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1 Timothy 2:5
“There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
One fundamental premise of the Christian faith is that human beings need to be reconciled to God, whom they have offended by their sin. Another is that this reconciliation—this salvation—occurs through the one Mediator between God and men, our Lord Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).
We begin our study of Christ’s person and work by considering the function of a mediator. First, a mediator brokers peace between two opposing parties. We use mediators in many areas of life. One friend might mediate between two other friends to heal a breach in the relationship. A specialist in labor relations might mediate between a company’s management and employees in a dispute. Church elders might mediate between two members to restore their fellowship.
Second, a mediator represents the interests of both parties in the relationship in order to restore them to one another. The mediator wants to make sure that all are treated justly and that a lasting peace results. On a human level, mediators are often chosen because of their perceived neutrality so as to guarantee fairness for all involved in the situation. If a crime has been committed, however, the state will often offer terms of punishment that the accused must accept to avoid trial, reduce his sentence, and see justice served. Representatives of the state mediate a deal, as it were, with the accused in such cases.
That forms the background for understanding why only Christ can be our Mediator. Remember that all human beings in Adam have sinned against the infinitely holy God, incurring an infinite debt of punishment (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12–21). As the medieval theologian Anselm of Canterbury argued, no ordinary human being can pay the debt that God has justly imposed: never-ending punishment. After all, an ordinary human being, even if sinless, is not infinitely worthy and cannot satisfy the infinite debt. Nevertheless, a man must pay this debt because man has incurred it. This Mediator, therefore, must be truly God and truly man. Because Christ is truly God, His life and death has sufficient value to satisfy God’s demands. Because He is truly man, Christ in His human nature pays the debt as a man. In His great love, God provided the Mediator we need by becoming man Himself in Christ and paying the debt that we owe Him so that peace between God and His people would be restored (John 1:14; Rom. 5:1–11).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Dr. R.C. Sproul writes, “No one but Christ has the necessary qualifications to effect reconciliation between God and man.” It is not just that we need a mediator but that we need the only Mediator who will actually satisfy the objective. No one but the Lord Jesus Christ can do this. Let us be grateful to God for providing our Mediator, and let us never attempt to approach God through anyone else but Jesus.
For further study
- Exodus 20:18–21
- Numbers 7:89
- Galatians 3:19–20
- Hebrews 9:15; 12:24
The bible in a year
- Job 21–22
- Acts 10:1–23a