![[Graphic of Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/advocate_with_the_Father.jpg)
| My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. |
| —1 John 2:1 |
Over the 73 years of my life, the verse of Scripture at the beginning of this blog post has come to mean so very much to me. The Apostle John—known in church history as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”—writes to the Christians in Jerusalem and Asia Minor a great truth. John shares something that has importance beyond measure.
John asserts that the reason he has chosen to write his first letter to them is so that he can encourage them to set sin aside in their lives. In so doing, John reminds these baby “Christ’s-ones” that if they do sin, they are not facing a holy God alone. No! They have an advocate who stands between them and God. And, this advocate is none other than God’s dearly loved only Son, Jesus.
Even as we begin another day, in heaven where it really matters, we have an advocate who stands before God in our behalf. Jesus takes our place, stands up for us, speaks on our behalf, and saves us from the rightful wrath of a holy God. Just as Jesus bore the penalty for our sins on the cruel cross of Calvary, so Jesus continues to advocate for us. Jesus is our brother. He is our friend. He is the one upon whom we can always depend.
Johnson Oatman wrote a song toward the end of the 19th century that has appeared in over 350 hymnals. It’s a song that we seldom hear sung today. The words have a special meaning in light of the teaching the Apostle John shared with those early Christians. Here are the words:
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our soul's diseases—
No, not one! no, not one!
Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!
No friend like him is so high and holy—
No, not one! no, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly—
No, not one! no, not one!
Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!
There’s not an hour that he is not near us—
No, not one! no, not one!
No night so dark but His love can cheer us—
No, not one! no, not one!
Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!
Was e’er a gift like the Savior given?
No, not one! no, not one!
Will he refuse us a home in heaven?
No, not one! no, not one!
Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus—
No, not one! no, not one!
