Stuck in the Middle FOR You

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1Tim 2:5).

Have you ever worked hard to get something but suddenly realize you’re talking to somebody who didn’t have the power or authority to give it to you? Maybe it was a job. Maybe it was money. Maybe it was tickets. Maybe it was getting you OUT of a ticket! Somehow, someway you came to believe they held the keys and could give you what you want. At the moment of truth, they can’t deliver the goods.

Here in his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul tells his spiritual son that only God can deliver salvation and there’s only one Man who can deliver your request. “For there is one god, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (v5). Don’t make the mistake of hoping anyone or anything else can come to the rescue. Don’t make the mistake of asking anyone or anything else to make it happen. Only God saves. Only Christ is in the position to help. Jesus is the God-Man in the middle.

This is a big deal because Paul has just instructed Pastor Tim to have the Ephesian megachurch pray for everyone they know using every kind of prayer imaginable (1Tim 2:1). Specifically, lift up all of the governmental leaders to the Lord (1Tim 2:2). Remember, we’re talking about praying for a ruthless dictator named Nero! So I don’t want to hear any complaints from Democrats about praying for Republicans and vice versa. There’s a two-pronged goal for these prayers. One, so we can be free to be good citizens. Two, so the Lord might save our leaders. God “desires all people to be saved” (1Tim 2:4). Amazingly, that includes politicians!

When it comes to salvation, there’s only One who can pull it off. God. Take a quick look around. Who do you see? How many of them can save you from your sin and yourself? None. Zip. Zilch. Zero. God and only God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Dt 6:4). When it comes to creating, running, ruling, reigning, sustaining, and saving, there’s only One qualified. The list is short. God. Party of One. 

The authors of Scripture don’t want us to miss the fact that “there is one God” (v5). Don’t be fooled my imitators. Don’t fall for fakes or phonies. “The LORD is God; there is no other besides Him” (Dt 4:35). He’s the only One worthy of our worship. He wired us to worship Him. But the problem is we end up putting other stuff on the throne instead of God. For some of us, it’s a substance, a chemical, or a destructive habit. While incredibly hard to kick, it’s pretty obvious shooting black tar heroin is not exactly worshiping God. You do realize that, don’t you? Whew. 

Too often, it’s not the blatant sin that takes us down. We repeatedly make the mistake of turning the good things God gives us and making them objects of worship. Our spouse. Our kids. Our job. Our income. Our home. This is all good stuff that comes from our very good God. It’s been said that anytime we take a good thing and make it a god thing that’s a bad thing. That’s a simple explanation of idolatry. That’s why God put this in the pole position of His Top Ten. “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex 20:3; Dt 5:7). 

He’s the only One qualified to receive our worship. He’s the only One powerful enough to come to our rescue. God uses the prophet Isaiah to drive the point home. “I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior” (Is 43:11). “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Is 46:22). “And there is no other god besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Is 45:21-22). Nobody else can save you or me. Period.

There’s only one way access our one and only God. “There is one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (v5). Paul uses a Greek word here (Gr. mesites) describing an intermediary, someone who intervenes to restore peace, a friendship, or ratify a covenant. This is a communicator between two parties who are communicating. An arbitrator. A peacemaker. The term literally means someone in the middle. Someone in between. He’s the God-Man in the middle. To paraphrase Stealer’s Wheel, Jesus is stuck in the middle FOR you.

Jesus mediates our relationship by living the perfect life God demanded which we failed to live. He steps in to die the death we deserve which we should have died. He rises to a new life for us which we don’t deserve. He does for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves. We desperately need someone to step into our situation. And that’s Jesus. He’s the God-Man in the middle.

The writer of Hebrews throws this word around as he explains the connection between the Old and New Testaments. Jesus oversees the new ministry which is WAY better “than the old as the covenant He mediates (Gr. mesites) is better, since it is enacted on better promises” (Heb 8:6). Christ is our arbitrator and “the mediator (Gr. mesites) of a new covenant” (Heb 9:15; 12:25). Jesus Himself left no doubt when He said He’s the only route to God. “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6). If you’re keeping score at home, absolutely nobody finds God the Father without going through God the Son. Goose egg.

But the radical Rabbi/Carpenter wasn’t done mediating once He headed home to heaven. At this very moment, He’s doing what He does best. Reconciling. Mediating. Paul gives a peak inside the heavenly throne room where Christ is sitting right next to His Heavenly Dad “interceding for us” (Rom 8:34). There He is again. Smack dab between you and Yahweh. Stuck in the middle FOR you.

Paul leaves no doubt about the identity of our Middle Man. “The Man Christ Jesus” (v5). As a baseball fan, it reminds me of Stan the Man Musial. But the apostle isn’t sitting in the bleachers pulling for his favorite ballplayer. Curiously, there’s no article “the” before “Man” in the original language. So a good way to read this is probably “Christ Jesus, Himself a man.” 

The big idea is to remind us that Jesus is still fully man even after His ascension. He didn’t drop off His humanity at the coat check table just before lifting off. He’s 100% God while at the same 100% man. That adds up to 100% Savior. No 50-50, but 100-100. Bad math but GREAT theology! To help wrap their heads around it, smart dudes call this the Hypostatic Union. Yeah, I don’t get it either.

By taking on humanity, the Son of God became the perfect Savior. The perfect Mediator. The perfect High Priest. According the the author of Hebrews, the God-Man in the Middle is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He resisted every kind of temptation you and I would ever face. Unlike you and me, Jesus never stumbled, never slipped, never sinned (Heb 4:15). Because of that we confidently “draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). All because Jesus was stuck in the middle FOR you.