The Legal Trinity Occasionally, God brings a new idea into focus for me. I offer nothing profoundly new, but simply a new connection of already existing points. The ‘dots’ began to connect as I read in Hebrews 9:15, The Voice: This is why Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant: through His death, He delivered us from the sins that we had built up under the first covenant, and His death has made it possible for all who are called to receive God’s promised inheritance. The word, mediator, caught my attention. What is a mediator? What purpose does a mediator serve? How did Jesus’ life, death and resurrection mediate God’s will to us? Jesus, in the role divine Mediator, was sent by God to bring us into agreement, to end the conflict, to establish a new relationship with us. God was and is the offended one in the relationship. God also sits as Judge over all creation, with the authority to mete out justice. So, the Judge sent the Mediator to meet us and mete out justice. In an act of unexpected, undeserved, amazing grace, the Mediator doesn’t offer a middle ground; instead he pays our debt by covering all the ground between us and God with his blood. Not a pretty picture, but the truth. The offence needed addressing. The consequences could not be lessened. The Judge sent the Mediator to pay fully our debt. Only then was a new relationship possible. Not only did the Judge send the Mediator to pay our consequences in order to offer a new relationship, He sends an Advocate to champion and support the relationship. The Advocate now invites offenders into this new relationship. The Advocate whispers the call to eternal life. The Advocate woos us into the new covenant as a lover woos the beloved. The Advocate continues to bring the freeing results of God’s grace to all who enter into the Mediator’s New Covenant. I had recognized God as the Holy Judge and Jesus as the Mediator of the New Covenant and the Holy Spirit as the Advocate, but today the connection between the three roles fell into sharper focus. The familial picture of the Trinity as Father, Son, and Nurturing Spirit teaches me of God’s pursuing, redeeming, and sustain love. The creative picture of the Trinity as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer reminds me of God’s creating, redeeming, and transforming power. This legal picture opened for me a renewed appreciation for God’s undeserved, pursuing, and sustaining grace and mercy. I, the guilty, stand exonerated by the sacrifice of the Mediator, Jesus, who was sent by the Judge, God, to absorb fully the penalty of my willful separation. I, the redeemed, experience the grace of God through His Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who continually provides the means to remain in right relationship with the Judge. Thank you, Holy Judge, for paying my debt, freeing me from my guilt and penalty, and enabling me to abide in right relationship with you eternally! AMEN
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 14:21:18 +0000
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