One mediator between God and men

1 Timothy, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

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Audio | 1 Timothy 2:1-7

SUMMARY

Many argue that First Timothy is primarily about church order, governance and structure. That is unfortunate. Church order, governance and structure are certainly addressed, but are not Paul’s driving concern. His driving concern for Timothy, the church(es) in Ephesus and us is that we get the gospel right. The context of this section (2:1-7) is prayer, but the content is salvation. A right understanding of the one mediator between God and men, compels us to be mediators before God for men.

INTRODUCTION

Roughly 2,000 years ago the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to his friend, traveling companion and partner-in-mission, Timothy. Today, we call that letter First Timothy. Paul wrote this letter because he learned that some among the church(es) in Ephesus were wandering from the gospel of Jesus Christ and, instead, following their own personal preferences and self-made ideas about God, which Paul refers to as “myths and genealogies, which promote speculations”. (1:4) So far in our study we have seen that Paul is deeply concerned because everything is on the line if we get God, Jesus Christ, and the gospel wrong. Since God is the most precious reality in the universe, it is crucial that we get him right and not merely rely on our own personal preferences, hunches about who He is and what He is like. Throughout this letter, Paul is emphatic that those who follow Jesus are called to be faithful stewards of what we have received and not creative speculators of what we do not know. Many, including some commentators, argue that this letter is about church order, governance and structure. That is unfortunate. Church order, governance and structure are not Paul’s driving concern. His driving concern for Timothy, the church(es) in Ephesus and us is that we get the gospel right. So, while our section this morning (2:1-7) at first appears to be about prayer, it is about something so much more.

#1 GOD’S DESIRE AND DILEMMA. 2:3-4

2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Apparently false teachers were saying that God was only concerned for certain type of people, so Paul is emphatic to correct them here by stating, “God desires all people to be saved …” In fact ther is an empahsis on “all” throughout this section: 2:1,4,6,7.

Q: Is Paul advocating universalism, the idea that everyone will be eventually saved? No. That’s clear from rest of his letter to Timothy, the rest of Paul’s writings and, in fact, the rest of the Bible. Rather, Paul is saying that the gospel message is for all people, everywhere. The invitation of the gospel is not to be hidden or restricted. Ezekiel says something very similar to this…

Ez 33:11 “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live…”

In other words, God takes no pleasure in death of wicked. God desires all to be saved. But, will all be saved? No. We know from scriptures that only some out of the world will be ultimately saved, who the Scripture refers to as the “elect” (cf Eph 1; Rom 8,9,10,11)

There seems to be a distinction between what God desires and his purposes in world. How could that be? Ultimately, we don’t know but we get a glimpse of this regularly from a human perspective. It is not uncommon for our purposes to differ from our desires. You may desire to take a day off of work, but the higher purpose of paying the bills, putting food on the table and/or providing for your family moves you to go to work. Or, you may desire to sin, but the higher purpose of trusting Jesus and considering the consequences compels you to obey. Single guys may desire to spend all of their money, but a higher purpose moves them to save for a ring. Similarly, God’s eternal purposes transcend his desires and, being human it shouldnt’ surprise us that we don’t know all of God’s eternal purposes.

So, where does that leave us? We should proclaim the gospel to everyone, everywhere, and trust that God will redeem those he has purposed to save. We don’t know who elect are so its ultiamtely none of our business. What do we know is that all, including us, will be held accountable for how we respond to Jesus invitation. Now, inevitably there will be some hyper-reformed guys who will say, “I don’t want to preach the gospel to the wrong people, they might get saved?!” If you have breath you’re among those that need to hear gospel. We shouldn’t be concerned with determining what God has not revealed.

Ultimately what we’re dealing with here is the God’s sovereignty versus man’s responsibility. While we don’t have time to dive into this here, it is important to highlight that the Scripture is not afraid of calling attention to this tension. If that’s the case, nor should we. We should believe the Bible when it says that we are responsible and we should believe the Bible that God is ultimatley in control. We see this even with Jesus. In Mt 11:27-28 he says “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (i.e. election) and then in the very next verse he issues a universal call, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…”

So, here’s a good rule-of-thumb: Let what the Bible says be what the Bible says. Hold the tensions, don’t try resolve. There’s a big pile of verses that speak about the universal invitation to believe. We believe those. There’s also a big pile of verses that talk about Gods election. We believe those. Rather than siding with one pile, which we often do, our job is to trust both piles. Beware of forcing the Bible into your pre-fabricated grid/preferences. Rather, let the Bible create, inform and shape your grid/preferencs. As a church, we want to take the Bible at its word. We want to tell the entire city about Jesus and leave results up to him.

