5/30/13. 1 Timothy 2:1-15. ONE GOD AND ONE MEDIATOR – my devotional

1 Timothy 2:1-15                                                    Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 2:5,6a                                                    5/30/13

^“5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, …” ESV

Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for making life on earth a great adventure. Without Christ and the Gospel I know that I would simply be reduced to the work/eat/sleep cycle and then die. I would have no really hope. Nothing to excite my heart about living. But you give us a great hope, the Kingdom of God, and a great mission, to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. You make each day a day to be savored and enjoyed. Thank you Lord. Now I pray that you inspire me once again through meditating on you word. I thank you very much and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: God Wants All People To Be Saved (1-7)

Paul had world mission on his heart. He wanted the whole world to know that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Verses 1-7 read, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷ For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (ESV)

America needs Jesus. Many people don’t feel that they need Jesus, but they are wrong. Even if a person can live a basic moral life and work and keep their head above water, financially, there is loneliness, isolation and meaningless to deal with. People are quiet and alone. They are looking for unconditional love and not finding any, except with their cat or dog. People are living with a sense of defeat and vague fears of becoming victims of violent crime. They are so afraid of loosing something. They spend their final decades struggling with some chronic health condition. And if the person gets involved in some form of sin or vice to fill the “God sized” hole in their hearts, then things get much worse. Who can save us? We can’t save ourselves. A brief overview of human history can testify to that. The world needs more than money, material goods and healthcare and the proper medication. These are important, yes, but we need spiritual intervention. We need something to fill that “God sized” hole in our hearts. We need a way to mend our broken relationship with God. We need some outside help and intervention. Jesus is that outside intervention. We need a Gospel guided cultural shift.

That is why the message of Jesus is so very important. This world is in desperate need of a Savior. And Jesus is the perfect Savior because Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. He died as a ransom sacrifice for the sins of the world. Through him alone all people can be forgiven and saved and come to the knowledge of truth. Through him alone can people have peace with God. When they have peace with God then they can have peace in themselves and peace with one another.

Many of my struggles in life have to do with a broken relationship with God. I can feel it in my soul when I ignore my relationship with Christ, by ignoring God’s word and prayer and preaching. I know Jesus is with me always.

Being my mediator means that the hostilities between God and myself are over. I was at odds with God for the first 22 years of my life. I lived my life as if God didn’t exist. I sinned a lot and in doing so I lived as God’s enemy. My sins, that I was piling up, were part of the reason that Jesus suffered and died on the cross. But Jesus came to me and forgave me. I became a child of God through faith and I was no longer God’s enemy. I was his son and a servant in his glorious kingdom. Oh what love! Oh what grace!

Being my mediator means that he dwells in me and guides my life daily as my Shepherd. Who would want to dwell everyday with a sinner such as I? Sometimes I feel that I can’t even dwell with myself. But Jesus is my mediator. He brings about my complete forgiveness. I am forgiven and now God, the Holy Spirit, can dwell in my heart and guide me through this world and into the next.

Being my mediator also means that I assurance of eternal life. The Bible says that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body whether good of bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10) If I was not forgiven of my sins by Jesus, I would literally have no hope. When I die and go to the stand before God’s judgment seat, God may say, “Kevin, why should I let you come and dwell with me forever in my kingdom?” Without my mediator, Jesus, I would have no good reason. “Because I am a good roommate…because I gave blood once…because I never killed anyone.” But if I was totally honest with myself, I could only say, “There is no reason that I should dwell with you in the kingdom of God. I have only piled up one sin upon another.”

But now the scenario is totally different. When I stand before the judgment seat, I can boldly declare, “On my own I should never be let into your Kingdom Lord, but now, since Jesus is my mediator, I have been forgiven. I have an advocate. I am made righteous by the blood of Jesus. Thank you for your amazing love Lord. That is the only reason I should be let in.” And do you know what? God will let me in. There will be much celebration in heaven, for one sinner, (myself) who repented and believed in Jesus. This can be the scenario for anyone who repents and believes in Christ.

