"In many of the popular sermons and hymns of the last two centuries Christ is set forth as mediator between an angry God and the condemned sinner, pleading with God for mercy, at the same time receiving the divine wrath into his own bosom and thus averting from the sinner the consequences of his sin." (The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, vol. 7 page 270)

Unfortunately this view has held sway since the beginning of the SDA church, and it is all too often the idea many have when they think of Jesus as our Intercessor. That Jesus is pleading with the Father for His mercy upon sinners. Of course the obvious problem with this scenario is that it divides the Godhead. The Bible is quite clear about Gods love and mercy, so there would be no need for Jesus to plead with the Father for mercy upon sinners. By the same token there is no reason for Jesus to plead with the Father that He (the Father) would accept Christ’s sacrifice to cover a sinners sins. We must always remember that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One. (Deut 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

John 14:9-10 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.(NIV)) There is complete unity.

Christ is designated as the mediator because he reconciles God and man, by uniting His divine nature and the human nature which had become estranged due to sin. (Gal 3:20 A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. 1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 2 Cor 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Rom 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? (NIV))

But what do we mean when we say that Jesus is our Intercessor.

Heb 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (NIV)

Jesus intercedes with us to bring us back to God. The believer is brought into communion with God through Christ because Christ came to earth to reveal to the world the very nature of God. Understanding who God is, is the major step needed to prompt us to come back to a relationship with God. Jesus intercession is pictured for us in Rev 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (NIV)

Jesus is the God-Man who came in time and space to reveal the nature of God. This was a major work of intercession and reconciliation. But God also is spiritually interceding with mankind in the present non-historical setting (He always lives to intercede for them). Rom 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

(KJV)

Intercession is not Jesus pleading for us with the Father. Because all of the Godhead in unison is pleading with mankind for their reconciliation to God. Intercession is God pleading for us to come back, and have a relationship with Him, to no longer rebel, to no longer be the enemies of God.

As our High Priest Jesus reveals God to man. Living as a man Jesus shows us that God understands our human condition. This is done for our benefit since an omniscient God most certainly already knows about our human condition. As our High Priest Jesus tells us that we can freely come to God, that God will accept our repentance. We must always remember that Jesus is God, He is presenting Himself before us in ways that we can understand. (Rom 8:33-34 : Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-- more than that, who was raised to life-- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (NIV))

When John says that Jesus is our Advocate with the Father, he is pointing out the unity of God. God is on our side (or more appropriately, we are now on Gods side). Rom 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? (NIV)

For too long we have taken 1 John 2:1 (My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (ASV)). As Christ pleading with the Father to forgive us, but that is not the intent of the text. The text shows us that God is ready to forgive us if we desire to be forgiven. Another similarly misused text is Heb 9:24: For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. (NIV) Christ who sits on the right hand of God,(Mark 16:19, Luke 22:69, and others, too many to mention) representing His authority and power, is the same loving and caring person that He was as a human being. Paul is expressing the fact that God is always there to help us. God is not our enemy! He is the friend which is closer than a brother, He is our strength, and ever present help.

Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father are all our intercessor. They are not pleading among themselves to forgive us. Rather they are pleading directly with you and me to repent and follow after God’s plan. When we accept the giver of Life, He gives us Life.