God is not idle. Satan is not idle. But, God help us, some of us are idle.
Jesus loves us and is ministering on our behalf in the sanctuary above. He is not just our Savior and Helper; He is our pattern. He is not a Deity far removed, but as a personal Savior He drew close to us. He came to be Immanuel, God with us. He pitched His tent beside us and walked our dirty roads with us. He rose above the inflow of the world to pour love relentlessly into the darkness.
"His experience is to be ours" (The Desire of Ages 363).
Jesus' experience to be ours? This weighty truth often conveniently escapes us. We are contented to have Him as our heavenly lawyer, but less so as our heavenly physician. Yet what use is pardon without healing?
Jesus said, "The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" (John 14:30 NKJV). Could that ever be true of you and I? Could that line in the hymn "nothing between my soul and my Savior" be experienced here, now, not just some distant day way out in the infinity of eternity?
I believe so. Listen:
Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself: 'The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.' John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to His advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble" (The Great Controversy 623).
"Now" here is not an ambiguous word. Now is today, this very moment, while Jesus is making, present tense, the atonement for us. But "now" is also inconvenient, because there are in ourselves impulses and thoughts we do not want to curb right now. We want to make the correction later. Not very much later, but later, so that in this moment we can indulge thoughts of rage or bitterness. I am right about something, and a brother is wrong about something, and he should have a scolding!
Perhaps. But I might do him more service to pray for him than to scold him. Open apostasy must be confronted, but the truth be told, many of our battles are small and better left unfought. Jesus and the Holy Spirit can do more for us than harsh words.
Jesus is engaged. His special point of interest, strange as it may seem to us, is us. He "is making" atonement for us. Our salvation is the front and center thing for Him. He is thinking of you and I right now.
Jesus is our pattern. Not even by a thought could He be led to yield to the power of temptation. This is the definition given of what it means to be perfect in Christ.
That is exactly what I want to be true in me. Why should I give the devils place to stand? Why invite their nagging and niggling presence? We can have the mind of Christ. We can have thoughts and feelings which please Him and sanctify us. As Jesus kept Himself free of emotional entanglements with the world, and refused to be glued into his kingdom of fakery, so may we in His strength do likewise. We never have to enter that Disneyland.
My work today is to keep the commandments of God, just as was Jesus' work on earth. It is not about earning but experiencing salvation. We need not wait. We can have the help of Jesus in refusing to cherish the wrong things. This world is not my home. I seek a better land. We are pilgrims and how is our progress?
In what condition do I wish to be found? "This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble."
I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection . I want to know it "now" while my great High Priest is making atonement for me. I want to be right in my life now and meet Him in peace at His soon return!
Jesus will help me.
Larry Kirkpatrick has been a Seventh-day Adventist minister since 1994. He also operates the website GreatControversy.org and serves as host the “The Final Movements” webcast. He presently serves Muskegon and Fremont churches in the Michigan Conference.