If you would please open your Bibles with me to 1 Timothy chapter 2. First Timothy chapter 2. Going to read the first seven verses of this important chapter. First Timothy chapter 2, would you please stand with me as we read the Word of God this morning. Let us hear the holy word of God.
I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercession, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 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. Where unto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity? Amen.
Holy Father, we do pray in the name of Jesus Christ, thy Son, that thou wouldst have mercy upon us here this morning. Pour out thy spirit. May we know the power of thy spirit in our midst come Lord Jesus love thy bride and grant us to hear thy words and I ask it in the name of Christ amen please be seated in Paul's inspired and infallible words to Timothy Believers may catch a glimpse of the glory of Christ Jesus as the one mediator between God and men. But what does Paul mean by the word mediator? Properly understood, mediator displays the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, in His heavenly and earthly glory.
It also reveals the scope of Scripture, that is the target, the center, the bullseye of all 66 books of the Bible. In fact, the primary exercise of a believer's faith in this life consists in beholding the glory and beauty of Christ as our mediator. And in that word, the revelation of the infinite eternal love of God for sinners shines forth from God's eternal purpose before creation to the splendor of the new creation and the world to come. Unbelievers see no glory in Christ. The God of this world hath blinded their minds so that they see no glory in the man Christ Jesus.
But those who have experienced the Spirit wrought miracle of the new birth may gaze with the eyes of faith into these infallible words of God and see the eternal purpose of God unfolding in the Son of God as the one mediator between sinners and God. So the title of this message is The Glory of Christ the Mediator. This is part one. If God wills, we will complete it in part 2 tomorrow. And now may our blessed Heavenly Father by the mighty power of His Spirit grant us faith, faith to behold the glory of Jesus Christ.
If we would see the glory of Christ the mediator we must first fix our hearts on God's infallible truth revealed in Paul's words to Timothy. Chapter 1 of Paul's letter gives us the context for chapter 2 verses 1 through 7 as Paul left Ephesus from Macedonia he left Timothy there Ephesus was one of the four most powerful cities in the Roman Empire. Its people were enslaved to sensuality, materialism, magic, and the occult. It was also the center of both the Roman emperor cult and the demonic religion of the goddess Artemis, also known as Diana, whose temple in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In that demonic stronghold the resurrected Lord of glory planted a church.
However Paul had to write to Timothy to defend the gospel and sound doctrine because false teachers were leading Ephesian believers astray. He exhorted Timothy to command them to teach no other doctrine than the apostolic faith. He denounced their doctrines as fables and vain jangling, And he corrected their ignorant use of God's law. Paul exalted the abundant grace of God in his own conversion and proclaimed, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And then he added, of whom I am chief.
Christ's goal in converting him, he said, was a display or was to display a pattern of God's mercy and patience with sinners. He then exhorted Timothy to war a good warfare against the false teachers, two of whom Paul had delivered unto Satan. And that is the context for our passage. The false teachers doctrine seems to have infected and affected the Ephesian church. Its order, its prayer life, its relations, its leadership, and most of all, its mission as the pillar and ground of the truth.
So Paul began preparing the damage by instructing Timothy that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all kinds of people. That included kings and all that were in authority. And that was a tall order in a day when Nero threw Christians to the lions and burned them alive as human torches in his garden. But such prayer was crucial for two reasons. One, because believers need a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
And two, because evangelistic prayer was good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved and to come under the knowledge of the truth. In other words, God our Savior wanted the Ephesians to pray for all kinds of people because he desires to save all kinds of people and has provided a savior, Jesus Christ, for all kinds of people. He wants them to come unto the knowledge of the truth. But what truth? Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul summarized the message of the entire Bible in one sentence.
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. Paul added that God had appointed him as Christ's apostle to preach and teach that truth to the Gentiles. So then, if we would see the glory of that mediator, of Christ the mediator, we must answer three questions. First question, what did Paul mean by the word mediator? A mediator is a go-between, that is a person who goes between two parties to reconcile them consider Job's complaint for God is not a man as I am that I should answer him and we should come together in judgment neither is there any day's man betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both now that's the idea a day's man is an umpire, the way it's translated sometimes, or a mediator, a go-between, an agent of reconciliation who can lay hold of two parties.
