Twitter
RSS
Facebook
ClickBank1

12/11/11 Christ Jesus: Our Unique Mediator, Our Hope

12/11/11 Christ Jesus: Our Unique Mediator, Our Hope

1 Timothy 1:1; 2:5                                                                         Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 12/11/11
Inspired by a message delivered by @Steve Stastinos@ 10/24/11

“Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope…”

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
In our last message we focused on God our Savior. We learned about God’s awesome nature…that he is eternal, invisible and lives in unapproachable light. But yet he makes himself accessible to us, through his grace and forgiveness… through the gospel. We can meet this great and awesome God of ours through having a personal life experience with God. We learned that God is our creator and provider. He graciously provides us with all things, especially he gave us a Savior, Jesus, whom we are celebrating and worshipping this Christmas. Though God is extremely holy, and lives in unapproachable light, we can approach him through faith and by his grace. He saves completely those who come to him repenting of their sins and placing all of their hope and trust in him. Only God can save us. Only God can be our hope to come out of the darkness and live eternally in the kingdom of God.

Today we want to think about who Jesus is. To put it simply, God, Our Savior, wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (2:3-4). He did this by sending his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, as our hope. He is the hope of the individual and of the world. He is our hope personally, nationally and internationally. This great hope of ours was born as a tiny baby in a manger 2,000 years ago.

To understand how Jesus is our hope, we must think about who Jesus is. That is a mystery revealed in the gospel. 1 Timothy 3:16 reads, “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” The fact is, Jesus incarnated among us. The Holy Spirit vindicated his ministry through mighty acts of power, such as healing the sick. raising the dead, driving out demons, and forgiving sins. Sinful mankind put Jesus to death on a cross, but God raised him from the dead. This was witnessed by angels and by his disciples. He was taken up into glory. This story of the gospel has been preached and believed on for the past 2,000 years. At the center of his Gospel, is Jesus, especially his identity and his work as our mediator. Let’s think about this Jesus a little deeper.

First, Jesus Christ as our mediator. Verse 2:5 reads, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,” What is a mediator and why do we need one? A mediator is an intermediary, the person in the middle, who effects a reconciliation between two rivals. (John R.W. Stott, the message of 1 Timothy and Titus, p.69) He is the mediator between God, the Father and mankind. We really need a mediator, because God and mankind are at odds with one another because of our sins. God is holy and just. Sin separates us from God. (Isa 59:2). Sin makes us objects of God’s wrath. (Eph 2:3). Sin hurts God and plunges us into misery and pain. (Gen 6).

God, who is absolutely just, should punish and destroy mankind for his sins. But instead God longs to reconcile with us. We also long to be reconciled to God. But frankly, we are totally helpless to do what God requires. All of our “righteous” acts are like filthy rags before the holy and just God. We all fall short of the glory of God, leaving us in a conundrum. In this regard we can relate to Job’s plea: “If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together.” (Job 9:33) We could do nothing. So God took it upon himself to establish a means of mediation. He sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to be our mediator.

Jesus is ideal as a mediator because he understands both parties. Let me tell you why. Jesus is in very nature God (Php 2:6), in whom all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. (Col 2:9) Yet in verse 5 Paul says, “The man Christ Jesus.” Jesus knows both sides of the issue. He is God and so he understands God’s side of the conflict fully. Jesus is also a man and so he understands humanity’s side. Jesus is fair and just. (Jn 5:30)Therefore in him, we find a trustworthy advocate.

Sending Jesus as the mediator has been on God, our Savior’s mind and heart since the beginning, since the fall of man in Genesis. In Genesis 3:15 God promised to send the offspring of a women as a savior who would crush the head Satan. But he would suffer in doing so. God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins that God sacrificed. The skins of these sacrificed animals would cloth them and cover their shame. The gates of paradise were not destroyed, but only blocked for time, in anticipation when God and mankind would be reconciled. God foreshadowed the need for a mediator in the Old Testament through priests and sacrifices. The High Priest would sacrifice the sin offering for the people, and they would be forgiven. He is presented as a kind mediator between the Holy God and sinful people. But the priest was only a fallen sinner. He could not be a perfect mediator. Therefore this system of mediation could not be permanent, as it was flawed and pointed to a more perfect mediator…Jesus.

Jesus is different from any human High Priest. Jesus, while tempted and tested in every way, was without sin (Heb 4:15) The High Priest eventually died, but Jesus lives forever in glory. The sacrifices also were imperfect, since animal’s blood can never take away sins and had to be offered again and again. (Heb 10:4,11) But Jesus’ blood was completely sinless and holy blood. His blood was totally sufficient. Jesus’ sacrifice as the Lamb of God was one sacrifice for all (Heb 9:26b, 28a, 10:10) The priesthood and the temple were made obsolete and no longer exist. It is because it is no longer necessary. Jesus is all we need. Jesus is alive and his perfect mediation is as valid today as it was 2,000 years ago.

