For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man, Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5
A lawyer from a small New Brunswick town became involved in helping to resolve some labor disputes in his town. His efforts were successful, and he soon became recognized as a mediator who was respected by both the labour unions and by the major industries throughout the province. During some of the toughest legal battles that occurred during my time as a reporter, this mediator was frequently brought in to resolve what appeared to be unresolvable differences. Each time, he was able to convince the workers and management to compromise or change enough to bring about a settlement. He was a little example of the great Mediator of our text Who has succeeded in bridging a gap between sinful mankind and the holy God of Heaven.
Job longed in his day for a daysman who could lay his hand on both Job and God (Job 9:33). The Lord Jesus is that Daysman. He is able to identify with the Holy God Who cannot sin, because He is God and always will be God. He is also able to identify with fallen man, because He took upon Himself humanity, and was clothed in flesh. Because He was God, he was an acceptable mediator from God’s standpoint. Because He was a man, He was an acceptable mediator from man’s standpoint. Because He was sinless, God could receive Him. Because He was made sin for us, we could receive Him. As a mediator, He always had the confidence of God, and now seeks the confidence of man.
Our text tells us that there is but one Mediator between God and men. There can be no other, because nobody else is qualified. The famous mediator in New Brunswick died, and was replaced by other men. They were less skillful, but they became mediators, and did their best. But there is nobody who can take the place or fill the role that the Lord Jesus does as our Mediator. No other person who ever lived could qualify for that role. No angelic being has the power to qualify for it either. Only the Lord Jesus could say, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (John 14:6).
Our Daysman stands today between us and God. His Father delights in Him, and to the extend that we also delight in Him, He is our Mediator. -Jim MacIntosh