So Paul is saying that the man Christ Jesus is the agent of reconciliation who stands between God and sinful people as the one and only valid representative of both parties. Second question, Why do we need a mediator? God is an infinite spirit pure and holy. Heaven rings with holy, holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. But we are finite flesh, impure and sinful.
Our sins have separated us from God. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul described them as living in the vanity, the emptiness, the futility of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness and friends that describes unbelievers in every age That describes you and me outside of Christ. Our wretched, damnable sins have left us in a desperate condition. Number one, we are blind and ignorant of God's ways, especially his way of salvation. Number two, we are alienated from God with no acceptable sacrifice for our sin.
And number three, we are unwilling and unable to walk in the ways of God in that condition and that is your condition outside of Christ at this very moment in that condition there can be no possible union between us and an infinitely holy God unless someone can lay hold of God and us to reconcile us. Now the third question, how is Jesus Christ a mediator for us? The London Baptist's confession of 1677-89 summarizes it beautifully. P. 77, 89 summarizes it beautifully.
It pleased God in His eternal purpose to ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between them both to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, priest, and king, head and savior of his church, the heir of all things and judge of the world unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. Justified, sanctified, and glorified. So we will consider Jesus as our prophet, priest, and king. But Jesus' role as the one mediator did not begin in history but in eternity before the creation of the world. With that in mind, if we would see the glory of Christ the mediator.
If we would behold that glory, we must meditate on God's eternal purpose. We sometimes call that purpose the covenant of redemption. It is that holy agreement between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before the foundation of the world to save God's people from their sins. Scripture makes plain that the Father purposed this redemption, the Son agreed to accomplish this redemption and the Holy Spirit agreed to apply this redemption to the people God gave to Christ. Writing to the Ephesians Paul spoke of that eternal purpose which God the Father purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord chapter 3 verse 11 likewise Romans 8 28 then them who are the called according to his purpose Romans 9 11 the purpose of God according to election Ephesians 1 11 being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will 2nd Timothy 1 9 God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began Ephesians chapter 1 verses 4 through 6 gives details.
He, God the Father, hath chosen us believers in Him, Christ, before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. God first announced that eternal purpose in history to Satan in Genesis 3.15. The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel. From that point on God's eternal purpose unfolds in the historical covenants God made with men recorded in scripture until Jesus fulfilled and inaugurated the new covenant. Throughout his ministry, Jesus affirmed God's eternal purpose.
All that the Father giveth me, He said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Every time Jesus speaks of being sent, he points back to his father's eternal purpose. The Epistle to the Hebrews affirms this by quoting Psalm 40 verses 6-8. Wherefore, when the Son cometh into the world, He saith, Abadi, Abadi hast thou prepared me?
Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God." And what holy motive drove the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in this eternal purpose? This eternal purpose. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life That giving of his son in love lies behind Paul's words one God and one mediator between God and men. Can you see the glory of the eternal Son receiving the office of mediator, the Son of God, the Son of God agreed in eternity to accomplish the salvation of sinners in history by his perfect obedience, his suffering and his agony upon Calvary's cross, his glorious resurrection and his ascension. Resurrection and his ascension if we would see the glory of Christ the mediator we must meditate on his incarnation Paul's words the man Christ Jesus emphasizes the mediators humanity And in those words, Paul refers to the most profound mystery in the history of the universe and the greatest act of God's grace towards sinners And that is the incarnation of the eternal Son of God.
John says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Matthew says, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. In the man Christ Jesus dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So the Son of God in eternity agreed to become the second Adam in history. The first Adam sinned against God, broke the covenant that God made with him in the garden and ushered in death to all his descendants. Jesus the second Adam obeyed God fulfilling the covenant that his father made with him and winning eternal life for all his people who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient even the death of the cross.
