June 4 - 1 John 2:1-2. Advocate

June 4 - 1 John 2:1-2. Advocate

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

It is so easy to focus on the sin and lose sight of the One who died for our sins.

John is fully aware that we can’t totally avoid sin – even if we want to.  He doesn’t want us to sin, he wants nothing more than for us to not need the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, but God knows that we live in a world filled with sin and ensured that there is something greater in our lives than that.

Jesus is our advocate.  This imagery is quite powerful.

Revelation 12:10 tells us that Satan is our accuser – standing before God and accusing us day and night.  All of our sins are constantly laid out in order to stop us from being made whole in the sight of God.  Over and over, our sins are spoken aloud by the accuser.

But, Jesus, our Advocate stands before God as well.  His blood, poured out on the cross for everyone, overcomes the accuser and sets aside every accusation.  Our sin is covered over by the Advocate.  Our sin is forgotten by God because Jesus Christ takes it away.  He is the atoning sacrifice.