Jesus – Our Representative
Jesus Christ is our Representative before God. This is because He acted and continues to act on behalf of us. Because the Lord Jesus was a human and perfect, He was suitable to act as the Representative of the whole human race before God. God was willing to accept Jesus Christ in this role.
Jesus represents the human race before God in His more specific roles as High Priest, Intercessor, Mediator and Advocate. Under the New Covenant, Christ also is our covenantal representative before God.
Our High Priest
Hebrews 4:14-5:10 shows Jesus Christ was appointed as our High Priest before God. Hebrews 5:1-3 reveals high priests are appointed to represent us before God and to offer Him appropriate sacrifices for our sins: “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed from men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.”
On the Cross, Jesus Christ made the suitable sacrificial offering required by God’s perfect justice and holiness for us to have our sins forgiven, for God’s righteous anger against our sins to be propitiated and for us to be reconciled to Him. Propitiation relates to the appeasement and removal of God’s righteous anger against sinners and their sins.
The Cross was the great altar at which the perfect High Priest Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice to God as a substitute for every human being, taking the death punishment due to them because of their sin and guilt.
In His above wonderful work as our High Priest, Jesus Christ opened the way for the Father to be able to reconcile humans to Himself by undeserved grace without in any way undermining His own perfectly holy righteous nature and its demands for punishment of sinners.
Jesus is our Intercessor before God
Hebrews 7:25 shows that Jesus has been appointed as our perfect High Priest forever and He constantly intercedes to God for us as believers. He is constantly asking God the Supreme Ruler and Judge to forgive us of our sins, to be gracious towards us, to help and empower us to live as He requires, to work sovereign miracles in our lives and so on.
Jesus is the perfect pray-er. John 11:42 reveals God always grants all of Jesus’ prayer requests: “And I know that You always hear Me…”
One Mediator between God and us
1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 8:6, 9:15 and 12:24 reveal God appointed Jesus Christ to the role of Mediator between God and us. Hebrews 9:15 says: “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death…” 1 Timothy 2:5 declares: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
By His death, Jesus has reconciled two separated parties – God and humans. He is still acting as the Mediator between humans and God today, leading them back to Him.
Jesus is our Defence Lawyer before the Supreme Ruler and Judge
1 John 2:1 expresses that Jesus Christ is the Advocate or Lawyer for the defence: “…And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
The Lord Jesus defends us as believers before God the Supreme Ruler and Judge whenever we fall into sin. In terms of God’s justice, Jesus defends us by saying to God that He (Jesus) has paid the penalty prescribed for all our sins – past, present and future. Jesus defends us before God the Supreme Ruler and Judge because He loves us.
1 John 2:2 reveals Jesus had potentially propitiated or removed the righteous anger of God against the sins of everyone in the world. But this propitiation will only apply in a practical sense to those humans who have by faith received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Note Romans 3:25 links the receiving of the benefits of this removal of God’s anger to our having faith.
The glorious fact Jesus is our Defence Lawyer before God should be meditated on many times. Then when we sin, we will have God’s power-packed Word ready to prevent Satan from deceiving us into thinking we have returned to a state of eternal condemnation. We will be ready to meet the condemning accusations of Satan through God’s Word and through associated confession, repentance and cleansing on the basis of Jesus’ death.
God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – want Jesus Christ to defend believers in this way. It is not just God the Son who wishes to defend us.
Bible Study Questions
1. Explain what the Bible teaches about Jesus being our human Representative before God?
2. What does Hebrews 4:14-5:10 mean when it teaches Jesus is our High Priest before God?
3. Explain Jesus’ role as believers’ Intercessor before God?
4. What does it mean when 1 Timothy 2:5 and Hebrews 9:15 say Jesus is our Mediator?
5. Discuss Jesus’ role as our Defence Lawyer before God the Supreme Ruler and Judge.