The Only Way to God (1 Timothy 2:5)
- Betty Dodge
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
[For] there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus —1 Timothy 2:5
In love and mercy for a sinful people, God gave to His servant Moses the Levitical system of atonement for sin (Leviticus 16, Numbers 29:7-11). This powerfully foreshadows our passage in 1 Timothy.
In the Old Testament, priests from the tribe of Levi were appointed to serve God on behalf of the people. They ministered as a go-between so that a sinful person might find reconciliation with a holy God—if only temporarily. On a regular basis, the people would bring animals without defect to the priests to offer to God as a sacrifice for particular sins. But once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would represent all of Israel before God. He would first sacrifice a bull offering for his own sin, and then offer a goat for the sin of the people.
The blood of these animals was taken by the high priest inside the temple, into the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place housed the ark of the covenant with the Mercy Seat on top and was separated from the rest of the temple by a heavy veil or curtain. Only the high priest could enter through this curtain to make atonement for the people. There he would sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat for atonement. Then he would place his hands on a live goat and symbolically transfer the sins of the people onto this "scapegoat." The goat was taken into the wilderness and released—symbolically bearing all of Israel’s sin away.
These laws of blood sacrifice and the priesthood help us to understand our Fighter Verse.
There is one God. He is holy (Leviticus 19:2; Revelation 4:8). He is light (1 John 1:5). There is none like Him and none before Him (Exodus 9:14, Isaiah 45:22). He is sovereign and the creator of all things (Revelation 4:11). He is righteous in all His ways (Psalm 145:17). He is true (Jeremiah 10:10). He is love and He is merciful (1 John 4:16, Deuteronomy 4:31).
By His mercy, at the right time, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to perfectly fulfill all the law and become our eternal great High Priest. Jesus Himself is the satisfier of God’s wrath against us, once for all (Hebrews 10:8-22). When Jesus died, the curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Through Jesus, we can now be reconciled to God and come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy in time of need.
All the laws and regulations of the Levitical priesthood pointed to One who would be both perfect sacrifice and eternal High Priest—Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God who was slain for our sin is the one and only mediator between God and men forever. Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is God’s one and only chosen mediator for us. The Scripture is fulfilled in Him when it says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh…”(1 Peter 3:18).
Christ has not entered into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things. He entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. He was not to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest entered the holy place every year with the blood of the animal sacrifice. Instead, Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:24-26).
Oh, what freedom and relief there is for us when we realize that, at the cross, Jesus shed His blood and bore the burden of all our sin, including our vain attempts to be good enough for God. Only by grace, through faith in Christ—our one Mediator—can we experience God’s full acceptance. Marvel and rejoice.
For Reflection
Have you tried to mediate for yourself instead of fully trusting in all that Jesus is and has accomplished for you?
Can you think of a time when discovering that Jesus is your one mediator changed how you prayed? In what ways?
Spend time in your Bible this week reading through the verses referenced above. May these verses lead you to worship our one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.