Jesus Our ONLY Mediator

Text . Job 9:32-35 1 Tim 2 5-6 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all.
H/C Lord’s Day 6, Q18 & 19. Because only Jesus can bridge the gap between God and sinners, only he is our Mediator. Today we are going to discover what that means – and whereabouts in the Bible we can find out about his mediatorial work.

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1. Who is our Mediator? Job 9:32-34
So what does our text in Acts tell us about our Mediator?

1. The Contrast. There is GOD AND THERE IS MAN and there is such a huge difference between sinful man and holy God that we would never be able to represent ourselves before his throne. As we have seen already, under the Law, we are condemned already, and our mouths are shut. Job 9:32-34 You know the story of Job? In chapter 8 one of his comforters, Bildad, has just argued, quite correctly the God must be JUST, and he then asked, ‘how can a man be just with God?’ Job 8:1-6, He’s not talking about how a man can BE justified before God, he’s asking a legal question; how can a man represent his case before God?” Job’s understanding of this great contrast between a holy God and a sinful man is found in chapter 9, where he says, “There is no mediator, no arbiter, no one who can stand between God and me, no-one who can help me before the Throne. There is no-one who can lay his hand on us both. But there is an answer to Job’s great dilemma, and that answer is Jesus.
2. The Christ. 1 Tim 2:5 Look at the way Jesus is described in this verse. It is a perfect summary of the Gospel. He is the MAN, he is the ANOINTED ONE, he is the SAVIOUR. He is able to stand in that great gap because he is fully man, and fully God. He is ‘able to lay his hand on us both’ – as Job looked for, one who is the perfect representative of God, and the perfect representative of man. He is one of us, a brother, yet he is sinless, perfectly fulfilling the law which we have broken, thus making his sacrifice for our sins acceptable unto God. He is our mediator.
3. The Cross. He Gave Himself. It was at the cross where he died to save us, to be our representative, to carry all our sins. Isaiah 53:4-
4. The Completeness. As a RANSOM for all. Now, lets see how His mediatorship affects us, – how it works. He saves us, and his salvation is complete, it is sufficient and it is effective. He saves us …
   1. At the cross. As we have seen, – our Mediator he REPRESENTED US AT THE CROSS. Hebrews 9:15:
   2. At the Throne. If you like courtroom dramas you’ll know the importance of the advocate. The barrister. He pleads before the judge on behalf of the defendant. 1 John 2:1
   3. At the Last Judgement – this work of the Mediator continues. He pleads our case before the throne of Grace by representing us!

So Christ’s Mediatorial work is a complete work, past present and future. But what of Mary? Isn’t she a mediator too? There are some who would say so, and they pray to her and ask her to intervene between them and God. But the Bible clearly teaches us that there is only one mediator, and that One is Jesus. Peter: in Acts 4:12 said, And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

It is because of the Christ the Mediator that we are able to stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ Himself. (2 Corinthians 5:21). His mediation is the only means of salvation.

2. How do we Know This?
From the Gospel! 2 Tim 3:16-17.
So where is the Gospel to be found? Isn’t it interesting that when Peter preaches the gospel in Acts 4, he chooses a text in the OT? The Gospel of Salvation in Christ is the continuous thread that runs seamlessly throughout the bible.

• In the garden of Eden! Genesis 3:16
• In the patriarchal narratives! Genesis 49:10
• In the Law! John 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.
• In the Rituals and Ceremonies! All the ancient rituals and sacrifices, all the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the tent of meeting, – all of these pointed to Jesus, – they were types and shadows of what was to come, of Christ, of his great salvation. Hebrews 10:1-10.
• In the Prophets! We have already seen that in Isaiah, but there are many other examples. Jeremiah 23:5
• In Jesus! John 5:39
• In the Apostolic Teaching. Acts 8:34

We call this ‘the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures.’ – All of the Bible tells the Gospel Story, and all of the Bible points us to Christ, our only redeemer and mediator.

So what have we learned in this study? That the longed-for mediator of the OT, the one who could bridge the gap between God and man has come, for God sent his own son into this world, to reconcile us back to Himself. And we have learned that all of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation are about HIM, and point us to Him, so he might be clearly seen, and that we might trust fully in him alone.

© Bob McEvoy