One Glorious Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5)

We live in an age obsessed with progress—advancement, innovation, and moral improvement. The promise is always the same: If humanity can just become educated enough, advanced enough, or tolerant enough, we will finally reach peace. But Scripture exposes a reality that no amount of progress can erase. There will always be one God, the God of the Bible, and sinful humanity. Between them, the apostle declares, there is one glorious mediator between God and sinful man.

This verse is not a passing comment. It is the theological centre of this passage. Paul is not primarily teaching about prayer, rulers, or missions—he is teaching us about mediation. If you misunderstand mediation, you misunderstand Christianity.

The exclusivity of God in this verse demands the exclusivity of the mediator. Paul says there is one God and one mediator, pointing to the fact that there is one true God and one way to this true God.

A biblical mediator is not a negotiator who bargains to establish terms. A mediator is a divinely appointed representative who stands between God and man. On the positive side, he secures covenantal peace. On the negative side, he restores broken relationship and separation caused by sin. A mediator does not merely suggest reconciliation—he establishes reconciliation.

This is why Paul links them together: one God and one mediator. If there were many mediators, there would be many gods. But because there is one true God, there is one way to this true God.

Our need for a mediator reveals something about God and something about us. It reveals that God is holy, majestic, and unapproachable by sinners. It reveals that we are sinful, condemned, and hostile towards God. That is why we need a mediator.

The great danger of fallen man is not atheism—it is self-mediation. Every false religion, every moral system, every attempt to earn God’s favour is man saying, “I will stand in the middle.” But sinners cannot mediate for sinners. We need a mediator.

Here is a truth that many Christians miss: There has never been an unmediated relationship between God and man. No creature has ever had free, unmediated access to God. God has always related to humanity covenantally, and covenant always implies mediation.

We see this in the garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve fell, did God immediately destroy them? That is what justice demanded. But what did he do? He took away their shame, covered their sin, and promised them the gospel seed. These are provisions for reconciliation—the work of mediation. Even before Christ appears in history, he is already functioning as a mediator by promise.

This is important to understand: Mediation is not God’s backup plan. It is the way God has always chosen to dwell with his people. All communion with God has always been mediated through Christ—first promised, then fulfilled.

Why does this matter? When you forget God, you become casual. When you forget who you are, you become overly confident. But when you forget the mediator, you become lost. The mediator holds these two tensions in place—who God is and who we are—and he brings them together.

One moment of your life outside of Christ’s mediation would result in immediate condemnation. We do not merely need forgiveness—we need someone to stand between God and us. We need a mediator. A mediator is not optional Christianity. A mediator is Christianity.

In the Old Testament, God established three anointed offices: prophet, priest, and king. Each office was mediatorial in nature. The prophet represented God to the people, speaking God’s revelation. The priest represented the people to God, bringing them before him. The king mediated God’s rule to the people.

But all who held these offices failed. The greatest prophet of the Old Testament, Moses, failed and did not enter the promised land. The greatest priest, Aaron, led the people in idolatry. The greatest king, David, though righteous by faith, also failed. All these failures were built in because they were shadows and types pointing towards someone better.

However, God also gave promises in the Old Testament of someone better. He promised in Deuteronomy 18 that he would raise up a prophet like Moses but greater than Moses. He promised an eternal priest in Psalm 110. And he promised a king who reigns over all the nations in Psalm 2. The people of God were looking forward to a mediator who was a prophetic priest, a priestly king, and a kingly prophet.

Job captured the cry of humanity longing for such a mediator: “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both” (Job 9:33). Job recognised that a mediator must be equal to both parties. We need someone who is true man to lay hold of us and true God to lay hold of God.

That brings us to the gospel. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son. This is why Paul says there is one God and one mediator, the man Christ Jesus.

God was always going to send his Son. Christ was always the appointed mediator. In the covenant of redemption—in eternity past—the triune God appointed Christ as mediator. The Father gave a people to the Son, and the Son agreed to redeem that people.

John Flavel captures this truth beautifully:

Your glorious mediator is a prophet. Christianity does not begin with our search for God—it begins with God speaking to us. And God speaks to us through a mediator.

Hebrews 1:1–2 summarises his mediation as prophet: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”

Christ is not merely bringing us revelation—he is the revelation. He does not simply speak God’s word—he is God’s word. The prophets of old spoke God’s word, but he is the Word that is spoken, the Word made flesh. When you encounter the word of God, you encounter Christ. He is both the centre and the circumference of God’s self-disclosure. No other prophet could ever say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Every time you hear the word of God, you hear Christ speak. He confronts every hearer with a simple truth: accept or reject him. He calls sinners to repentance through the gospel, pressing the same unavoidable decision—not merely accepting or rejecting a message or theory, but Christ himself.

