Just You and Jesus

Bill Brinkworth

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
I Timothy 2:5

What wonderful news it must have been to the Jews, who were used to Old Testament worship when they first learned they could go to God themselves in prayer. Before Jesus’ death on the cross, they had to have priests go to God as middlemen for them. After the sacrificial death of Christ, they could enter the “Holiest of Holies,” the closest place any could be to God, by themselves through their prayers (I Timothy 2:1).

However, then and even today, many believe they cannot go to God themselves. These folks still, if they realize it or not, are attempting to worship the way it was done in Old Testament times.

Some go to a “priest” in a confessional and tell him their sins. With his words and doing what he tells them to do, they believe he can order their sins forgiven. They trust the “priest” to be their mediator between them and God. Some pray to the dead, some even deceased biblical characters, hoping a “saint” can be the middleman between them and God to have their sins forgiven or requests granted.

Sincere as those people are, what they are doing is contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures. I Timothy 2:5 tells us there is only one mediator between God and us, and that is Jesus Christ.

We no longer have to present a perfect, unblemished animal sacrifice for the high priest to take through the temple’s curtain to the Holiest of Holies, as in the Old Testament. When Christ died, God ripped the veil in two from top to bottom. Now any believer can go to God in prayer through Jesus Christ.

Telling a person, be it priest, parent, or any other person, one’s sins will not remove the Tell others consequences of one’s iniquity from God’s memory. Those people may want to help, but they too are sinners in need of the Mediator. Going to anyone else other than Christ to meet a need in one’s life or receive help from God will not result in God answering one’s prayers. The only one qualified to go to the Father on our behalf is His Son, Jesus. He is the only mediator between God and man.

“Well, my friend, today we have a Mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ has come. He has one hand in the hand of Deity because He is God. He can save to the uttermost because He is God, and He has paid the price for our salvation. He is a Mediator because He has also become a man. He can hold my hand; He understands me. He understands you. You can go to Him, and He will not be upset with you. He will not lose His temper or strike you or hurt you in any way… He still loves you and wants to put His arm around you.”
— J. Vernon McGee