A Better Mediator
As the mediator, Christ was the go-between of two parties – the holy and righteous God and sinful mankind. Moses and the priests often acted as mediators between God and man. They would take the blood of the animals to bind the people to the regulations of the covenant. As mediators, Moses and the priests would ask God to soften His anger. They would also give God’s people the Lord’s message. Jesus is the perfect mediator of Hebrews 8:6,
Lenten Midweek
2013 A Better Savior
Hebrews 12:24 A Better Mediator
More and more people are familiar with carrying out
transactions over the internet. And even if you never have, I think you can
imagine this part of the transaction. Perhaps you are downloading a song,
installing an application, setting up an online payment and there appears a
requirement to continue -- you need to check a box that reads: “I have read and
agree with the above stated policy.” Now that “policy” is in fine, tiny print,
it scrolls on for page after page and I think the majority of us just click the
box to get it over with. We have just entered into a contract – and doing so
hastily can put us at the mercy hustlers and hackers alike…but we trust the internet,
right.
There have been some false contracts before. Remember in the
Garden: “Did God really say?.....oh, no, you will be like god, knowing good and
evil!” That was the devil deceiving our first parents……. Even the contract
ushered in with thunder and lightening on Mt. Sinai some mistakenly read the
“Do this and live” thinking they could earn God’s favor by following the letter
of the laws. But that too was a false, misleading dream…… There’s a more modern
twist on that one however, and it often seems to pass as common wisdom. It
really is a variation on the joke: how fast do you need to outrun a bear? well,
how fast do you need to be? ….just faster than the last person! But there is no
curve, no level if you are just here you will be safe!
Our God is a holy, just and righteous God. Unchanging,
unbending in his demands and expectations. And we sinful people – well, we’re
NOT. Just the opposite. We are sinful, sinful from conception. And if there is
any doubt, just look at the evidence of sinful, selfish action that
characterizes our daily interactions. Who are we most concerned about…who
determines our priorities….what do we spend our money, our time, our attention
on?….things that benefit US! And then we quickly complain when we don’t think
it’s enough, or someone, somehow got something better than us….because it’s all
about us, right? The sides could not be farther apart….the gulf between a holy
God and sinful people could not be greater! There is a NEED, a need that can
not be filled by any of mankind’s schemes or inventions. Nothing that we could
accomplish on our own. That’s why the devil’s temptations always try to drive a
wedge between God and man the crown of His creation. As long as mankind tries
on his own, apart form God – every attempt will be futile.
But God came to the rescue. Our Lenten journey is a
revisiting, a familiarization with that rescue operation. The plan Jesus
Christ, the Better Savior, came to fulfill. Tonight we view that rescue as the
work of a Mediator – a go-between – someone who can bridge the gap between two
sides. Moses and Aaron, the High Priest, and the generations of priests that
followed fulfilled a mediator’s role, serving as go-betweens between the People
and God in their worship life. On the journey to the Promised Land more than
once, Moses mediated on behalf of the reckless, idolatrous Children of Israel
to avert their annihilation….when God said, “I’ve had it! How ‘bout I just
start over with you Moses and try it again?”
Moses pleaded on behalf of the wayward People imploring that God
remember the Glory of His Name and the faithfulness of His promises. God
disciplined His People but relented from destroying them in His righteous
anger. But to make ALL THINGS RIGHT, to restore the relationship between God and
man…. that required a Better Mediator….One who acted with the same power,
authority and righteousness as God – equal to God in every way. This was the
One God sent. The One God Himself APPOINTED with an OATH – verifying His
perfect qualifications. In speaking of Jesus the writer to the Hebrews states: And it was not without an oath! Others
became priests without an oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God
said to him: The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest
forever.’ Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better
covenant. Hebrews 7:20-22
Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry didn’t the miracles He
performed testify to the people He possesed the Father’s approval? When we set
out on this Lenten journey, was it not with the clear endoresment of the Father
ringing in our ear as we headed down the holy mountain: This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him. Jesus had every
right to represent heaven, having come down to earth from heaven. Jesus has
every right to represent God, for He is God
from God, Light from Light, true God from true God (Nicene Creed). He is the
radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews
1:3).
The work of this Mediator was unlike the work of any other.
This was not a case of where the two sides had to each compromise a little,
each give and take a little and meet in the middle. As we said before God is
unchanging in His justice and righteousness…any compromise is impossible for
Him…He is perfect. No, this required God to come down to man. To cross over and
bring man back….a one-sided, unassisted rescue operation. And that is just was
God did in sending His one and only Son, Jesus.
Jesus is also true man. But
when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under
law, to redeem those under law (Galatians 4:4,5). He became one of us…able
to sympathize, having been tempted in
every way, just as we are – yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus our
Substitute, living a perfect life in our place….for us. Jesus stepped into the
gap between God and man on Calvary’s cross. There on the cross He bridged the
Gap and we cross over to the overside. But will the bridge hold? Was Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross strong enough to endure the weight of the world’s sin?
Jesus is BLOOD APPROVED. Our review of Hebrews introduces us
to a fundamental concept that was repeated time and again throughout the
worship life of God’s Old Testament People. How many times fathers were asked
by their young children, “But, Daddy,
why does the lamb have to die?” There needed to be a SUBSTITUTE, someone
to take our place…One God will provide. God’s justice required that there was
no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. The price must be paid….and sin
was serious and costly. The blood of Jesus was approved by God Himself,
providing Jesus entrance into the real Most Holy Place, before God’s presence
in heaven. More secure than any biometric scan, passing every test of the
heavenly security authority, Jesus’ blood offers us access to God also. It
bridges the Gap between God and man because Jesus’ blood cleanses our
consciences and removes every sinful stain. It fills the void.
we have come…to Jesus
the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24) As the hymnwriter summarized:
Abel’s blood for vengeance Pleaded
to the skies,
But the blood of Jesus for our
pardon cries. CW 103:4
This is the 12th and final time the writer to the
Hebrews uses the term “better.” Here he
refers to the blessed gospel message of forgiveness spoken by Jesus’ blood.
This is why Jesus is a Better Mediator…He has changed our status. With His
holy, precious blood, Jesus has made us God’s Children; robed us in His Holy Coat,
His robe of righteousness. We have a
place in God’s Family, no longer separated /cast out by our sin…Jesus has
washed them away…paid for them all. We can come into the house! But the writer
also warns us to not refuse the work of this Better Mediator, to think we can
fashion our own deal with God. There isn’t any other way. To reject Jesus would
bring certain judgment on the Last Great Day. As Jesus Himself has told us, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me
Jesus fulfilled God the Father’s every demand for perfection
and satisfied all the punishement our sins deserved. Jesus’ resurrection
announced God the Father’s approval. So, Jesus is our guarantee. Jesus assures
us God will do exactly what He has promised….He can do nothing less. Because
Jesus has secured heaven & eternal life for us He is the BETTER MEDIATOR.
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