Study Guide

Christ: Our Mediator

Who is Jesus?

The Doctrine of Christ

Introduction

Through the Christmas season we’re taking 6 weeks to answer one question: Who is Jesus? Now, on the one hand I could answer that question by reading one verse of Scripture, 1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

There it is, Jesus Christ is the mediator who stands between, who bridges the gap between God and man. But I want you to see how much beauty and richness for your life spills over that one verse. There is more glory in that single verse than we could unfold in a lifetime. Nonetheless, for six weeks we’re setting our sights on the Doctrine of Christ. Who is Jesus? What do the Scriptures teach regarding the Son of God incarnate?

They teach that the eternal Son of God was appointed by the Father to be our Mediator from all eternity. That, in time and space, 2,000 years ago, the Word was made flesh; that he is our Prophet, Priest, and King. He obeyed His Father even unto death his for sinners and was raised, ascended and even at this very moment, prays to the Father for his people, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead, and to establish his unending kingdom of light and love forever and ever.

Raise the Need, State the Destination, Give Signposts:

Today, we see that Jesus Christ was appointed by his Father to this task from all eternity. We’ll take 2 Timothy 1:8-10 as our primary text and turn to others along the way. This text teaches us:

1. Why Christ was Appointed
2. What Christ was Appointed to Do
3. When Christ was Appointed

God was pleased, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, to save a people who were fallen into sin. Jesus Christ did that by abolishing death through dying. And all of this was God’s plan before those people were even made.

He did not

hate us,

or reject us,

or bear a grudge against us;

instead

he was patient and forbearing;

in his mercy he took upon himself our sins;

he himself gave up his own Son as a ransom for us,

the holy one for the lawless,

the guiltless for the guilty,

the just for the unjust,

the incorruptible for the corruptible,

the immortal for the mortal.

For what else but his righteousness could have covered our sins?

In whom was it possible for us, the lawless and ungodly, to be justified, except in the Son of God alone?

O the sweet exchange,

O the incomprehensible work of God,

O the unexpected blessings,

that the sinfulness of many should be hidden in one righteous person,

while the righteousness of one should justify many sinners!

(Letter to Diognetus)

Let’s read the passage, and then, let’s marvel at the redemption our Father provides, from all eternity, through the appointment of his Son as our Mediator.

The Text

⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰ and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

1. Why Christ was Appointed: God Purposed to Save a People

Christ was appointed because God the Father intended, or purposed to save a people. That’s what verse 9 says:

“God… saved us and called us… because of his own purpose and grace.”

Christians use the word salvation all the time which means we can become so familiar with the word that we’re no longer struck by it’s glory. Salvation is a comprehensive word; like a giant umbrella that refers to our justification, our sanctification, and our glorification.

• Justified: God pardons our offences of his law and accepting us as righteous in his sight through Christ.

• Sanctified: God transforms us more and more into the image of Christ as we love his law and believe his gospel. This is why we are not just saved, but we are “called to a holy calling.” Christianity isn’t a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. It’s the call to be united with Christ and to walk in Christ daily.

• Glorified: Finally, in heaven, those who believe in Christ will become like him. Even though they die, they will be raised incorruptible to love and enjoy God in the new creation.

You see how comprehensive the word is? And this is why God appointed the Son to be the mediator between God and man. Jesus Christ was chosen by God because God purposed to save a people.

So the Bible does not teach us that the God of the Old Testament is judgmental, but the Jesus of the New Testament is loving and gracious. Rather, the rescue of fallen sinners was the plan and purpose of God the Father from all eternity precisely because he is gracious. Friend, never listen to any teaching that pits one member of the Triune Godhead against another. The Son of God did not become a man because he felt bad for us. He assumed a human nature out of obedience to his Father’s plan to graciously saved sinners.

God the Father, in his purpose to save, prepared a body for the Son (Ps. 40:6). The Father anointed and chose the Son for the task of being our mediator. (Is. 42, 50, Matt. 3:13-17) Throughout his earthly life, the Father upheld the Son (Lk. 1:35), supporting and confirming him (Mat. 17:1-8), and enabling him to destroy the dominion of Satan. And, as a reward for his obedience, the Father would give Jesus Christ a redeemed people (Ps. 2:8), exaltation (Phil. 2:9-11), and dominion (Matt. 28:18).

The English Puritan William Bridge (c. 1660-1671) was so overcome with this truth that he wrote:

Go away, I say, you that are saints with your hearts full of love, both unto God the Father, who hath contrived this mediation, and unto Jesus who hath performed this mediation; and now let your hearts be confirmed, let your hope be confirmed, let your love be confirmed, let your joy be confirmed, let your thankfulness be confirmed, let your graces be confirmed. A confirmed covenant calls for confirmed Christians.

You can be certain that you are right with God—not because you have closed the gap to him, but because he—through the Mediator Christ—has closed the infinite gap to you!

But how exactly did he do that? This leads us to our second point:

2. What Christ was Appointed to Do: Abolish Death & Bring Life

Jesus Christ was appointed to abolish death and bring life. God chose him for this purpose, for this task, for this mission.

This arrangement between the Father and the Son is what Reformed theologians have called the Covenant of Redemption. The Father chose the Son to be the Mediator and laid certain obligations upon him:

• He commanded the Son to become incarnate.
• The Son, as a man, would be born under the law to obey it perfectly.
• And then, the Son would offer himself up as a substitutionary sacrifice for his people.
• God the Father would raise the Son from death and accept his perfect life and sacrificial death on behalf of sinners who he would then justify freely.

