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| Volume 20 Number 9 September 2018 | Page 7 |
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| Volume 20 Number 9 September 2018 | Page 7 |
Michael L. King
Apparently, because of the holiness of God and the unworthiness of man, God always selected one to serve as an intermediary between the two. When simplified, it is like to a baseball player who having had a ball hit his direction, fields it and throws it to another player centrally located who can throw home. Similarly, we cannot reach “home” by our own strength and ability, so God chose men like the patriarchs, judges, prophets, Moses and then Christ, during the Christian dispensation, to stand between or be equidistant between the two sides. The writer of Hebrews declared that God can save those who come to Him though Christ, for He always lives to make intercession for him (Hebrews 7:25).
God spoke to us through the inspired Paul to tell us that Jesus was the one and only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). There is one God, one Mediator and one humanity. “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). It is important that we understand that we, the one humanity, reach God through Christ (John 14:6). There were many religions that existed before the coming of Christ, such as Confucianism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. Why did Christ come if salvation did not depend upon Him? Contemporary groups put “saints” before Christ and the church’s authority before Him. Preachers are to preach the Word so sinners can believe on Jesus of whom they have heard (Romans 10:14). The preacher does not absolve the sinner or propitiate God. The question was asked by Paul to make this point, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?” (1 Corinthians 3:5). Additionally, Paul made the point that he was not crucified for them nor were they baptized into his name (1 Corinthians 1:13).
Jesus was to be the Mediator of a new covenant and provide redemption for the first covenant. His mediatorship was two-fold in nature. He was Mediator of the New Covenant or the New Testament. He had to die before being qualified to fill this position to redeem those under the New Testament (Hebrews 9:16). Moses brought the Law down from Mt. Sinai to the people. Moses was “in the church in the wilderness” with the Angel that spoke to him on Mt. Sinai (Acts 7:38). Christ came down from the cross to bring a new covenant to the people and stood between God and man. God in earlier times spoke through the fathers and by the prophets, but in the latter days, He spoke to the people by His Son (Hebrews 1:1).
We ask, “Why a mediator?” Man was estranged from God, and Christ introduced Christianity as a solution. Man was lost, and Christ came to save him and to express God’s love toward man, while he was yet a sinner (Romans 5:8, 10). Jesus is like a jury in that He mediates between God and man as well as between man with man. He is unbiased and fair. Christ is certainly qualified because He understands God, having come from Heaven and being with God. He too understands God’s attitude toward man and sin. Jesus was both God and man (1 Timothy 3:16) and so, He can identify and connect with both God and man. He is man’s Advocate with the Father and begs God on his behalf (1 John 2:1-3).
So, we end where we began our thinking. God is Holy, and man is unholy. Because of this reality, man cannot come to God except through Christ (John 14:6). Jesus “knew no sin.” Therefore, He is worthy to approach God on man’s behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21) as our High Priest. This is the reason why when we pray, we do so “in the name of Jesus” (John 16:23). Jesus had been given all authority in Heaven and Earth (Matthew 28:18), and to that authority, everyone must submit, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth” (Philippians 2:10). Our communication with God is done through His sinless Mediator placed between sinful man and God. Jesus is God’s Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). It would profit us nothing if we chose to believe in God and refused to accept the One who “stands between,” for there is no approaching the Father except through that one and only sinless Mediator who beseeches God on sinful man’s behalf and makes intercession for him (Romans 8:34).
Psalm 119
Cecil May, Jr.
Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm. It is also the longest chapter in the Bible. It is an acrostic. Each verse in each section of eight verses begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, through 22 sections in (Hebrew) alphabetical order. Quite a literary feat! In addition, every one of the 176 verses contains a synonym for God’s Word: “law” verse 1, “testimonies” verse 2, “ways” verse 3, “precepts” verse 4, “statutes” verse 5, “commandments” verse 6, “rules” verse 7, “statutes” verse 8, etc.
God’s Word is our joy and delight. “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches” (14). “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (16). “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors” (24). “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (72). “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (97).
God’s Word keeps us from sin. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (9). “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (11).
God’s Word is eternal and unchanging. “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens” (89). “Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true” (142). “Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live” (144). “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (160).
God’s Word helps us in our afflictions. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (50). “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (67). “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” (71). “Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight” (143).
God’s Word keeps us from error. “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way” (104). “Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way” (128).
God’s Word defines our fellowship. “I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts” (63). “Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies” (79).
God’s Word guides our way safely. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (105). “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble” (165).