Jesus: Our Mediator & High Priest
Notes
Transcript
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.
When you survey the Scripture, you will find a number of times that Jesus Christ is pictured in a position of a mediator — literally someone in-between, in the middle, a go-between, a middleman.
He is the Man in the middle or at the center of our situations.
He is the bridge between God and man, not any just any priest and definitely NOT a pope.
Consider a few are several of the places where I found Jesus pictured or associated with the middle or mediator position.
In the Midst of the Seven Churches
In the Midst of the Seven Churches
In Revelation 1 we find Jesus in the midst of the seven churches.
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and wrapped around the chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
Jesus is the One in the middle of the candles, the Light of the World.
Thank God that today He is still standing in the middle of His churches.
Here at New Life we need the Man in the Middle.
We need to see, not gray hair, but the white hair that speaks of His inestimable, unfathomable wisdom.
We need to hear His voice, to look into the flame of His eyes, to kneel at His feet that is like furnace-heated bronze.
We need the Holy Spirit He prays the Father with send.
Thank God for Jesus, the Man in the middle of His churches!
As the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
As the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Last week we saw that Jesus in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Even though he was the 4th oldest of Jacob’s sons, Judah was the mediator of those sons.
In Genesis 43 and 44 he was the guarantor to his father, Jacob, for his brother Benjamin when they traveled to Egypt.
The family needed food during the time of famine and they knew where to get the food, in Egypt.
They had already been there once.
A disguised Joseph demanded that if they returned to Egypt, they must bring their youngest brother Benjamin to prove they were telling the truth to him and not spying.
It was Judah who told his father he would be personally responsible for Benjamin.
Judah was the intercessor to his Father.
Once in Egypt, standing before Joseph (but not knowing his identity) Judah acted as the mediator for his brother Benjamin
This is exactly what the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus, does for you and me.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of the mediator and intercessor, is the Lord Jesus Christ, OUR mediator and intercessor.
The Mediator
The Mediator
In 1 Timothy 2:5 Paul makes it very clear there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, and that mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This was contrary to the beliefs of the Romans and Greeks who believed in many gods.
In fact, the Romans praised Caesar as God.
But, there is only one God — and it isn’t Caesar.
We are still having trouble with this today.
There are many in the government who want U.S. citizens to look at the U.S. government in general and them in particular as gods.
No sir! No ma’am! There is one God and you are not Him.
There is one God, Yahweh, and one mediator, Yashua.
The Bible tells us very clearly that humanity’s mediator is Jesus.
There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus is OUR Mediator
Prayers that are offered to saints, angels, priests, popes, the Virgin Mary are all idolatry.
They are not deities.
They are not mediators between us and Father God.
The Bible makes it clear that ONLY Jesus is our mediator and ONLY He can cleanse us from all sin and take our needs to the Father.
As our mediator, He stands good for our sin debt to God.
He is our propitiation.
The wages of sin is death and He paid that debt of sin with His own blood, with His own life on the Cross.
He has guaranteed that the debt is paid if I believe and put my trust in Him for my salvation.
The price was paid at the Cross and He has guaranteed eternal life for all who believe.
At the Cross, our mediator Jesus, paid the debt, and reconciled us to God.
Jesus represents both God and man.
He was God incarnate, God in the flesh, and He was also man.
He came from the courts of Heaven, but He was born in a Bethlehem stable and could represent man.
He was clothed in a garment of humanity.
Jesus carried humanity’s burdens, endured humanity’s agonies, suffered humanity’s sorrows, and He was tested by humanity’s trials and temptations.
He lived as a man among men and died a man’s death.
He was the Infinite who had become Intimate.
He was the Divine Sovereign who became the Human Sufferer.
He was the God-man.
Our Lord is the Liaison to the Father.
He is the Arbiter of Deity.
He is the Intercessor for the Imperfect and the Conciliator for the Carnal.
Jesus the Mediator had the task of representation and also reconciliation.
God did not need to be reconciled to man.
He has always been seeking man out.
He has sent the Hound of Heaven, the Holy Spirit to seek the lost sinner.
Man is the renegade running from God.
Jesus reconciled us to His Father.
AND Jesus is our mediator to an infinitely holy God!
Hallelujah!
The High Priest As a Picture of Christ our Mediator
The High Priest As a Picture of Christ our Mediator
In the Hebrews 4:14-15 passage we also see Jesus as High Priest which also speaks of Him as our mediator.
The High Priest was the mediator for God’s people on the Day of Atonement.
He presented himself before God and made a sacrifice for his own sins.
Jesus needed no sacrifice for Himself for He was sinless.
He was able to present Himself on our behalf immediately.
The High Priest made atonement for the people too.
He presented Himself twice.
Jesus, on the other hand, presented Himself once for us.
Even at other times the High Priest was the mediator for the people.
There was a lot of furniture and other items in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple.
But, there were no chairs in the Tabernacle.
The human High Priest never sat down because his work was never done.
On the Cross, Jesus cried, “It is finished” because His atoning work was done.
He now sits down at the right hand of God and continues His intercessory work for you and me from that seated position.
24 Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Going to Yahweh Through Yeshua
Going to Yahweh Through Yeshua
So, tonight let’s go to Yahweh through the one mediator, the True High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.
He will hear!
He will respond!