Here’s the sum of the matter: God desires to save all kinds of people from every tribe/tongue/nation. We should not exclude anyone.

All that being said, why is it that the news that God desires all saved does not amaze us? No one is stunned when they are told “God loves you”. In fact, the normal response is, “Yeah, what’s not to love?” There is a prevailing assumption that God loves me and we’re not surprised by that. There’s little awe, little shock. Often there is nothing but a shallow appreciation. Why is that? The main reason is that most people are unaware of the divine dilemma. You will not be surprised to hear that God loves you or that he desires all people to be saved if you are unaware of this dilemma. Let’s take a closer look.

The divine dilemma: (1:17, cf 1:8-10)

1:17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Properly understanding the divine dilemma starts with properly understanding God. Contrary to popular opinino God is not a  slightly senile grandfather who can be safely ignored and merely winks at our sin like they’re innocent mistakes. Paul paints a far bigger picture of the one, true, livin God:

“King of ages” Eternal, everlasting sovereign rulers of all things past/present/future. Beyond time. Rules over history. To him 1,000 years are like a day and a day is like a 1,000 years.

“Immortal” Immune to decay. Imperishable. Never expires. Always new, fresh, energized. Never tired. Forever.

“Invisible” Beyond limits of every horizon. Lives in unapproachable light. Sinful humans cannot see God and survive.

“Only God” All others are false gods and idols. There is no one like him. He is singularly, uniquely, only God.

“be honor and glory…forever and ever” Respect, praise, admiration, love, adoration, songs, affection, joy. Forever and ever.

Now, contrast that with the picture that the Apostle Paul paints of humankind earlier in chapter 1.

1:8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…

This is the biblical view of humanity. Everyone here appears in that snapshot somewhere. Evern if we haven’t done these things in action, we’ve done them in our heart. Jesus himself says its the same. Often, our sinful hearts try to wiggle out of appearing in this picture by trying to convince ourselves that we’ve done more good than bad. Like a murderer picking up recycling to somehow offset offense of the murder. But, here’s the thing, the offense still remains. No amount of good can remove our sin. What’s interesting to note is that every religion, with the singular exception of Christianity, offers different recipes to counterbalance sin. All that you’re left with is the hope that you’ve done enough, but never absolute assurance.

So, here’s the dilemma. God is not unaffected or indifferent to our sin. In fact, he is righteously opposed to our sin. In his justice, holiness, perfection he must punish sin and sinner. If he did not, he would not be just nor holy. In fact, he would then be unjust and unholy and therefore not worthy to be trusted, followed, let alone worshipped. For example, in human courts, any judge that winked at sin or brushed it under the proverbial rug and did not enforce the law would not be a judge for long. Why would we think God is any diferent? Yet, at same time, he is a God of love and grace “who desires all kinds of people be saved.” That is the dilemma. Being holy, he is opposed to us. Being love, he is drawn to us. JI Packer states it this way: “Men are opposed to God in their sin and God is opposed to men in his holiness.”

Do you feel the weight of that dilemma? We are opposed to God in our sin. We are not morally indifferent. We are not victims. We are actively opposed and hostile to God, whether that’s blatant rebellion or stubborn indifference. Prior to conversion, Paul tells us that we “hate” God. We don’t think of him. We avoid him. We may consult, but we don’t submit to him. We may view him like a peer or counselor, but not our King. We believe he is good for some, but not for us. By nature and choice we are opposed to him, directly and indirectly, consciously and sub-consciously.

Even more, while we are opposed to him in our sinfulness He is opposed to us in his holiness. There is a holy opposition of God to the sinner. The average American is ignorant of this. Unfortunately, the average American who claims to follow Christ is often also ignorant of this.  2001 Gallup: Scares Americans most? Snakes, public speaking, heights, small spaces, spiders, mice. What do you find noticably absent on this list? There is ignorance about the divine dilemma and yet assumption that he loves me.