There is also one mediator between God and man. Many cultures claim to worship the same God and this God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. They may be attempting to worship the same God, but the way that they approach him is different. Do they approach him through legalistic obedience, sacrifices and rituals, or do we approach him through faith. According to Christianity there is only one way to approach God and be made acceptable to God. It is through the only mediator, and his name is Jesus Christ.

Craig Smith, in his book, “Whiteman’s Gospel” states that some Native people would say that they do worship the Creator and they only use items of creation as a vehicle by which to worship the Creator. They are not an ends to themselves. (p. 122) Smith is very clear that Jesus is the mediator. He does state that the Native people would have accepted Jesus more readily if the European people did not bring with them a culturally adapted form of Christianity that fit with the cultural morays and traditions of old European countries. They came to the conclusion that Jesus is the Mediator as the gospel was adapted to their culture and the Natives need to be given a chance to do the same instead of being forced to accept the gospel in an Old European adaption. (p. 122) He stated the preaching to the Natives remained in the New Testament. Smith says that an understanding of the Old Testament would be valuable in helping the Native people to identify with ancient Israel and find themselves in the timeline of the history of God. The Gospel would be adapted to their culture. If this happens then the Native people can better understand why there is a Jesus is the only mediator between God and mankind, in their own context. This makes a lot of sense.

The fact remains, God wants all people of all nations to be saved. This is constantly on his heart. God’s redemptive purpose is the reason why we are in this fallen world in the first place. We are here to be redeemed and return to our Father God, through our mediator, Jesus Christ. When this happens then we enter eternal life in the Kingdom of God. God wants to redeem his people.

As the redeemed people of God we need to participate in what is on God’s heart. As a father myself, I know how painful it is when my own kids don’t seem to care about what is on my heart. It also pains our heavenly Father’s heart.

And so, we need to pray. In these times of increasing national and ethnic hatreds and unrest, let us intercede in prayer for all people, especially for kings and those in authority, for when God’s peace is in the hearts of the people, then there can be peace on earth. I definitely need to pray.  I tend to fall into talking about prayer and discussing prayer topics and not really praying much. But I must grow in prayer. We need to pray for our friends and family and those we are called to mentor. But we are also called to pray for those in authority. In the case of sending missionaries to NW Ontario, First Nations, we must pray for the band leaders and the elders. May God expand the scope of our prayers.

Part 2: Men And Women Must Promote Peace (8-15)

The fellowship of believers who have been saved by the Mediator, Jesus Christ should have certain characteristics. Verses 8-15 read, “⁸ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”

The fellowship of believers should include men who pray together instead of getting angry and fighting amongst each other. The women should have some inner spiritual beauty with modesty and self control. They must allow the husband to the head of the family and respect spiritual order in the church. Their lives should be marked with good works. (Please note: men should also be noble and humble in character and full of self control and good works. They too must respect spiritual leadership. Just as women.) Faith in the Mediator, Jesus Christ, forms such a fellowship among us.

I pray for the future missionaries who pray to go to Canada. May they form beautiful fellowship amongst themselves like this. I pray for the people at KBC to form beautiful fellowship amongst ourselves like this. May UBF form such fellowship. May the Christian among the First Nations people form such beautiful fellowship.

We all want world peace. But this can only happen if the hearts of the people living in this world are at peace with God. Then they can have peace with one another. When men everywhere lift holy hands in prayer instead of angry fists in rebellion and anger, there can be peace on earth. When women live to please God, when they clothe themselves in good deeds and seek spiritual beauty, and live quiet lives, submitting to spiritual authority, building up the family, there can be peace also. We seem to have peace on the streets of Dekalb. But what seems to be peace is not really peace. What is going on in the hearts of people, hold up in their homes and apartments, that only God is aware of?

The only reason that we have relative peace in America is because of the influence of the gospel. We also can have relative peace because we have space and abundant resources that people can avoid each other and have their needs met without relating to each other very much.          But this drift towards isolation is not peace. What about when we cannot avoid each other and when the resources run dry? Then we will begin to see things as God sees them. We can only have peace among people, when the people come to their Mediator Jesus Christ. This is necessity. To think that world peace is attainable without Jesus is a dream, not a reality.

Prayer: Lord, help me to pray and work for the preaching of the gospel to the world.

One Word: There is only one Mediator