"I am the God of immeasurably more than enough."
"You destroy every relationship you touch."
"I reconcile and redeem all things, I bandage what has been wounded, and I make all things new."
"Your life will be always be small, insignificant and inconsequential."
"I know the plans I have for you, and they are not small and they are not insignificant."
"You just can't seem to ever get it right, can you?"
"I will right every wrong, correct every injustice, and judge every grievance."
"You will never be whole, you will always be lacking, and you will always be this way."
"I make all things new in you, complete all that is lacking in you, and transform all that is broken in you for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Two voices - one speaks lies, one speaks truth.
Satan - the Accuser - speaks in personal pronouns like you and your. He always point fingers and always cast blame - accepting responsibility has never been a part of his character. He is the father of lies (John 8:44), and the only language he knows how to speak is deception. He speaks in pronouns that reinforce our narcissistic selves. And he likes to see to it that we live our lives in the land of accusation. Because in that land we remain immobilized, paralyzed, inept and unworthy, trying to claw our way out of a pit that just seems to grow deeper and deeper. And you can always recognize the voice of the accuser because of that distinction, because of his use of those pronouns - and because feelings of shame inevitably follow his voice. He literally stands at the throne of God and accuses the children of God day and night, "For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night..." (Revelation 12:10). The devil is relentless in his accusations. Re-lent-less. He never lets up, he never backs down, he never takes a break, he never goes on vacation. Day and night, night and day, he stands at the throne, shouting accusations about me, about you, about every believer. He's screaming in the ear of God, hoping that one day his lies will prevail.
But Jesus - the Intercessor - speaks in personal pronouns like I and my.
Jesus will never point fingers and he will never cast blame - accepting responsibility has always been a part of his character, even to the point of accepting responsibility for sins he did not commit and dying for those who deserved death themselves. He speaks in pronouns that cause us to lift up our eyes and get beyond our own narcissistic selves. Jesus is the father of truth (John 14:6), and the only language he knows how to speak is truth and grace. He likes to see to it that we live our lives in the land of freedom. Because in that land we mobilize for his kingdom and find we are worthy, not because of anything we have done, but because of everything he has done. You can always recognize the voice of the Intercessor because of that distinction - feelings of condemnation never follow his voice. He sits on the throne and advocates for us, lobbies for us, declares truth over his children and drowns out the noise of the Accuser. He isn't screaming in the ear of the Father because he knows his truth has already prevailed. Hebrews 7:25 says, "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
Jesus always lives to intercede for us. Not accuse us. That's the devil's job - not Jesus'.
One of Jesus' chief aims in going to the cross was so that he could present those who put their trust in him as free from accusation. "But now [God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, " declares Colossians 1:22.
Free from accusation. What sweet freedom and relief.
The devil may stand for a time before God day and night declare accusations over me, but his end has already been written and one day his voice will be muted forever:
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.'The Intercessor silences the Accuser once and for all.
But until that day comes - until that day when the Accuser is hurled down - we must cling to the voice of truth, the voice of the Intercessor, the one who lives to advocate for us. We must choose his voice over all other voices, above all other noises, and over all other accusations lobbed against us.
If Jesus lives to intercede for us, then let us live to listen to his voice and believe his truth.
2 comments:
Truth! Well said!
So, so good. Yes!
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