Jesus Is Our Counselor

25 December 2013

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

Early on in Job’s troubles, he realized something very important. He desired to speak with God but he understood that God was too holy for him to approach. Job said,

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand on both. - Job 9:32-33

At this point in Job’s hardships, he understood two very important things:

  1. God is not just an ordinary man. Therefore, we cannot approach Him as such.
  2. There is no lawyer or mediator (daysman) among men that can reconcile us to God so that we can approach Him.
Counselor

Our ability to even be in the presence of God, much less live with Him for eternity, is a legal matter. We have offended a Holy God. We have violated His law. He is a God of justice, and so, justice must be done. But we cannot pay. Even if we had the desire to pay (which we would not have except for His grace), we do not have the ability. No matter good we would live our lives, that righteousness would never outweigh the fact that we have offended a perfect God.

So what hope do we have? If there is no way man can reconcile himself to God, what can be done? Our only hope is that Son that was given, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came to save us from this hopeless condition. His perfect life and death on the cross reconciled sinful to men to a Holy God. Our court hearing became His trial. Our sins were counted against Him and He died the death for us. His perfect and righteous life is counted to us. His resurrection from the dead declared that God was satisfied with the sacrifice and we were pronounced just based upon the righteousness of Christ. What we could not do, God accomplished through the work of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul put it this way,

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

It took nothing less than God's creative power to reconcile us to Himself. He created a relationship from nothing in us. He did it all through the work of Jesus, our Counselor!

In short, Paul tells us, "God did it all by His grace, now it is your job to reconcile that in your mind!"

Bryce Lowrance

Elder Bryce Lowrance

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