April 2010

Relational Intercession

 “And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
-Romans 8:27
 
So as I have continued to chew on this bit of scripture, another idea has surfaced in my heart. This idea is more one of appreciation than of anything else. I am so glad that I have an advocate before the father. The number one reason why God sent his son, Jesus, into the world was to redeem us from the separation of sin so that we could have relationship with God.
 
 I am so grateful that this is not some sterile intercession based solely on the sacrifice of Christ. Think about that notion:   Jesus dies for us so God feels obligated to forgive us. Not only are there major theological errors with this idea, but it is devoid of any notion of relationship that has to do with us.   In this scenario, what Jesus does on our behalf before the father is more about their relationship than about anything to do with us.
 
I would submit that the Spirit’s intercession on our behalf is about the continual declaration from God that He desires to be in relationship with us. He is declaring the kind of relationship that lavishly pours out every good thing He has in store for the design of our life in His will…even pouring out His son. This is why He sent Christ to save and rescue us from a life of relational separation. I am so thankful for that. What a picture of love and faithfulness! Keeping in mind this thought and also bringing to mind our continual state of imperfection, I am awestruck that God-- the one who is righteously high and lofty in the most pure and incorruptible sense-- is mindful of any of us at all. 
 

The Mind of the Spirit

I want to apologize to my faithful throng of blog followers for giving you a draught of insight as I have not written in quite some time. Of course I am kidding about the great “insight” bit, but I do apologize for my absence. On that notion, I would like to offer a couple of ideas from Romans 8:27
 
“And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”  
                                                                             
When in college, I remember the Holy Spirit being explained as that which emanates from the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.  This is a mysterious picture of the emotions and will of God that leads us into “all truth” (John 16:13). What I am getting at is the Holy Spirit is the person of the trinity that reveals God’s desire to be in relationship with us. The Holy Spirit brings into us the revelation of how God wants that relationship to take place. He does this through a number of avenues and experiences that present of the Lordship of Jesus as God, judge, savior, redeemer and lover of our soul. These experiences are intended to engage our minds and cause us to examine the state of our hearts.  God is constantly searching our hearts seeking out His reflection in us. So here is my nugget: The mind of the Spirit is relationship because He is the essence of the relationship between the Father and Son. His primary role is to reveal this relationship to us in a way that helps us understand that God wants to share relationship with us. The difficulty for us is that we want the benefits of that relationship without having to actually be in it. 
 
When we want to get to know somebody there is one great key beyond reading general information about that person. The key is in the experience of relationship. What are we doing with God and where are we going with God that is allowing us to get to know what His heart is really all about? More than words, relationship brings us to a revelation of knowing the heart of God that no argument can steal away from us. This begs us to become doers of the Word--not because it is the rule, but because it causes us to know God better.  Through this experience we learn we can trust His heart and His hand as ever true, never failing, and always faithful. God’s will for us is that none should perish and that everyone should experience relationship with Him. This positions us to get every good thing that God has for us. Obviously not every one will choose this kind of relationship. But, for those of us who claim that this is what we want, it would do us good to examine again--what I am doing with God and where I am going with Him?