Jesus The Mediator

 

In  1 Timothy 2, and verse 4,  we’re told that God  “would have all men to be saved  and come to the knowledge of the truth.”  But that sounds like we’re putting the cart before the horse.  Don’t you have to come to the knowledge of the truth, BEFORE you can be saved?  Well obviously the answer is YES!   You do have to come to the knowledge of the truth FIRST;  And then of course, by obeying that truth, you can  be forgiven of your sins, and thus saved from the consequences of your sins.  

And so it sounds to me like this verse is referring to being saved, and coming to the knowledge of the truth, as one “event” you might say.   It’s kind of looking at it as one whole package;  Being saved, and knowing the truth, as a whole.  It’s not necessarily referring to the order of what comes first.

Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.  (Hebrews 11:6)  We’re saved through our faith, says  Ephesians 2, verse 8.   And how does faith come?  It comes by hearing the word of God.  (Rom 10:17)   “Hearing” the word of God, implies believing and accepting the word of God.  And so “hearing” is basically equated with coming to the knowledge of the truth.

Here’s what the bible says in  John 8:31 & 32;  “Therefore Jesus was saying to the Jews having believed in Him;  “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, AND and you will know the truth, AND the truth will set you free.”  And so it kind of sounds like Jesus is treating that like one whole package also.  You believe, and you abide, and you know, and you are saved (set free).   

 

But it’s really the next verse that I want us to focus on this evening.  1 Timothy 2, verse 5  says.. (speaking of salvation)  “For there is one God, and one mediator also, between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  And  verse 6  says;  “Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”   

And the testimony has been given, through the word.  And we now have that knowledge.  The apostle John said, in  1 John 1, verse 3;  “That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you, (there’s the testimony)  that you also may have fellowship with us;  And truly our fellowship, is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

Isn’t it nice, and isn’t it wonderful, that when we have visitors here, like we do many times, that we can know, that we have fellowship with them, because we all have fellowship with God.   It’s a wonderful thing that God has brought us all together like that.  When we have fellowship with God, we have fellowship with one another.  And not even when we have visitors, but when we ourselves simply come together;  We are all shares, one with another, in the blessings of God, through Jesus Christ.

 

But let me get back to  1 Timothy 2, verses 5 & 6;  “For there is one God, and one mediator also, between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”   

“The man Christ Jesus” is our one and only mediator with God.   “The man Christ Jesus” was the ransom.  “The man Christ Jesus” was the sacrifice, which was able to bring us back, into fellowship with God.  We had become God’s enemy, hadn’t we?  We had.  “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5, verse 8)

“Love your enemies”  Jesus says, in  Mathew 5:44;   “.. bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”   

Jesus had enemies didn’t He?  There were people who cursed Him, and who hated Him.  And they most assuredly persecuted Him.  And yet, Jesus is THEIR mediator, as well as ours.

Now it goes without saying, that if they hated and cursed Jesus, that they also hated and cursed God the Father, even though they might not have understood that fact at the time.  But Jesus said in  Mathew 10, verse 40;  “..he that receives Me receives the One having sent Me.”    And so you can see how that rejecting Jesus, is obviously the same, as rejecting the Father who sent Him.   And yet, Jesus willingly became their “ransom”, He became their “sacrifice”, and He became their “mediator”, just like He’s our “mediator”.

A mediator, is a “go-between”.  He’s an arbitrator, a reconciler.   The role of a reconciler, (a mediator) is..  “to intervene, to restore peace between two parties, especially as it fulfills a pact, or ratifies a covenant.”   That’s what Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says.  

That’s a very specific role, to be fulfilled by a very specific individual.  And the scripture says that  “the man Christ Jesus”, is that specific individual.   Jesus the man.  What qualified Jesus the man, to become the mediator?  Well, there was one very specific thing that Jesus did, which qualified Him for that role.  He did it by leading a sinless life, and by becoming the lamb of God, without spot or blemish,  (1 Peter 1:19)  and by offering that life, a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

The blood of a perfect “Lamb” so to speak, was required, in order for sins to be forgiven.  And thus Jesus became the only one who could “mediate” between God and man, and bring peace between them.   And so when a sin needs to be forgiven, “the man Christ Jesus” is the “Mediator”.    When we sin, and when we confess that sin, and when we repent, and pray for forgiveness, the “Mediator” is there!   He’s always there.

Hebrews 10, verse 11  speaks of the old covenant law of Moses.  And it says;  “And every priest stands daily, ministering and offering, oftentimes, the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.”   And  verse 12  says;  “But this man, after He had offered ONE sacrifice, for sins FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God.” 

Jesus “sat down”..  that means that He settled into His position;  He was appointed the position by God the Father.  And remember that the phrase “the right hand of God” denotes the “power of God”.  The “right hand”, is The Power of God!

Some versions say that Jesus “settled into His position ON the right hand of God.”  And some versions say “AT the right hand of God.”  But that little two letter word, “EN” in the Greek, means more than that.   That little word, spelled “EN” in Greek, means..   “to be inside, or within;  To be “in the realm of, or in the sphere of the power of God”.  

Let me give you an example of how this word is used elsewhere in the bible.   Luke 2, verse 5,  is a simple little verse that speaks of Mary the mother of Jesus, and it says;  “..she was with child”.   

Now that’s simple enough right?  Mary was with child.  But of course we know that there was a whole lot more going on there, then just a woman being pregnant.  The Son of God had been conceived in Mary’s womb!   “With child” in that verse, is one word, but it’s a compound word.  And the first part of the word is that little two letter word “EN”.  And it means..  “within” Mary.   The Spirit of God was “present” you might say, and operating from within Mary’s womb, conceiving a child!

Now that sounds to me, like a much more “powerful” description of what was going on, than to simply say that she was “with child”.   And that’s a lot like  our verse in  Hebrews 10, verse 12.   “But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, settled down within the sphere of the power of God.”

Now THAT tells us what really took place!   And that’s the position that Jesus Christ is in right now.  He has taken His position in the realm, of the power of God, as He mediates for the sins of mankind.  Because of the sacrifice that He made, Jesus Christ has the POWER, (and the authority) to bring us back into fellowship with the Father.  Thank God for Jesus!

Verse 14  says;  “For by one offering, He hath perfected FOREVER, them that are sanctified.”   In other words, them that are cleansed and set apart, in the kingdom of Christ.   

 

 Now let’s look at another verse that fits in perfectly.   The verse is  Romans 8, verse 34;  “Who is he that condemns?  It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even AT the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”  Jesus is right there, within the very sphere of the power of God, and He’s there interceding for us, as our mediator.  We couldn’t ask for a more powerful mediator, than “the man Christ Jesus”.  

As long as we are “walking in the light” as  1 John 1:7  phrases it, Jesus is there mediating for us.   Let me just read that whole verse, because it talks about that fellowship again, that we have with God, through Jesus.   “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, AND the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”   That’s another one of those “packages”.  While we are living in faithful obedience to God, we are in fellowship with both the Father and the Son, AND at the same time, the blood of Christ is keeping us cleansed from sin.

And basically, that is exactly HOW Jesus is mediating for us, and that’s HOW He is interceding for us.  Jesus is mediating, and He is interceding, by cleansing us of our sins.

“For there is one God, and one mediator also, between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”   And we’ve heard that testimony, and we’ve believed that testimony, and we’ve been set free from the consequences of our sin.  “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift.”  (2 Corinthians 9:15)