But, what we find on the actual pages of God’s revealed Word is that there is a dilemma. How can God of 1:17 forgive, pardon and save those listed in 1:9,10? What we learn in chapter two is that, because of his great holiness and great love, he planned and provided for a mediator – in fact, it would be this mediator that would resolve the divine dilemma.

#2 GOD’S PLAN AND PROVISION. 2:5-6

2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

The key to the entire section, and Bible, is found right here. The divine dilemma is that God desires to save but is opposed to us in holiness and we are opposed to him in our sin. That means there is a need for a unique mediator and unique work of mediation. Again, to put it differently, there are two parties in active, hostility toward each other. Yet,only one has truly been offended. That is God. He is holy, perfect, blameless, w/o guilt, w/o sin. The other party is unarguably guilty and, even more, not the least desirous of this holy God whom we have offended.

What is truly amazing is that the innocent and offended party desires to be reconciled with the guilty and rebellious party – sinners like you and me – that have no desire to be reconciled w/ him. Yet, though he desires this reconciliation, he must punish sin andsinner in light of his holiness and justice. So, in his great mercy, the holy, offended one,plans and provides for a mediator. He decides to save the guilty, offending, rebellious ones by sending his only Son to reconcile Holy God to sinful mankind. Jesus is utterly unique in who he is and unique in what he has done. Not “a” mediator, “the” mediator.

Who is he exatly? He is so unique that he is the one mediator between God and man. Not Mary, saints, priests. On the one hand he is fully God. 1Tim1:15 “Christ Jesus came into the world” » referring to his preexistence. Also, John 1:1,14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory…” On the other hand, he is also fully man, 1 Tim 3:16 “manifested in the flesh.” Why is it important that he was both fully God and fully man? Because for a mediator to be a mediator he must be able to represent both sides equally to qualify. Remember Job? In his suffering, recognizing his need, fearing judgement he says a very intersting thing…

“[God] is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.” Job9:32-33

Hear that?! If only there were someone to arbitrate between us and God! There is! His name is Jesus. Job’s cry, for someone to arbitrate, for someone to lay his hand on Godand us has been answered. The unique one has been provided. The one unique individual in the history of the world who can fully represent both sides, truly God and truly man, is Jesus Christ. He alone can “lay his hand on both of us”. This makes Jesus utterly unique and sufficient, able to do what no one else can making him the mediator.

What did he do? He was not only a unique person, but he lived a unique life and died aunique death. Again, here’s our dilemma, we can’t satisfy God’s righteous requirements on our own terms. Even more, we can’t make up for or atone our sin when we don’t. We are in desperate need of a savior.

Therefore, Jesus lived a perfect life in our place to satisfy righteous requirements of God’s law on our behalf. Then, Jesus died a substitutionary death, that we justly and rightly deserve, on our behalf. In so doing, God upholds his holiness and justice bynot allowing sin to go unpunished. At same time, God upholds his love and grace by substituting himself in our place. This resolves the divine dilemma. Jesus is the only one who has/can/ever will stand in this unique place

“The glory of the gospel is this…the one from whom we need to be saved is the one who saves us.” RC Sproul

“Divine love, triumphed over divine wrath, by divine self-sacrifice.” Stott » there’s a tattoo for you.

At this point, may object and say, “That’s my problem with Christianity…this whole idea of Jesus satisfying an angry Father. It seems like cosmic child abuse.” While understandable from a very cursory view of the cross, it is crucial to understand that it was the Father who was motivated by love that sent the Son. Further, it was the Son, also motivated by love that gladly agreed with the and came in order to  satisfy his holy, righteous, displeasure over sin.

What is the result of Jesus life, death and resurrection in our place? There are numerous implications and blessings of the person and work of Jesus, but let’s look at just three.

First, in Christ, we get peace with God. That’s not just the peace of God, but actual peace with God. In Christ, there is no longer holy, rigteous and just hostility, anger or opposition. In Christ, God is no longer opposed to us in his holiness, but accepts on the basis of Jesus’ record.

Second, in Christ, there is no condemnation from God. In Christ, we need no longer fear – no fear! – of future judgement. That means there is no lack of assurance as the verdict is finalized on the cross, on our behalf.

