The intercession of Christ

I have been working on a project on Christ's intercession which is described in Romans 8:34 and Heb 7:25. The issue of Christ's intercession raises a number of important questions. How should it be understood in relation to the atonement and indeed to our justification? Should it be understood as actual communication or metaphorically? In other words, should we understand Christ as interceding by his death or by on-going prayer? If the former, does this fit with a close exegesis of the relevant texts? If the latter, why does the Son need to pray to the Father and if he does pray what is the goal of his prayer? I am hoping to post a few thoughts over the next few days discussing some of these things.