The Wednesday Word - 31MAY23 A.D.

 Jesus, the Effective Mediator!

by D.G. Miles McKee
 

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” -I Timothy 2:5 [KJV]
 
If Jesus is to be considered an effective mediator, there are certain things He must be able to do.  First, He must be able to reach down to the lowest of the low and the worst of the worst.
 
Why?
 
Simply this. If we are stuck on the top of a building and use a ladder to try to climb down, the ladder is of no use if it doesn’t go all the way to the bottom.  Spiritually speaking, that’s what Jesus did. He came all the way down.  He reached the lowest of the low.  In gospel terms that means there is no sin so terrible that the blood of Christ cannot reach and take away. Nothing you have done is too powerful for the blood to forgive.  Indeed, a mediator who could not save the worst of sinners is no mediator at all.
 
What kind of mediator do we need?
We need a mediator who has taken away all our sins.  Only Jesus has done that. 
We need a mediator who has fulfilled the Law and removed its curse. Only Jesus has done that.
We need a mediator who has crushed and defeated Satan. Only Jesus has done that.
We need a mediator who has actually removed the wrath of God. Only Jesus has done that.
A mediator who cannot do these things is of no use to us. Away, therefore, with all these, Popes, Prelates and so-called enlightened Prophets who claim to stand between us and God. If they personally cannot bear responsibility for our sins they are of no use to us.
But here’s the gospel truth. We need no other mediator than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true and only mediator for He descended from Heaven, went to the cross and there mediated on our behalf (Hebrews 9:15). What a beautiful, powerful and effective mediation.
 
Second. Not only does a mediator need to be able to reach low enough, the true mediator needs to be able to reach high enough. Can Jesus do that? The true mediator, you see, should be able to take us from the ‘guttermost to the uttermost.’
 
But how can any mediator do that? After all, God is so pure that no sin can come into His presence. Ah, but Jesus is qualified to enter into the Father’s presence because He is the sinless God/Man. He has brought us with Him to heaven (Ephesians 2:6). He is able to do this because He has paid for our sins and taken them away. His mediation brings us to the Father (see John 14:6). In fact, Jesus is the only One who can do this. 

Since there is only One mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), no one else can bring us to the Father.  All prayers to all other supposed mediators are, therefore, vain and useless.  With respect, the Virgin Mary can do nothing for us, nor can Joseph or any of the so-called saints. They cannot pray for us and bring us to the Father, but Jesus can and does.
 
So, a true mediator needs to reach both low enough and high enough, but thirdly, the true mediator also needs to be able to reach deep enough. Not only does He bring us to God, He also brings God to us (John 14:20, 23). We are in Him, and He is in us. He causes us to live in the reality of the gospel. He brings us the Spirit of Adoption and lets us know that we are now the Children of God (Romans 8:15). He cures our orphaned hearts. 
 
What astonishing grace is this?  What other mediators can get low enough, high enough and deep enough?  Buddha can’t do that, Moses can’t, and neither can Mohammed.  There is no one on earth who comes close to Jesus. There simply are no other players on the field.
 
And that’s the Gospel Truth!