Third, in Christ, the bbjective truth of the gospel replaces our subjective experience as our primary guide. We all have a sinful tendency to begin with our internal emotions and use them to define what is true/not true. If you’re constantly saying “I feel that…” that is an effect of sin. “How could you say that’s sinful?” Here’s how it works. We give feelingsdivine authority in our life, rather than recognizing how unstable/unreliable they are. That, in turn, makes us vulnerable to arrogance and unbelief because by doing so we are saying, “My feelings are the ultimate standard and determiner of truth”. Or, in other words, “If I don’t like it, its not true.” The gospel calls us to realign our source of truth by starting with objective truth of Jesus and what he has done and allowing that to interpret our feelings.

This morning – in song, in scripture, in prayer, in this sermon – we’re announcing objective, historical, achieved realities, not subjective realities. It is highly likely that many in this room right now are giving into the tempation to evaluate what you are hearing by how you feel about it. You’re asking, “How do I feel about this?” instead of asking, “Is this true?” Where is your faith located? Do you locate your faith in whatever our emotional state you are in? Right now, I want to direct your attention away from that sinful tendency andcultivate a different practice.

“Avoid the mistake of concentrating overmuch on your feelings. Above all, avoid the terrible error of making them central. Now I am never tired of repeating this because I find so frequently that this is a cause of stumbling. Feelings are never meant to take the first place, they are never meant to be central. If you put them there you are of necessity doomed to be unhappy, because you are not following the order that God himself has ordained.” MLJ, Spiritual Dep.

Where is your faith located? God-centered, gospel-centered, achieved realities? Truth transcends our emotions. If you anchor your life around this truth it will transform your emotions. None of this is a criticism of feeling deeply. I am passionate about both. I love feeling deeply! Deep, right feeling is a result of being anchored in deep, right, profound truth. Not other way around. Placing truth first make you more joyful because your affections aren’t rooted in themselves but in Jesus. If you have an ultimate trust in your feelings, and in so doing invest them w/ final authority, they will only deliver you to emotional roller coaster of life.

#3 OUR PROCLAMATION AND PRAYER. 2:7, 1-2

2:7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

In light of all this, Paul says two things that we need to grasp in close: our proclamation and our prayer.

First (vs7) “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle…a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” It is not enough to know that Jesus was born, died, raised or uniquely qualified mediator and ransom. This news must be made known, both preachedand taught around the world. The universal, global concern of the church arises from the universal, global concern of God “To preach” means to herald. The heralds job was to make news public. There were two job requirements: #1 Loud voice and #2 Be able to repeat strictly what he had been told. Not creative proclamation, but faithful.

This doesn’t merely concern the Apostle Paul or me as a pastor. This includes all of us.

• If you follow Jesus, you are sent to go and make disciples of all nations…
• If you follow Jesus, you are sent to be salt and light in the every day places you find yourself…
• If you follow Jesus, you are sent to proclaim the excellencies of him who call you out of darkness…
• If you follow Jesus, you are sent let your friends and family know how much Jesus has done for you…
• If you follow Jesus, you are sent by Jesus as the Father sent him…

2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

Secondly (vs1-2), in light of all this, Paul urges us to pray all kinds of prayer for all kinds of people. God’s concern is a worldwide concern, therefore our concern should be as well. As an example, he tell us to pray for kings and those in positions of leadership. This is remarkable as there were no XN rulers anywhere in the world. In fact the reigning emperor was Nero who would kill him within the next five year. The goal of these types of prayers is that “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life”. Not this might seem selfish, but in the context of the section Paul is really calling us to pray for the government to create conditions favorable to the spread of the gospel. Peace it not the main thing, salvation is the main thing. Tranquility is not the goal, the knowledge of the truth of God, that’s the goal.

• Who/what are you (ultimately) trusting this morning?
• Do you measure your approach to God by how you feel or via the facts of the gospel?
• Are you held in wonder at the fact that God loves you?
• Are you increasingly coming to grips with the unique nature of the person and work of Jesus Christ?

“Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to they faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.  We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.” Charles Spurgeon

We can only approach him based on the mediator that he has provided. When we pray, sing, whatever we are doing, wherever we are the refrain should always be “I’m with him” He is so much more than a mediator. He is the mediator between God and man. Let’s pray for neighbors, coworkers, politicians by name – asking him to do what only He can in our city.