QuickThoughts: The Intercessor

📘 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

1 Timothy 2:5 LSB

Jesus Christ may be the only mediator of the new covenant between God and man, but did you know He is NOT the only intercessor?

When we pray, the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes with us, even when our prayers seem futile and weak!

📘 And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

Romans 8:26

Within the Trinity, not only is Christ our High Priest before the Father, but the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf, without the need of words because the Father knows the mind of the Spirit, for they are one.

📘 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:27

What is this “will of God?” Paul goes on to explain:

📘 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Everything the God does, everything the Spirit intercedes for, is done for the ultimate good of those who love God and whom He has called!

So, one aspect of the will of God is for Him to lavish His love on His beloved children and sovereignly work ALL things for our benefit.

There is an end goal in mind, however, in God’s will for us:

📘 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers;

Romans 8:29

Don’t miss it, brethren. The ultimate “good” that God is working in His will, the ultimate intercession made by the Spirit, is that we who are in Christ become conformed to His image. To become more like Christ is God’s will for us; it is the very good for which He is working ALL things.

And, as with all things, God’s will WILL be done. He will accomplish it.

📘 and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.

Romans 8:30

We’ve been predestined, called, justified, and glorified in Christ! There is no undoing what God has already done, what He has decreed from the beginning.

So pray, my brothers and sisters. Even when we do not have the words to say or even the thoughts to speak, know that the Holy Spirit has got your back.

Rejoice in the sovereign grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He has given freely.

After all, “if God is for us, who is against us?”