THE MEDIATOR

1 Tim. 2:5

Morning Meditation 4/16/16

1Tim. 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

The word “mediator” (mesites) means according to Strong: “one who intervenes between two, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship, or form a compact, or for ratifying a covenant, a medium of communication, an arbitrator.”

The definition justifies the statement: one who catches it from both sides. His job even when he mediates between parties on this earth is not an easy one. But being a mediator always suggests that the differences between the two are so great that direct talks are impossible.

Lets look first at the differences that require a mediator. God is a holy God and cannot compromise with sin. It is not that he is not interested in the sinner. But his very essence is totally incompatible with sin. Paul said 1 Tim. 6:16 “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.” The words “no man” translate one word (oudeis) and is not the word normally translated man. It means “no one, nothing.” The word “approach” (aprositos) means “unapproachable, inaccessible.” This means absolutely nothing has access to God that is out of harmony with his holy nature.

Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” This verse sets before us the sense in which God is totally unapproachable. If a person who has been contaminated by sin came into the presence of God, there would be a melt down! That persons existence would become non existent so fast you wouldn’t even see it happen. God holiness would take care of this. God would not even decide to destroy that person or that thing. God’s very nature is so holy that sin cannot exist in his presence.

Man is by nature a sinner. Since man sinned in the Garden of Eden, he has been so infected by sin that there is nothing about him that is not out of harmony with the nature of God. Paul says in Ephesians 2:3: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” He says in Romans 7:18: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 3:10-12: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Now if this doesn’t agree with your theology, then its time to change your theology.

When man sinned against God in the Garden of Eden God drove him from the garden. Genesis 3:24 says, “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” He did this for man’s protection. Man could no longer exist in God’s presence. A way had to be made for man come back into the presence of God without being destroyed. When you read the last chapter of the Bible, you will find that man is back in a garden where the tree of life is. Man has been restored. That restoration takes place through a mediator.

A mediator is a negotiator. Jesus is that negotiator. He knows what God’s demands are. He knows what God’s nature demands. He does not try to negotiate a compromise. He possesses the nature of God and the nature of man. John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” God became a man so that there would be a mediator to stand between his holiness and the sinfulness of man in order to reconcile man to himself. Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:19: “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” This is a very clear verse on the incarnation of God in Christ which also declares the purpose for the incarnation.

Jesus is called the Mediator of the New Covenant. Heb 9:15: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Heb 12:24: “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Jesus negotiates as a mediator on the grounds of satisfying the holiness and justice of God by paying the penalty of man’s sins and providing a righteousness that will stand in the presence of God’s holiness.

Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Every person who is saved is “in Christ.” And being in Christ has provided the necessary righteousness that man needs to stand before a holy God.

God cannot save man and violate his own holiness and justice in the process. Paul brought this truth out in Romans 3:24-26: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Notice the words “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” God must maintain his holiness and justice in saving man.

Man who asks God to accept his righteousness, which is flawed, as a means of acceptance is asking God to become unjust in the process of justification. This is asking God to become a sinner. It is rejecting the Mediator that God has chosen to save man. It will not happen. You cannot get to God except through Jesus.

Paul says in Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

The Mediator, Jesus Christ, stands between God and man. He has met all the demands that God has made of man in that he is absolutely holy (Heb. 4:15; Heb. 9:14). He has met the demands of justice in that he has paid the penalty of sin (Rom. 3:26). God has accepted the offering Jesus made for sin in man’s behalf ( 1 Pet. 1:3). Now the Mediator is negotiating with man for reconciliation to take place. Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is encouraging to those of us who have come to God through him to know that we have done it exactly like God demands that it be done. In case someone reads these lines who has not come to God through Christ, please do it now. He is the one Mediator. There is no other. He will make intercession for you. He will save you. There can be no compromise on God’s part. There is only one approach to God. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

May God bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White