No 14

(Jesus Christ, the Mediator)

The Bible says that Jesus Christ is our mediator “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Tim 2:5). The word mediator in the World Book Dictionary is defined as follows: “a person who acts in order to bring about an agreement between persons or sides; a go-between”. This exactly what Jesus does on our behalf; He intercedes for us. He is our lawyer “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:2) and pleads our case. We are guilty of the sins that we commit so its not so much that He proves that we are innocent but more to the fact that He paid the penalty for our sins. God, who is a Holy God, cannot tolerate even the smallest sin; all sin must be punished “ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor 5:21). On the cross of Calvary, God treated Jesus just as if He had committed every sin that every Christian had ever committed or will commit. The physical pain of the cross was one thing, but to be separated from God, even if it was only for an instant was so difficult for Jesus to bear that He echoed David’s plea in Psalm 22:1 - “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? (Matt 27:46b). And God treats us as if we had never committed any sin whatsoever. Paul penned these words in the epistle to the Romans “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom 8:1).