"for one is God, one also is mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus"
1 Timothy 2:5 YLT
At the end of my last post two months ago entitled, "Jesus, the Son of God", I have mentioned that our Lord has accomplished three things for us, namely,
- He is the Model of our faith,
- He is the Mediator of our salvation and
- He is the Master of our obedience.
I had also explained briefly on the first point, that our Lord Jesus is the Model of our Faith, for our empowerment, our endurance and most of all for our emulation as we live as testimonies for Christ in this world.
Today, I'd like to continue with the second point, that our Lord Jesus is the Mediator of our salvation. I have surveyed chapters 7 through 10 of the epistle to the Hebrews and have come across the following descriptions of what our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has done for us:
(1) He is our High Priest
A prophecy in Psalm 110:4 tells of YeHoVaH declaring to his anointed, Messiah,
"YeHoVaH has sworn and will not relent, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek".
This prophecy is quoted at least three times, in Hebrews 5:6, 7:17 and again in 7:21.
In commenting on this verse, Hebrews 7:24,25 says that our Lord Jesus, the priest who lives forever, is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him. Note carefully in these verses, the reason why Jesus can do this is because he always lives to make intercession for them.
Further, in 7:28 the writer goes on to say that our Lord Jesus has been made perfect forever. This is followed subsequently in 8:1 which tells us that Jesus is a High Priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
This helps us to understand more clearly why our Lord Jesus had said in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that "no man comes to the Father except by me". Indeed, the whole purpose of our Lord Jesus, the sinless man, the only begotten Son of God, having to live as a servant, resisting temptation, to be tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15), to learn obedience in his sufferings (Heb 5:8), is to be made perfect by God, so that all men can come to God through him.
Having obeyed his Father completely, even to the point of death on the cross, he was raised from death by God and is given a place at the right hand of God forever - where he always lives to intercede for all those who come to God through him.
Behold our Lord Jesus: he is made perfect by God to be our High Priest, forever.
(2) He ministers in the True Temple
Hebrews 8:2 says that Jesus is a minister of the holy place in God's true temple. This is not any man-made temple on earth. Instead it is the temple of God which is put up by the Lord (i.e. YeHoVaH) and not by man. This reminds us of the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (Young's Literal Translation) where he says, " have ye not known that ye are a sanctuary of God, and the Spirit of God doth dwell in you? if any one the sanctuary of God doth waste, him shall God waste; for the sanctuary of God is holy, the which ye are".
Yes, indeed we, the body of Christ make up this temple of YeHoVaH, the true temple in which our Lord is the high priest who ministers in the holy place, the temple built by God and not by the hands of man.
Verse 6 goes on to elaborate on the ministry of our Lord Jesus in this true temple of God. It compares our Lord's ministry with that of the Levitical priests who serve under the Law of Moses. It points out to us that Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry than those earthly priests. Furthermore, he is the mediator of a better covenant than the covenant under Moses.
Similarly if we turn to chapter 9 verse 15 we read that our Lord is the mediator of a "new covenant" by means of his death. This explains for us the mean of the words, "has obtained" mentioned earlier in Heb. 8:6, telling us that this excellent ministry of our High Priest, in the true temple of YeHoVaH is made possible only by our Lord's death on the cross. It was by means of his sacrificial death, a death from which YeHoVaH God raised him, and glorified him, that Jesus, our Messiah, becomes our Mediator of this more excellent ministry and this better covenant.
Indeed, our Messiah, has come as High Priest of the good things to come, with a greater and more perfect tabernacle - not made with hands, and not of this creation! (Heb. 9:11)
Behold, our Lord Jesus: by his death, he has obtained a more excellent ministry than the earthly Levitical priests. He ministers in the true temple of YeHoVaH.
(Posting resumed on: Sun. 15-5-2010)
(3) He Offered himself to God
Finally, Hebrews 9:14 tells us that our Lord Jesus offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, through God's eternal Spirit. In doing so, his blood cleanses our conscience "from dead works" so that we may serve the living God. This further explains the assertion made two chapters earlier in Hebrews 7:24,25, that he is able to "save to the uttermost" those who come to God through him.
Furthermore, it is stated in Hebrews 10: 10-12 that this sacrifice of our Lord's body is a "once for all" sacrifice which is effective for all sins forever. No other sacrifice is ever needed again. And our Lord has been raised by God, to be seated at God's right hand and is given a transformed and glorified body, never to die again. Now, at the right hand of the throne of YeHoVaH Almighty, our Lord Jesus waits for his enemies to be subject to his authority, figuratively, to be made his footstool (v.12 and 13).
Conclusion:
In his days on earth, our Lord Jesus had always obeyed God, his Father. He always did things that pleased his Father. (John 8:49). He honoured his Father and did not seek his own glory. (John 8:49,50). He did not honour himself, but instead received honour from his Father. (John 8:54). In fact, he went about teaching his disciples that only those people who does the will of his Father will enter the kingdom of heaven!
It was because of such complete obedience to God his Father that our Lord had successfully become the Mediator between God and man.
He gave himself, his body, as the unblemished, once-for-all sacrifice to God. He was raised by God from the dead to become our eternal high-priest. He lives forever, interceding at the right hand of God, having the ability to "save to the uttermost" all who come to God through him.
And his ministry is a more excellent ministry than that of the Levitical priests on earth, for he ministers in the true temple of God, a temple not made with hands but instead comprises all of us who have died together with him and who have been made alive with him.
Today, our Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, waiting for his enemies to be subject to him. Psalm 8: 6 contains a prophecy of God giving Christ authority over all of God's creation and putting all things "under his feet",
"You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet."
The apostle Paul explained this prophecy in 1 Corinthians 15 by saying that Christ must reign until God has put all his enemies, under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death itself. In the end, i.e. at the resurrection, Christ will deliver the kingdom to God after destroying "every rule and every authority and power". (v.20 - 28 ESV)
Dear Christian, let us hold fast to the truth: that our Lord Jesus learned to obey God in his sufferings (Heb. 5:8) and, in doing so, has been made perfect by God to be our mediator forever (Heb. 7:28).
Behold the Anointed One, the eternal high priest, the mediator between God and Man, the man Christ Jesus.
