The Wednesday Word ~ 28 February, 2024 A.D.

 Jesus the Go-Between, Part II

by D.G. Miles McKee

 
Last week, in part one of this message, we finished by noting that we are saved exclusively by Christ’s work for and apart from us.  His person and work are fully welcome in heaven, and this constitutes the very basis of our acceptance in Glory.Since our salvation is entirely for Christ’s sake (Ephesians 4:32) and bound up in His performance, if He ever becomes “persona non grata” in Glory we will, because we are in Him, be deported from the heavenly city. If Christ becomes unwelcome in Heaven, we will become unwelcome. To guarantee our continuing acceptance in Heaven, therefore, Christ must of a necessity be God.Let me explain. If Jesus is not God, then none of us who have trusted Him are safe. We will only be safe if Jesus and God don’t fall out! We are only secure if there is no disagreement between Christ and the Father. Remember, our favour and acceptance with God are not bound up with anything about us … it all has to do with Jesus.  And before you say, “Oh well, Jesus and God could never fall out,” I would like to remind you that the highest created angel, a one-time Prince in Heaven, Mr. Lucifer, fell out with God and was cast out of glory (see Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14). 
 
So, what’s to stop the same thing happening to Jesus?  If Jesus is merely a created being such events are not actually beyond the realm of possibility. So, let’s say it again; if Jesus is not God, then there is an actual risk, be it ever so slight, that God and Jesus will sometime down the line not see eye to eye and we will be lost. We must, if this is the case, face the fact that, if Jesus isn´t God, none of us have ever been irrevocably reconciled to God.So much for being reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Romans 5:10)!  Reconciliation is a mere fantasy and a vain imagination. If Christ is not God, then reconciliation with the Father is a mere fiction and an empty promise. In addition, think about this, if Jesus is not God, we don’t have to wait for eternity to be disadvantaged! What about this life? We all need a compassionate, omnipresent and mediating Priest to get us through.We need a mediating priest who is able to save us to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).We need a mediating priest who is able to present us faultless (Jude 1:24).We need a mediating priest who is able to keep us from falling (Jude 1:24).We need a mediating priest who is able to help us when we are tempted (Hebrews 2:18).But how can a mere man or created being do all that for us? If Jesus is not God, then He is quite useless as a mediating High Priest. The kind of mediating priest we need is one who can always hear His people’s prayers. He has to know us and be able to search our hearts. A mere man could not do all of this.  Only the God/Man can, therefore, be qualified to become our faithful, effective mediator. The wonderful news is that Christ is fully God and fully man and since God cannot fall out with Himself, we are saved, secure and safe. This is gospel truth and worth shouting from the housetops!The sum of what we have said is this; for Christ to be the mediator He must be fully God and fully man! No other mediator is suitable for both parties. 
 
Reject Him as God and we have no mediator. If He is merely man or an angel, we have no mediator. If He understands one side, but not the other, He is inept and His judgment flawed. We, alas, have no mediator.Only in Christ Jesus the God/Man do we have the provision of a qualified go-between. What amazing comfort there is in knowing this wonderful truth!As Isaac Watts said:“O joy there sitteth in our fleshUpon a throne of lightOne of human mother bornIn perfect Godhead bright.” And that’s the Gospel Truth!

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