In view of who Jesus is, we know that he is worthy to be our mediator, and he fully meets our needs. But he also meets God’s needs in a mediator. We understand how desperately we need a mediator, in that we fail and fall short of God’s glory everyday. Yet God also needs Jesus as a mediator, in order to accept us as his children. In Jesus, God’s justice and God’s love are fully reconciled. Romans 3;26 puts it this way, “…he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Christ Jesus.” In Jesus, true reconciliation with God is possible. God has provided the perfect and only way to come to him. In Jesus, our mediator and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph 3:12) as his precious children.

Second, How Jesus Became Our Mediator. We have thought about who Jesus is, as our mediator. We have also thought about why we need a mediator. But what does it mean that Jesus is our mediator? This is more than just a simple title for Jesus. Let’s see. Look at verse 2:6a, “…who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” In order to be our mediator, Jesus had to give himself up, leaving the glory of heaven to dwell among us. He, who is in very nature God, made himself nothing, taking on flesh, becoming a human being. (Php 2:7). Becoming a human being was done in order to bear our sins and weaknesses in his own body. (1 Peter 2:24) He came in this way to take up our pain and to bear our sufferings. (Isa 53:4). This was the sacrifice Jesus made in order to be our mediator. Jesus, the Son of God became the Son of Man. He is fully able to empathize with our weaknesses because he became like us. (Heb 2:17-18) In our sins, we are burdened and hopeless, weak and powerless like sheep without a shepherd. Yet, Jesus has hope. He called sinners to be his disciples. He bore with them and loved them until they could be changed even at great risk to himself. He gave his life to be our mediator. We can fully trust our Lord Jesus, who committed himself to this task in loving obedience to God, the Father, and out of his great mercy towards sinners.

In verse 2:6, we read that he gave himself as a ransom for all people. A ransom is the price paid to free a slave from bondage. The Bible teaches us that anyone who sins is a slave to sin. (John 8:34) A slave has no rights. A slave can not go free, but is held in bondage as a possession of their master. So we are all in bondage to our salve master, sin and the devil. To buy a person out of such slavery required a ransom. What was the ransom price set to buy our freedom? The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23b). To pay our ransom, Jesus gave himself as the sacrifice of atonement. Jesus shed his blood in agonizing pain until he died on that cross to buy our freedom. Who would do such a thing? I mean, for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But for a sinner? God’s great love is demonstrated in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8) When we believe in Jesus, our mediator, all our sins are forgiven once and for all. (Heb 10:10) and we were reconciled to God. But there is more. By ransoming us from slavery to sin, Jesus broke the power of sin over our lives. In this way Jesus deals with the root problem of sin. We live a new life, free, because of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Some think that Jesus is just “the Christian way” to God. With philosophical arguments, they reasonably try to explain God’s existence as a mountain. At the top is God, and all the religions are paths going up the hill, all equally valid, some harder than others. To insist that Jesus is the only mediator often makes Christians appear ignorant and foolish.

But in view of what we have studied, Jesus is the only mediator. All other ways, no matter how noble in intention or hardworking in effort, or how much sense they make philosophically, fail because they ultimately depend on man’s ability and effort to save himself. Since these other ways can not forgive the sins of the past, or deal with the power of sin at work in our lives today, they are fundamentally incapable of helping us to reach God. Even if a person were to adhere to all their religious efforts, these would never be able to bridge the gap separating sinful man from the holy God. Instead, they leave man arrogant and self seeking, or broken and hopeless.

Only Jesus, the true mediator is able to solve our sin problem and reconcile us to the Holy God. Therefore, Christ Jesus is the only hope for mankind. We can see this in the analogy of Jesus as a rocket. God is in heaven, we are on earth. There are many ways that people try to come to God. But all these fail because they ultimately they have no power to break free from gravity: the weighing down of sin. But Jesus is like a rocket. The cross where he suffered once for sins, has power to bring us to God, like a powerful rocket! (1 Peter 3:18) (You may also think of it as a bridge diagram. There are also various other ways to illustrate what God had accomplished for us through Jesus.)

This knowledge of Jesus as a mediator needs to come out of the realm of intellectual ascent and into personal experience. Ask yourself, “Is Christ Jesus my mediator?” I can clearly say that Jesus is my mediator, because he ransomed me from the power of sin, reconciled me to God and gave me a new life. In 1981 and the spring of 1982 I had reached a low point in my life. I was living a hedonistic lifestyle, partying on the weekends and trying to study for college during the week. I was constantly bored and empty and required more corrupted sins to quench my thirsty heart. I knew my life was fruitless and meaningless, but I didn’t know how to come out of it. Studying, exercise, rock music, partying with my friends didn’t help me. I knew I was junk man because of my many sinful desires. One day I cried out in my pillow, “Oh God!” I had turned my back on Jesus during the days of my youth growing up in the Catholic Church. I chose hedonistic, pleasure seeking sins instead of Jesus. Yet Jesus did not abandon me. I was spiritually blind and did not know him. I didn’t know how Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Yet, at the lowest point, Jesus Christ revealed himself as my mediator in three very clear ways.