Now, stick with me: when God made Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden, he placed Adam under a covenant as well. “Obey me by not eating of the tree, and you’ll live. Disobey and you’ll die.” Adam, of course, broke the covenant, and plunged all of his descendants into sin and death.

So… Adam’s Covenant of Works was designed to being man to a consummated creation in communion with God, and he failed. God the Son’s Covenant of Redemption was designed to rescue man from the ashes of Adam’s broken covenant and to elevate them to an eternal invincible inheritance in a new creation.[1]

In v. 10, Paul says that all this has “now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Adam, through disobedience, brought death. Christ, through obedience abolished death! The word abolished means “to make powerless, or ineffective.”

Paul wrote the Romans:

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Do you see now, why the Son of God must become man? Adam and all his descendants were plunged into death and sin. None were able to crawl out of the hole they had dug. This was a work too high and too hard and too great for all the angels in heaven, and all the men of earth.

And it’s too high a work for you to accomplish as well. If you try; if you take it upon yourself to earn God’s love and life through your own efforts, it will break your heart, your back, and your neck.

In The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship has made its way down under the Misty Mountains through the Mines of Moria, and while they can handle all the goblins and trolls, eventually they awaken an ancient evil called a Balrog. And Gandalf turns to the rest of the Fellowship and says, “This is a foe beyond any of you. I must hold the narrow way.”

Friends, death is a foe beyond any of you. But it is not beyond Jesus Christ. Death’s jaws are broken for Christ knocked out its teeth. Jonathan Edward’s said “Christ has turned the grave into a bedchamber.”

When a Christian dies, though their body goes into the grave, their soul enters the presence of God where they await the final resurrection when Christ returns. Friends, the end of all things is not a misty, disembodied, vaporous existence in the clouds.

Christ was raised bodily, and so shall we be raised! If your faith is in Christ, you will break bread and raise a glass in the new creation. You will build homes, and plant vineyards, and enjoy the stuff of earth like you never could in this world. The resurrection of Christ loses nothing! It gains a world that will never die. Life and immortality through the gospel.

Friend, confess your sins to God. Stop trying to do for yourself what only Christ can do! Turn to him in humble belief. Rest in his finished work on the cross.

3. When Christ was Appointed: Before the Ages Began

Jesus Christ was appointed as the Mediator between God and man before the ages began. What does that mean? It means that from all eternity, before God created man and before Adam fell in the garden, God the Father and God the Son had already made a covenant to redeem fallen sinners.

1. 9 says that God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”

The language here indicates that God gave us something from all eternity. Christ was a gift to you from before the ages began. Before you were born, God gave you Christ. Before your ancestors traveled to this continent, you were given a gift. Before the first man and woman fell into sin, God had already proven his lavish love and grace.

Have you ever followed a stream in the mountains? You walk up and up until you find its source; a tiny trickle flowing out of a rock. Well, if you traced the stream of salvation to its source it would take you back even before the creation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4 says that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.” Titus 1:2 says that we have the “hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.” The Apostle Peter tells us that Jesus Christ was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” And John the Apostle says in Revelation 13:8 that God wrote the names of his people in the Lamb’s book of life “before the foundation of the world.”

Divine wisdom was in no way surprised with the fall of man. God had, from all eternity, laid a provision for recovery that wouldn’t just restore what was lost, but even deliver us into a better and more permanent state than what was lost by sin. There was a divine counsel, before the first sin was ever committed, that God would make peace with sinners through the sending, coming, living, dying, and rising again of this incomparable Son, Jesus Christ.

Amazing. God made an eternal, immutable, unshakable, unassailable plan to redeem.

Halfway between Norway and the North Pole, deep within the Arctic Circle is the island of Svalbard. It’s essentially an island glacier rising out of icy floes of the Arctic Ocean. And it’s there, on that tiny spit of frozen land that you can find the Global Seed Vault; a secure, underground vault containing 1.3 million seed samples from Irish Potatoes to South American chili peppers. It’s a backup in case of a catastrophe that causes the loss of food on the planet. Scientists have sealed each see in airtight aluminum bags which are then stored in a climate controlled room held at -0.4 °F. In all, the vault can hold and preserve up to 2.5 billion seeds. I pray that we never have a disaster that requires us to use the Seed Vault, but I’m glad it’s there just in case.

Friend, the Covenant of Redemption is like that Seed Vault, except the Covenant of Redemption was not made “just in case.” The Father, Son & Spirit, all fully knew and accepted the price for our redemption. The Father offered up the Son. The Son willingly gave himself. The Spirit empower him according to his manhood and applies redemption to us.

Church, the work of creation cost God a few words, but the work of redemption cost Jesus Christ’s blood which was as good as given when the pact of peace was made in eternity.

And so, sinners can do nothing but make wounds that Christ may heal them; and make debts, that he may pay them; and make falls, that he may raise them; and make deaths, that he may quicken them; and spin out and dig hells to themselves, that he may ransom them.

And so he has, and so he will. If you belong to Christ by faith, your salvation is as secure in the eternal counsels of Almighty God.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts as one.

By Thin all-sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

[1] Adapted from Sam Renihan’s The Mystery of Christ