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For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
— 1 Timothy 2:5-6

It is only natural to place faith in ourselves. Many things in life seem to be accomplished through our own human skill and wisdom, and trusting in that can cause us to forget our very real limitations and the fact that it is God who ultimately controls all actions and circumstances. We do get reminded of our individual limitations from time to time when our capacity to solve daily problems falls short. In these situations we often turn to an intercessor—a doctor, lawyer, parent, mechanic, official, whoever has the ability and influence that we lack in the moment—to act on our behalf and fix our problem.

Living in a physical world, we are mostly concerned with worldly and temporal problems that can usually be addressed and solved in this way. But there is also a gigantic spiritual and eternal problem confronting everyone that no one is equipped to solve. Before we even arrived in this world, sin had rendered us spiritually dead, physically finite, and estranged from God. None of us can remedy this condition on our own or appeal to God to give us a pass based on our own merits, because perfect righteousness is what is required. The doors of heaven will open for nothing else, and as sinful beings we are all deficit, having fallen short of God's perfect moral standard.

Yet because of His love for humanity God calls many to be redeemed, extending effectual grace to sinners who are otherwise separated from Him. He provides a way of reconciliation that expresses His divine mercy and satisfies His perfect justice, a way that does hinge on righteousness—not that of the sin-afflicted individual to be certain, but that of a perfectly righteous Mediator who intercedes on their behalf. As the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 summarizes:

It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between God and man. (Is 42:1, 1 Pet 1:19-20) ¹

Fallen humanity cannot approach a holy God, let alone offer atonement for its sin, so any hope of divine reconciliation would have to involve an acceptable intermediary, one worthy to stand before God. God Himself has provided that intermediary in Jesus Christ.

The Son of God incarnate, Jesus possesses divine righteousness and the capacity for perfect obedience. These qualities were demonstrated in His sinless earthly existence, and His atoning death, burial, and resurrection was sufficient in the eyes of God to compensate for the sin of mankind once for all time. God applies that atonement by allowing the righteousness and obedience of Jesus to be credited to those who trust in Him for their redemption. Thus Jesus has secured, by proxy if you will, eternal reconciliation and spiritual life for all those God has called to salvation, uniting them to Himself and making intercession for them before God:

The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him.
(Jn 17:2, Heb 9:14, 9:15, 10:14, Rom 3:25-26) ²

To all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal redemption, he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same, making intercession for them; uniting them to himself by his Spirit, revealing unto them, in and by his Word, the mystery of salvation (Jn 6:37, 10:15-16, 17:6, 17:9, Rom 5:10) ³

That is the sum of it. If you believe in the person of Jesus and place your trust in His righteousness and atoning work for your salvation, He will reconcile you to God, justify you by His righteousness, regenerate you to spiritual life, and deliver you to a state of blessedness for all of eternity after you die.

As mediator of man’s redemption Jesus discharges the offices of prophet, priest, and king*, and is the fulfillment of a covenant of grace established by God in ages past. The unfolding of this promise to humanity and its various administrations over time is captured in the pages of the Christian Bible and is the central theme of God’s written word; indeed all of scripture points to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ultimate redeemer of mankind.

It is through Christ alone in the role of divine mediator that any may be reconciled to a holy and righteous God, as He is the only one with the credentials to intercede. He has solved our eternal problem, substituting our sin for His perfect righteousness, and accomplishing for us what we could never accomplish ourselves. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man; receive Him in faith and stand redeemed before God.

 

References:
1. 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 8 "Of Christ the Mediator" (1)
2. Ibid. (5)
3. Ibid. (8)
* Calvin, John; Institutes of the Christian Religion, Chapter 15; 1536

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Most scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB)

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