We Have A Friend In Power

April 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

AFTER HIS FINISHED WORK
We Have A FRIEND In Power

In His prayer to the Father just before His crucifixion, Jesus said: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (Jn. 17:4-5 NKJV ). He spoke of His “finished work” in the context of His glorification. What does this mean for us?

According to the writer of Hebrews, it means that after our Savior “purged our sins” on the cross, He “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). If we think of this in light of Him calling us His “friends” (Jn. 15:13-14), we discover that Christians have the most powerful Friend in the most high place, heaven. And how powerful is He? He’s Heir of all things, Creator of all things, and the One who holds all things together (Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:16-17).

And He doesn’t just sit there; He actually “makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34), or “sticks up for us” as The Message puts it. We have a Friend in heaven who knows all our weaknesses because He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). We can go directly to Him at any time because He “always lives to make intercession” for us (Heb. 7:25). In fact, Hebrews makes the point again: He’s in heaven “to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24).

And this One who is “crowned with glory and honor” because of His finished work on our behalf (Heb.2:9), also teaches us to worship (Heb. 2:12). We become the “true worshipers” He spoke of, who “worship the Father in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:23), not because of anything we do, but only because of what He has done for us on the cross, and continues to do for us in heaven.

We hope that this month’s Features about the finished work of Christ will bless you and lead you to a deeper appreciation of your Friend in power.

By Larry Ondrejack