By definition a mediator is a person who attempts to make people involved in
a conflict come to an agreement; a go-between.
In the book of Job chapter 9:32-35. Job declares in frustration :
““God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.
The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in
terror of his punishment. Then I could speak to him without fear,
but I cannot do that in my own strength.”
Cleary Job was feeling the heat of a life now turned sour.
Not on only this ,but that God was not listening to his
cries for help and more importantly, God was not giving him the reasons for his ordeal.
After many such protests and cries, Job aptly concluded that
a mediator was perhaps needed to help get his case across to God.
Job was right – we all need a mediator to help reconcile our estranged relationship with God.
Was there even a relationship in the first place you might ask.
The simple answer is yes! We read in the book of Genesis 3 how God
was with Adam and Eve – the first humans, in the Garden –
“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife
heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from
the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:8-9 NLT and Genesis 4 recounts how God banished both of them
from the Garden of Eden – a place essentially where they had uninterrupted access to God.
They were sent packing – “So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden,
and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden.
And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:23-24
The relationship was broken because of disobedience. God and Man became estranged.
As time went on, God and Man only grew more and more apart –
“The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and
he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.
It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have
created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people,
the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground,
and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” Genesis 6:5-7 NLT
In the book of Psalms we read –
“God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.
No one does good, not a single one!” Psalms 53:2-3
In the book of Romans we also read:
“As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one.
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless.
No one does good, not a single one.””
Romans 3:10-12 NLT. So, God’s stance is that man had become morally bankrupt.
God is holy and will not allow man back into a relationship with him, given his moral condition.
The relationship had broken down – God and man were not seeing eye to eye and
only a mediator could bring the warring parties back together.
Jesus Christ is that mediator.
In the book of Hebrews,
we read: “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences
from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God.
For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a
perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new
covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the
eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free
from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.” Hebrews 9:14-15 NLT
Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man.