ONE MEDIATOR
ONE MEDIATOR
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim. 2:5)
The profound significance of this truth is all but beyond human explanation. God is in heaven and we are on the earth. Jesus taught about God: “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6:6). Jesus taught about us: “the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.” (Jn. 3:31). There is obviously a great gap between heaven and earth and according to the Bible Jesus is the only “Way” to bridge that gap. He is our “One Mediator”. He is not just “a Way” to God, He is the “Only Way” to God. No one can come to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6).
If you picture the saved as a sheepfold Jesus is the only Gate to enter in and anyone who tries to enter another way is like a thief or a robber (Jn. 10:1-10). If you picture the saved as a building Jesus is the Foundation. Again, He is not “a” Foundation, He is the “Only foundation”. “ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11). If you picture the saved as a Temple Jesus is the “Cornerstone” and on whomsoever He falls will be ground to powder (Matt. 21:42-44). Jesus is also our great and only “High Priest” (Heb. 9:11). At the same time Jesus the “One Sacrifice” by which He makes perfect those who are being made holy (Heb. 10:14). “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acs 4:11).
The fact that Jesus condescended to become a “man” was a great mystery hidden for ages and generations which has now been disclosed to the saints (Col. 1:26). The decision for Christ to become our sacrifice was made before the creation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20). It was an integral part of what Moses and the prophets wrote (Lk. 24:25). The prophets searched and inquired diligently trying to understand this mystery but were not able to do so. Even the angels desired to look unto these things (1 Pet. 2;10-12). No one could understand this “mystery”, however, until it was revealed (Eph. 3:7-11).
Paul stated this mystery succinctly in Philippians 2:6-11). “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
One characteristic of the ungodly is that they “reject authority” (Jude 8). This is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden (Gen. 3:1-7). This is why the Law of Moses prescribed the death penalty for children who rebelled against their parents (Deut. 21;18-21). This is why Korah, Dathan, and Abiram died for rebelling against Moses (Nu. 16:1-35). Since Jesus has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), can you imagine how suicidal it is to reject Him (Heb. 10:28-31)?
God loves the world so much that He died on the cross that we might be saved (Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 3:16). He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). In His eternal wisdom He has ordained that Jesus be the One Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). It is foolishness bordering on insanity to tell the Sovereign of the Universe that you do not like His terms of salvation. Where were you when God laid the foundation of the earth (Job 38:4)? What will your pride get you when you are aged and infirm lying in your own filth and struggling for another breath of air? Yes! God was patient while the ark was being built (1 Pet. 3:20), but there came a day when even the long suffering of God reached it’s limit.
A drowning man does not wait for the Queen Elizabeth, he grasps at a straw. We are drowning and it is completely irrational to expect God to come down from His Throne and permit us to dictate the terms of our own salvation. The Good News is that there is a Mediator between God and man. Please don’t complain about it!