I Timothy 2:5,6:
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and men. A mediator is one who intervenes between two in order to make or restore peace and friendship; a reconciler. Why was there a need for a mediator between God and men?
God formed, made, and created Adam and Eve to have perfect fellowship with Him, their Creator. As long as they obeyed God’s Word, all of God’s blessings were theirs. However, they chose to disobey God’s commandment (Genesis 3:1-6). And because of their disobedience, man lost his spiritual connection with God.
Romans 5:12:
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
That certainly was not what God wanted for man. God did not want man dead in trespasses and sins, having no hope and without Him in the world (Ephesians 2:1,12). Our loving and merciful God had a plan to provide a way for man to get back that spiritual connection with Him (Genesis 3:15). God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a ransom, or payment, for our sins and the consequences of our sins.
Matthew 20:28:
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
There is no longer a barrier between man and God! Jesus Christ our mediator made it possible for all who believe, to be at one with God.
The Old Testament term “daysman” is equivalent in meaning to “mediator.” When two parties were not able to work out their differences, they may have sought out a daysman. In the Book of Job, we see Job’s desire for a mediator.
Job 9:32,33:
For he [God] is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
In Eastern culture, when two men were brought together, the daysman would listen to both parties and then lay his hands on both of them. This showed his authority and desire to make an unbiased decision to help reconcile them. Today, Jesus Christ is the daysman between God and man whom Job longed for.
I Timothy 2:5:
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Much as the daysman made it possible for two men to be reconciled with one another, Jesus Christ made it possible for man to be reconciled (no longer separated!) with God.
Mankind needed and required a mediator. Nothing man could have done on his own would have been sufficient to mediate a reconciliation between ourselves and God. No amount of good works or keeping the laws could have made him righteous enough to stand before God without a mediator (Ephesians 2:8,9).
Today mankind has a mediator, Jesus Christ the righteous. It is because of Jesus Christ our mediator and what God accomplished in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, that we are able to stand before God clothed in righteousness. All we need to do is confess Jesus as lord in our lives and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, and we are saved, born again (Romans 10:9). And once we are born again, we gain so much. For example,
- Access to God
Ephesians 2:18:
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. - The promise of eternal inheritance
Hebrews 9:15:
And for this cause he [Jesus Christ] 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. - Righteousness
II Corinthians 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.
Everything Adam lost with the first sin of mankind, Jesus Christ regained for the believer. Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, took our sin upon himself so that we might be made the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man, reconciling man back to God. We never have to feel separated from God, ever. Jesus Christ our mediator made it possible for all who believe to be at one with God.
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