THERE  IS ONE MEDIATOR

 

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).  Even though God blessed Mary in giving birth to the Savior of the world, she could never qualify to be our mediator.  Please notice there is ONE God and ONE mediator.  If we could have a co-mediator, can we also have a co-God?

 

It is often necessary to have a mediator to avoid or settle a strike in a large corporation because the parties involved cannot come to a suitable agreement.  When two parties are estranged, a mediator is brought in to bring about reconciliation to the separation and friendship again.  A mediator must be equally related to both parties; must not have been a part of or contributed to the separation; and must know all the facts of the case.

 

A mediator is necessary if there is ever to be reconciliation between God and man.  Job expressed the need for a mediator in Job 9:33.  “Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both” (nkjv). 

 

Jesus measures up to these requirements, and can serve as mediator between God and man.  First, He is equally related to both parties.  He is God.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) It is clearly affirmed that the Word (Christ) was God.  He is not God the Father, and He is not God the Holy Spirit, but He is God the Son.

 

The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 45:6, and applies it directly to Christ.  “But to the Son he says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom” (Hebrews 1:8).  This is said of the Son, and He is called God.

 

He is man.  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).  “God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).  Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14, and says Jesus fulfilled it. “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23 nkjv).  Consider Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38, for a full account of the birth of our Lord.

 

The humanity of Christ is demonstrated in many ways.  He got hungry, thirsty, weary, sleepy, He wept, and endured pain.  Since Jesus is both human and divine, He was equally related to God and man, and is the only one who could serve as our mediator.

 

When Jesus came into the world “He did not take on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:16).  If He had come as an angelic being, men would reject Him as mediator, saying He could not know what temptation is, and what a pull the world has on people.  However, as a man He “was in all points tempted as we are , yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).   He knows about being homeless, lonely, forsaken, betrayed, rejected, and He knows all about temptation.  That is the reason we can “come boldly to the throne of grace” through Him.  He knows, He cares, and He will help!

Second, He “committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).  He was not a sinner, and did not contribute to the alienation.

 

Third, being equally related to God and man, He knew all the facts, so He knew what it would take from the divine side to bring about reconciliation. “And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity” (Ephesians 2:16). Our one mediator will bring us back to God in the one body, which is the church.

 

Moses was mediator of the Old Testament (Galatians 3:19; Acts 7:37-38; Exodus 32:30).  Christ is mediator of a better testament (Hebrews 8:6; 9:14-15).