In John 6:67–69, we see a beautiful illustration of Christ our prophet’s work:

Christ the mediating prophet alone has the words of eternal life. Peter is saying, “Lord, we have heard you. You have the words of eternal life, and we believe that you are who you say you are.” When you encounter Christ as prophet at church, your response is no different: “Lord, you have the words of eternal life, and I believe, and I know that you are who you say you are.”

Where else will you go? Who else has the words of eternal life? Who else can speak and the sick is healed? Who else can speak and the dead is raised? Who else can speak peace to a troubled soul? Who else calms the storms? Who else speaks and sinners are saved?

Consider the promises that this prophet has spoken to you: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). “This is my body, which is given for you” (Luke 22:19).

What more could he say? What more do you need? Christ the mediating prophet gives us a hope that cannot fail and a foundation that cannot be shaken, because the one who has spoken these promises to us is able to perform all that he has spoken. You have a glorious mediator, a glorious prophet, and he never stops speaking.

You also have a glorious high priest. Hebrews 4:14 declares, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”

A priest had two functions: to offer sacrifices on behalf of others and to intercede on behalf of others. Christ comes as both sacrifice and priest. When John the Baptist says, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29), he is literally saying, “Behold, the Lamb that God provides.” Christ is both the offering and the offerer, the priest and the sacrifice.

Listen carefully: He offers himself for our sins as the Son of Man—as man—and he receives the sacrifice as the Son of God—as God. That is a perfect mediatorial sacrifice, offered as the Son of Man and received as the Son of God. Hebrews 9:14 says “he offered himself without blemish to God.”

Just as sacrifice is essential, so is intercession. Christ “always lives to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25). His intercession is not verbal pleading—it is the continual presentation of his accomplished sacrifice. Hebrews 9:24 gives us the most comforting truth: “He appears in the presence of God on our behalf.” He is a living sacrifice standing before God on your behalf. That is his perfect intercession before the Father. He never ceases to pray for you.

The power lies in who he is. Christ intercedes as man and mediator, presenting his once-for-all sacrifice before the Father. But the efficacy of that intercession rests upon the dignity of his person.

Let me show you two instances of what these functions look like in the Gospels.

In Luke 22:31–32, Jesus says to Peter:

Peter did return, and Peter did strengthen his brothers after denying the Lord. But why? Because the mediator prayed for him. How many times in your life should your faith have been utterly destroyed, torn to pieces by the world, the flesh, or the devil? Why has it not been? Because your mediator prays for you.

Your faith, your growth in grace, your faithfulness—this is not something special that you have or power that you possess. It is because Christ prays for you. He prays for you and he appears before the Father for you. That is why you are what you are by grace. Do away with performance-based Christianity. It is Christ-based Christianity. When your time is up and you die with a saving faith, it will be because he prayed for you.

Fathers, when you fail to pray for the salvation of your sons and daughters, he prays for them. And so ought we to be praying. “But I have prayed for you.”

In John 18:7–8, in the garden of Gethsemane, soldiers come looking for Jesus: “So he asked them again, ‘Whom do you seek?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.’”

Listen carefully: This earthly scene reflects the heavenly tribunal. Christ stands on trial before the Most High God in the garden of Gethsemane. Divine justice thunders forth, and wrath moves to search out its rightful targets—you and me. And Christ the mediator steps in and declares, “If you seek me, let these go.”

All those whom Christ represented were with him in that garden. We were there with him, and God’s wrath and justice came looking for us. And the mediator stood in and said, “If you seek me, let these go.”

We were there with Christ, and God’s righteous judgement and holy wrath came seeking the guilty. The mediator stood in our place and said, “Take me and let my people go.” He was the only one who could say “Take me” because he alone was the worthy sacrifice. Take me, let Tommy go. Take me, let Emma go. Take me, let Chad go. Take me, let your children go.

In that garden, the high priest showed himself a faithful mediator. When we were justly condemned and judgement hung over us, it was Christ the mediator who stepped in and drank the full wrath of God, that we might be set free from a penalty we could never pay.

He was taken. He was crushed by the righteous judgement of God. And what happened to us? We were set free. “Of all that you have given me I have lost not one” (John 18:9)—because of our mediator.

These things do not affect us the way they should. We do not take time to understand the fullness of Christ’s mediation. There is a great depth to what our majestic mediator has accomplished on our behalf. You have a glorious mediator, do you not?