The incarnation, my brethren, is the key to understanding the one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus as God Christ perfectly understands and represents God to men. As man Christ perfectly understands and represents his father God to men. Or as as man Christ understands and perfectly represents his father brethren only by becoming man Could Christ give himself a ransom for all? God cannot die, but the God-man could and did to save his people from their sins. Therefore coming under the knowledge of the truth means that believing the one mediator between God and man is fully God and fully man in one holy person.
God in his glory, God in his splendor and majesty and glory could not be our mediator for no one can see his face and live. No angel could be our mediator because angels are not human. No pope, no saint of God including the Virgin Mary could be our mediator because all are sinful people. Man sinned and man must die. Therefore only the God-man, Christ Jesus, can be, is qualified and is authorized by God his Father to be the mediator who can lay hold of God and man.
Now in the Old Testament prophets priests and kings were anointed with oil and in Christ's human nature perfectly united to his deity he went down to the river Jordan where God the Father anointed him with the Holy Spirit without measure and that was for his work as prophet, priest and king on behalf of God's people. Can you see him in his glory? Do you behold something of the glory of Christ in his incarnation. Oh, if we would see the glory of Christ, the mediator, we must meditate on him as our prophet. Our prophet.
Spurgeon's catechism says Christ executes the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation. When we read God so loved the world and gave his Son it doesn't mean only the cross. He gave us a voice from heaven telling us the way to heaven. A prophet represents God to men, God to men by delivering God's message to men. 14 As God said to Ezekiel, Get thee into the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
15 God foretold Christ's prophetic office through Moses, 14 I will raise them up a prophet, 15 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, 16 and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name I will require it of him. Jesus entered that office at his baptism. The heaven was opened and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him. And Jesus affirmed his office in the synagogue at Nazareth reading from Isaiah, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives.
Brethren God is speaking. Jesus said this day Is this scripture fulfilled in your ears? The one who points us to the way that our sins may be washed away and that we might be brought into union with Almighty God came as a man, stood before man and spoke as a man so that we would know how men might be saved. This is the mercy and love of God. Jesus affirmed his prophetic office by his miracles, by his foretelling future events and by his authoritative ministry of the word.
The people were astonished, Astonished at his doctrine. Peter affirmed Christ's office. Those things which God before has showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. For Moses truly said unto the fathers a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people oh I ask you with all my heart do you hear that prophet? Do you hear God's prophet?
There is no greater. The Jews affirmed his office. They said this is of a truth the prophet that should come into the world even Jesus's enemies affirmed it never man spake like this man and my dear brethren on the mount of transfiguration, God himself affirmed it. This is my beloved son hear ye him hear ye him now Who hears that prophet? Jesus answers, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
Why do they hear him? Jesus answers, no man can come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him. Every man therefore that hath heard and has learned of the father cometh unto me. Jesus as our Savior Jesus as God's prophet during his earthly life spoke by the Spirit without measure Jesus Jesus spoke through the prophets of old by the Spirit of Christ which was in them while a man he spoke by the power of the Spirit and even now my friends even now Jesus God's prophet reigns in heaven upon the throne at his father's right hand speaking by his word and spirit through the mouths of his ministers. If you just hear the men that speak you go away a pauper.
But by the word and spirit, you hear Christ, God's prophet. My friends, we are blind and ignorant of God's ways, especially the way of salvation. So Christ the mediator saves us. He saves us by telling us the way. Hear him.
Hear him now. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Those are the words of the Living Christ. They are the words of life. If you know Him, if His Father has taught you and you have believed Him, praise Him with all your heart.
Magnify Him with all your soul. Continue to hear him and follow him. If you do not know him, his word has come to you. It is the truth. He is the one mediator between God and men.
Why do you wait? He has laid hold of God and he lays holes of sinners and he brings them into a glorious union he reconciles them because as we will learn in part two he shed his blood as our great high priest He is the way to everlasting life. Repent of your sins. Believe God's prophet you have today. You do not know that you have another minute past this day.
Hear the words of Christ and flee for everlasting life. The one God in his eternal purpose appointed his eternal son to be the one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus. Let us hear and let us believe God's prophet verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life The eternal words of Christ the prophet. May we behold His glory by faith. Amen.