The Church of the saints - Can Anyone else be an intercessor if Christ is the intercessor?

The Church of the saints (5)

Can Anyone else be an intercessor if Christ is an intercessor?

 

Thomas: Let's continue our conversation. The last point we discussed was the interpretation of the verse "My glory I will not give to another." By considering the context of the verses and reading Paul the Apostle's letter to the Philippians, it becomes clear that the Father is saying, "I will not give my glory to another except to my Son, the suffering servant, who is the incarnate Christ." We also talked about how Christ in John 17 refers to the prophecy in Isaiah 42, speaking to the Father about the glory He gave them (the believers).

 

Mark: I've noticed you really enjoy your tea, bringing the results with you like a champion! 😄

 

Thomas:  I wish I knew the secret early on! 😄 Anyway, my question was honestly based on an unclear understanding of the verse you explained to me. Can I be an intercessor, and is Christ our intercessor? I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of describing myself with the qualities of Christ. I feel like I'm equating myself with the Lord and getting into the heresy of "human deification"!

 

Mark: Human deification once and for all?! No, sir, don't worry. We are talking about similarity and subordination, not equality. When the Lord gives Himself, His glory, and His Spirit, it doesn't make the human equal to God. There are three fundamental and essential differences:

 

• The Lord is the source, giver, and bestower, and the human is the recipient. The debtor is never equal to the creditor even if he takes everything from the creditor.

• The Lord is the guarantor, and the human is the one guaranteed. The guaranteed one will always need the guarantor forever, and, of course, the guarantor doesn't need a guarantor for his glory.

• The Lord is the filler and the absolute fullness. We, being filled by Him, take according to the measure of the gift of grace. How can the fullness be equal to the limited

 

Therefore, intercession is not an exception. It's beautiful that we understand this concept while reading the first epistle of John: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1 John 2:1). Some people confuse this with the verse in Paul's first letter to Timothy: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5), mistakenly saying, "We have one advocate with the Father." Even though we discussed the difference between a mediator and an intercessor, I want to emphasize that we have one intercessor with the Father in terms of the source and reliability of intercession.

 

Thomas: That's a very beautiful meaning. Can you explain practically or application-wise what it means to have one intercessor in terms of the source and reliability of intercession? How does this align with our previous discussion that Christ's presence in believers makes them intercessors?

 

Mark:  You can apply the idea we discussed in the following ways:

 

• Christ in us shapes our hearts according to His heart. We look at the needs of the needy and intercede for them, following the example of Christ the intercessor. When we intercede, we look at Christ who gave us the ability to feel what He feels, and we ask for what He asks. When intercession or requests are answered, the credit goes to Christ who accepted them and responded.

• Christ is faithful in what belongs to Him. He established the balance of intercession once on the cross and will remain an intercessor always for repentant individuals. As long as believers maintain their faithfulness toward Christ, Christ's heart will appear in their hearts, and the grace of Christ will work in their souls, offering their intercessions to anyone moved by the Spirit of Christ towards them.

 

Clearly, the credit for the action comes from Christ, and believers entrusted with it represent Christ. We spend from the credit of Christ, who has all fullness, and everyone spends and intercedes for the Lord according to his ability and the capacity of his heart.

 

Thomas: That's so beautiful! Instead of my question being "Can I be an intercessor, and is Christ our intercessor?" I now understand that we believers are intercessors because Christ is our intercessor. 💖

 

Mark:  Exactly, because the relationship between us and our Lord is a relationship of union and partnership, not competition.

 

Thomas:  God, that's enlightening. I get your point. Our relationship with the Lord is a union, not a competition.

 

Mark: That's right. Our belief is that intercessory work goes back to the work of the Lord, not the saints as competitors to the Lord. Even Peter and John said, "Not by our power or piety," but at the same time, the Bible attributes miracles to the apostles when it says that even Peter's shadow and Paul's handkerchiefs healed the sick, and evil spirits left them. (Acts 19:12). So, what prevents us from attributing the miracle to a saint as long as everything comes from the Lord's power?

 

Thomas: Absolutely.

 

Mark:  Alright, I won't bother you anymore. Can you pray for me today? 😊

 

Thomas: No worries, brother! Not before you explain how we, as a church, believe in the intercession of the departed. Everything you said applies to us, the living, but how do we apply it to believers who have passed away? We have direct commands against consulting the dead (Isaiah 8:19; Deuteronomy 18:11).

 

Mark: Fair enough. So, let's ‘sweeten’ the sitting and get two cups of tea, to answer the awaited question: "Do the dead intercede for the living?"

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