Your mediator is also a king. He was prophesied to be a king. He was worshipped as a king at his birth. He was crucified as a king in his death. He was raised as king, and now he is seated as king. He has always been king.

In Matthew 4:17, Jesus says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Why was the kingdom of heaven at hand? Because the King was at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand now because the King is at hand.

He is not just our king—he is the King.

The most complete statement we have concerning Christ’s kingly rule is his enthronement speech in Matthew 28:18–20:

This is his enthronement speech—him declaring as King and giving orders. What Christ has in mind here is Daniel 7:14:

When Christ says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” understand there is no authority apart from Christ. As Christ the mediator—the incarnate, obedient Son—he comes as the last Adam, the Messiah who is now exalted.

The question remains: Did Jesus not always have all authority in heaven and earth? In his divinity, yes, of course he did. He is God. He always had all authority. But understand, when he speaks here, Jesus came as the second Adam. He came to restore what Adam had destroyed, what Adam had lost in the fall. So Christ speaks here not simply as God but as mediator, to whom dominion is now given as the reward for his humiliation. What Adam forfeited, Christ won back—and so much more.

Christ reigns as a man and represents redeemed humanity. His kingship here is messianic because it is promised, mediatorial because it is granted, and redemptive because it is for the church.

We need a king because we are not self-ruling. Christ rules the church as mediator, but he does not rule it as a distant sovereign—he rules it as one of us, in our flesh. As mediator, he rules as the second Adam. He governs for our good, not for our harm. His authority is exercised through his word, his Spirit, and his ordained means. And his reign is not postponed until glory. Christ is not waiting for a thousand years to one day reign. He reigns presently, now.

Why do we need a king? We need someone to protect us and rule over us. “I am with you always” is a promise of royal presence. His authority in heaven and earth means that no power can ultimately destroy the church. As Calvin puts it, Christ reigns so that the church, though assaulted, will never be overwhelmed.

You have a glorious mediator.

There is one glorious mediator, the man Christ Jesus. There is one mediator. There is a fullness to knowing Christ as mediator. When we have a small Christ, we have a small salvation. When we are distracted by the world and caught up with the world, and we have a small view of Jesus, we have a small salvation. But when you have a grand, clear view of Jesus—a large Jesus, a big Christ, a mediatorial Christ—we have a grand salvation, a glorious salvation.

I invite you to come to the mediator. If your heart is hard, if sin has overtaken you, if you feel wearied, my words to you are this: There is a mediator, and he is sufficient for your every need. If your heart is glad and you are worshipping God, praise God for the mediator. If you are wearied and do not know what next year may bring, there is a mediator—a glorious mediator. He is all that we need.

If you are outside this mediator’s care, you are exposed directly to God’s wrath. Sometimes we become reductionist when we give the gospel. We say, “You need a Saviour”—and we do need a Saviour, and Jesus is Saviour. But would it not be better to explain: “Do you know what you really need?” You need a prophet who is the Word of God. You need a priest who sacrifices himself on your behalf. You need a king to protect you and to rule over you. You need Christ. There is sufficiency in his salvation. He is more than enough for a mediator.

My call to the church is that there is this glorious mediator, but there is also a word of caution. God has provided richly for us in Christ, has he not? What excuse do we have? He has provided the prophet who speaks the words of eternal life to us. He has provided the great high priest who intercedes for us, who stepped in when we deserved that wrath. He has provided a king to rule over us.

My word of caution is this: This office of mediator cannot be divided up. We do not come to Christ saying, “I like the fact that he is king. I like the fact that he is priest and died for my sin. But I do not like this prophet portion, that he tells me and gives me truth.” Or, “I like the fact that he is a priest and died for me. But I do not like the fact that he is king and rules over me, rules over my life.” We do not get to divide the mediatorial office of Christ. His mediation is complete and sufficient.

We do not know what will happen next year. We all think of New Year’s and wonder what the Lord will bring. My closing word to you is this: There is a mediator for you. There is one who is sufficient and full. There is one whom God has provided for our every need and so much more than what we could need. One day when we see our mediator and see all that he is, it will be a wonder that on this earth we never had greater thoughts of him. It will be a wonder why we did not think more highly of him.

Therefore, Christ alone determines the relationship between God and man. Outside of him there is only judgement. In him there is peace, forgiveness, and eternal life. The Christian life is not sustained by momentary faith but by continual dependence upon the glorious mediator. Our hope, perseverance, and final salvation rest entirely upon Christ—that glorious mediator, Jesus Christ: the prophet who speaks, the priest who saves, and the king who reigns.

AMEN