18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, (1 Peter 3:18)
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5)
I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends. (Job 16:21 NLT)
Thoughts: We need someone who can be a mediator between us and God- in order to bring us peace with God. But it would be even better if that mediator who does this work of lawyer like mediation- would be willing to pay the penalty he exacts from us. Imagine if someone sues you for a wrong that you know you have done. Imagine then that you go to mediation (in order to bypass a prolonged court). There the mediator says you owe a tremendous debt that you cannot possibly begin to pay- but the mediator pulls out his checkbook and pays it for you. This is not a made up story. We know of it from the scriptures themselves- the story from God's people to God's people inspired by God Himself. This is good news- God cares for us- and wants to make us friends with Him.
Prayer: Thank you Lord, for interceding, mediating, sacrificing for me. Help me to trust your mediation and love.
Q & A 16
Q. Why must the mediator be a true and righteous human?
A. God’s justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for sin;1 but a sinful human could never pay for others.2
Q & A 17
Q. Why must the mediator also be true God?
A. So that the mediator, by the power of his divinity, might bear the weight of God’s wrath in his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.1
Q & A 18
Q. Then who is this mediator— true God and at the same time a true and righteous human?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,1 who was given to us to completely deliver us and make us right with God.2
Q & A 19
Q. How do you come to know this?
A. The holy gospel tells me. God began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise;1 later God proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs2 and prophets3 and foreshadowed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;4 and finally God fulfilled it through his own beloved Son.5
A. The holy gospel tells me. God began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise;1 later God proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs2 and prophets3 and foreshadowed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;4 and finally God fulfilled it through his own beloved Son.5
1 Gen. 3:15
2 Gen. 22:18; 49:10
3 Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1-2
4 Lev. 1-7; John 5:46; Heb. 10:1-10
5 Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4-5; Col. 2:17
2 Gen. 22:18; 49:10
3 Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1-2
4 Lev. 1-7; John 5:46; Heb. 10:1-10
5 Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4-5; Col. 2:17
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