This has to be taken in a very personal way, because if there is one God, and if there is one mediator, then there is no other way to this God but through that one mediator. If you’ve not come to God through this mediator, then you are separated from God, and you are in danger of being separated from him forever. Whenever the gospel is taught, there are always people who react by putting it off.
In Hebrews, the author talks about the mediator as a priest because in the language of Scripture, that is what a priest did on behalf of the people. The author of Hebrews develops that and points out that as the mediator, Jesus is the perfect priest. In addition, not only is Jesus the perfect priest, but he is also the perfect sacrifice. And because he’s the perfect sacrifice, it is therefore the final sacrifice. We need look for no other. Let me mention just a few of those important texts.
The second point is that we have such a mediator in Jesus Christ. He is the mediator, and He’s a perfect mediator. He’s precisely what we need. Anselm of Canterbury wrote a classic theological work, which goes by the Latin title, Cur Deus Homo? (translated in English as “Why the God-Man?”) In this book, Anselm is addressing why Christ needed to become man. Anselm’s answer deals with the matter of mediation. The only one who can be the mediator is one who is at the same time both God and man, which is why the incarnation is necessary.
Not only does God say that we are hostile toward him, but it’s also seen in the way we live. And, indeed, it’s seen in the history of the human race because sin at its base is hostility to God. It’s our wanting to go our way rather than God’s way. And, therefore, every time you have a demonstration of sin you have a demonstration of this great truth that we’re in opposition to God. God is there as the holy, righteous, and sovereign God; yet we don’t like that kind of God, and so we go about our way. Everything that we do in our sin is an expression of that basic enmity toward him.
It shouldn’t be difficult at all for any of us to understand this idea of a mediator today in America with world events the way they are. It seems that almost every time we pick up a newspaper or a magazine, we read about mediators between governments. And there are different kinds of political mediation. Sometimes the more public methods of mediation break down, causing governments to resort to what have been called “back channels of communication,” sometimes even involving someone dressing up in a disguise to keep from being recognized as he tries to negotiate on behalf of his government with someone of another.