Firstly, through the sacrifices of good ministers of Christ Jesus. God sent me a great Bible teacher, Msn Ruth Hwang. She was a soft spoken, Korean missionary. She was humble and shorter than me. She was also poor, working as a sewing machine operator. I was an arrogant, hedonistic student, full of sins. At several occasions, during Bible study, I would tell her to “hurry up!” because I had to meet my friends at the bar. As she learned of my sinful life, she became weary of me. Once, I was told that the men missionaries were posted outside the room while we studied the Bible for Msn Ruth’s safety. Early on, when I started Bible study, I became insincere, not thinking deeply about the word of God and becoming heart hearted. Instead of rejecting me, she pleaded with me to repent and become sincere towards Jesus and she even shed tears. She fed me at her home. She taught me the Bible faithfully. She even took me to the ballet. It was through her life of faith and her unconditional acceptance of me, that I was able to begin to behold my mediator, Jesus Christ.

The second way was though a personal encounter with Jesus at the 1986 Summer Bible conference at MSU. I saw myself as a Samaritan man, who was quenching my thirsty heart with sin and the things of the world. But Jesus came to quench my thirsty heart with his living water. I accepted John 4: 13-14, as my life key verse, “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” I repented of my hedonistic sins and yielded to Jesus as Lord. As he quenched my heart, Jesus gave me strength and power to leave my life of sin and begin to follow him.

The third powerful way has been through Bible study and discipleship that I have received over the last 25-1/2 years. Time and again Jesus has given me his word to quench me and grow me spiritually. Time and again he has intervened in my life through his word, reminding me of his grace, giving me direction and strength to do what is right and also rebuking me from time to time. Nowadays he is mediating on my behalf and saving me from despair, fear, fatalism and anger and is helping me to do the right follow him. Jesus has shown me in so many wonderful ways that he is my mediator. I have great hope, because Jesus my mediator.

God intended this saving grace to be a foundation upon which we build a life as a good minister of Christ Jesus. Paul is a good example. In 1:14 Paul remembered the saving grace of Jesus that was poured out on him abundantly. This grace became the foundation of his life. His relationship with Jesus grew, and he found God’s good work in him to do. He worked hard, bearing any and all difficulties, learning contentment and joy, all because of the grace of Jesus.

Jesus remains our intercessor and mediator throughout our life. Jesus promised his disciples, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:20b) Jesus was taken up in glory, and is at this moment at the Father’s right hand, interceding for us (Romans 8:34), with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (1 Peter 3:22) Jesus’ grace to me was not just a single event 25 years ago, but it is daily. He is my living mediator. He is mediating for me daily, 24/7. By his help I am building a life and ministry on this grace of God. As you all know, my mediator helped me to marry Julie back in 1992. He gave us five wonderful children. Together we are building a holy family and a house church ministry. He has called us to a 1:1 Bible and discipleship ministry at NIU in DeKalb. This is God’s grace and privilege given to us. With God’s help we can build on the foundation of God’s grace through Jesus my mediator and my hope. Sometimes the task gets hard. I get overwhelmed with the spiritual forces of darkness and my own sins. Elements of death, like sorrow, despair, fatalism and anger, fill my heart. I fall into ruts and loose hope that the work of God can be accomplished through me. I begin to feel that all I want to do is retreat, to hide, sitting in front of the computer, sleeping, walking the dog and working out as quiet little gym. I am reminded of how limited I am in so many ways. I dwell on my weaknesses. Yet I can testify to one enduring truth…Jesus has been so faithful and steady. He is a firm foundation in troubled times. I must always remember that my life is built on the solid foundation: God our Savior and Christ Jesus our Hope. Thank you Jesus!

Christ Jesus is our hope! He is our mediator. This is not only for our past, and not only for our present, but for our future as well. Someday, Jesus is coming again. (6:14) Because of his work of redemption Christ Jesus is now our hope, our hope for past sins forgiven, our hope for present victory, our hope for future glory. (D. Edmond Hiebert, First Timothy, p. 22). On his grace as our mediator and hope, he established a firm foundation that will never be shaken. This foundation is for our personal lives, our families, our ministries, our nation and the world. Upon this foundation of faith, let’s build a life as a good minister of Christ Jesus.




Interact with us using Facebook

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.