No Middleman
In real estate and brokerage accounts and retail sales, there’s always a middleman. It explains the prices we pay in retail stores as the difference between wholesale and retail pricing. We’re willing to pay for the convenience, the variety, and not having to have large storage spaces. In real estate and brokerage accounts, we assume, though not always true, our agent is looking out for our best interest.
Some religions have middlemen.
This is a carryover from Old Testament times when the Scriptures were not available to the people at large and God appointed priests and prophets to speak His word to the people and pray to Him for the people. But from the beginning of New Testament times, there has been no need for a priest or prophet—a middleman—to act as an agent between man and God, because “God…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son (Heb.1:2).”
Listen to what Hebrews 4:16 says,
“Therefore,[because Jesus is our high priest] let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” God Himself is available to all who give their lives to Jesus, who, as our middleman, our high priest, “always lives to make intercession for[us]” (Heb. 7:25). Think about that. Our Savior, the living Christ, prays for us. We can, with confidence go anytime for as long or short as we want, to the throne of grace where our Father dwells.
The God of the Old Testament
was seen as unapproachable and scary. And with the exception of the prophets, Moses et al, the idea of God as a loving father never crossed the people’s minds. But we’ve had over two millennia to get used to the idea that we can go directly to God without any man-made roadblocks. Do we want or need mercy and grace? Go directly to God in prayer. James reminds us “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures 4:2,3.”
God is ready, willing and able
to do “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). But are we ready, willing and able to talk to Him like we would an earthly father? If we’re not, it’s likely that we’re listening to the wrong spirit, the spirit of lies whose only goal is to either keep us from confessing our sin and opening our hearts to receive the Holy Spirit, or, having already become a new creature in Christ, to keep us on the sidelines and off our knees by whispering things like, “You say you’re a Christian, but your life doesn’t reflect it.” Or by casting doubt on God’s promises, “God can’t forgive you because you keep doing the same thing.” Remember what one of Satan’s names is: the accuser (Rev. 12:10). Don’t accept or internalize these accusations. God’s forgiveness covers all sin past, present, and future.
Scripture warns us,
“But realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
As you look over the preceding list,
do you see signs of this behavior in today’s society? Know that not all the men described here are outside the church. Today, many men calling themselves prophets are more concerned with profits than building God’s kingdom. We must be alert to the devil’s wiles. Which is why the gift of direct access and personal, intimate conversation with our Father, is so important. We need to embrace this honor given to us from the Father of lights, the giver of “every good thing and every perfect gift” (James 1:17).
Unlike other “counsellors,”
our Father has no limited office hours, or waiting list, or prior commitments that stand in our way of going to Him day or night seven days a week. He’s always available, always anxious to talk with us about anything and everything that’s on our hearts. He is so much more than a sympathetic ear. He has the wisdom and knowledge to see through our facades and point us to the root issues, which are, more often than not, driven by our pride. We just have to be humble enough to receive His Fatherly advice and, yes, correction (2 Tim. 3:16). Keep in mind, it all comes from His heart of love. We can’t ask for anything more than that.
If you don’t have a relationship to the God presented here, check out our Steps To Salvation section on this site.