darkest crevices of our soul, to the places of which we are most ashamed. The loving heart of Christ willingly goes there. He knows us to the uttermost and saves us to the uttermost. We know this because He always lives to make intercession for us. God knows we are ongoing sinners. We continue to fail despite our best efforts. He continues to intercede because we continue to fail. Calvin wrote, Christ "turns the Father's eyes to His own righteousness to avert his gaze from our sins. He so reconciles the Father's heart to us that by his intercession he prepares a way and access for us to the Father's throne." But Christ not only intercedes for us, but: III. CHRIST IS ALSO OUR ADVOCATE In the Lord's present ministries of intercession and advocacy we see overlap, but while intercession mediates between two parties, advocacy has the idea of aligning oneself with another. Intercession stands between, an advocate moves to the side of one and joins him as he approached the other. The key text for Christ as our advocate is 1 John 2:1 (turn there): "My little children, I am writing to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." God's ministry of grace is not morally indifferent. Paul addressed the problem of believers thinking that because "where sin abounds, grace abounds even more" we should continue to sin so that grace might flow even more. Paul's response to this foolish thought was "absolutely not! Perish the thought! Good grief, No!" The Apostle John's purpose in writing his letter of 1st John is that we should not sin. That would be an adequate theme. But left on its own, it would totally crush us, for WE DO SIN! Listen again to chapter 2, verse 1: "My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." The Greek word for "Advocate" is parakletos, used five times in the New Testament, once here and the other four times in John 14-16 where Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit. The full meaning of the word is difficult to express in English, and different translations have it as "helper, advocate, counselor, comforter, and companion." I think Advocate comes closest to the idea of someone who appears on behalf of another. The term expresses strong solidarity by the advocate. The text goes on to say that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin; He satisfies and turns away the just wrath of God toward our sin. And this propitiation is for anyone who desires it, "for the whole world." This is another way of saying that salvation is available for everyone, but one must believe and desire salvation to receive it. The difference between intercession and advocacy is that intercession is something Jesus does for us continually; advocacy occurs WHEN WE NEED IT. Look at the text: "IF anyone sins..." When we as a believer sin, the Lord Jesus' ministry of advocacy comes into operation. The Bible never teaches that believers will never sin, and each of us can bear testimony to that fact! In fact, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives sensitizes us to sin. Our sins feel even more sinful after we are saved than before. And sometimes-even as believers-we sin "big" sins. It is at those times that the enemy comes on strong in accusation saying things like, "If you were a real Christian you would never have done such a thing. You have lost your salvation." Or when we are dealing with a persistent sin, he loves to say, "God is really fed up with your insincerity. He doesn't want anything further to do with you." Remember Satan is the "accuser of the brethren." On the contrary, it is when we sin that Christ Jesus comes to our side as our Advocate! He encourages us to not "throw in the towel!" Ortlund puts it like this: "Yes, we fail Christ as his disciples. But his advocacy on our behalf rises higher than our sins. His advocacy speaks louder than our failures. All is taken care of." We see here a division between the finished work of Christ and the continual work because of the heart of Christ. On the basis of his sufferings, death, and resurrection he defends our cause. Listen to this: our salvation in Christ is not a formula, it is a person. We have the Lord Jesus in heaven who comes alongside each of us when we sin and together he leads us to the Father for forgiveness and restoration. And there is absolutely no reluctance on the part of the Father to restore; His loving heart welcomes us. This ministry of Jesus on our behalf, this ministry coming from his heart of love should motivate us to deeper appreciation and love toward him. It should motivate us to live holy and righteous lives. We are called to forsake our sins, and anyone seeking to please God strives toward this end. We are called to grow toward maturity, and our lives should demonstrate godliness. When we choose to sin-and sadly, we do make such choices-forsaking our true identity in Christ, choosing to invite misery and consequence into our lives, grieving the Father, we may even try and advocate for ourselves, minimizing our sin or blaming circumstances, or trying to explain how it really wasn't our fault. We are natural "self advocates." But when we make bad choices, the Lord Jesus does not forsake us. As we confess that sin, His love for us overflows as He comes to our side, takes our hand, and goes with us to the Father in our behalf as our Advocate. It is on the basis of His suffering and death that we are forgiven. Allow me to close with a quote from John Bunyan, another Puritan: "Christ gave for us the price of blood; but that is not all; Christ as a Captain has conquered death and the grave for us, but that is not all; Christ as a Priest intercedes for us in heaven; but that is not all. Sin is still in us and with us, and mixes itself with whatever we do, whether what we do be religious or civil; for not only our prayers and our sermons, our hearings and preaching; but our houses, our ships, our trades, and our beds, (all) are polluted with sin. "Nor does the devil, our night and day adversary, forbear to tell our bad deeds to our Father, urging that we might forever be disinherited for this. "But what should we now do, if we had not an Advocate; yes, if we had not one who would plead; yes, if we had not one that could prevail, and that would faithfully execute that office for us? Why, we must die. But since we are rescued by him, let us be silent." We never are to minimize our sin, but confess it, realizing that Jesus Christ, on the basis of His righteousness comes alongside and goes to the Father with us, saying, "He is mine, Father." This is a new year; we don't know what challenges it will hold, but it can be faced with confidence that Jesus continually intercedes for us and stands ready as our Advocate. Be encouraged! Jesus has not only saved us, but continually ministers on our behalf. Whatever happens this year, as we walk with the Lord, He will preserve and uphold our cause. 2