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

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Christmas means divine conflict resolution.

 

That's the job of a meditator — to resolve conflict.

 

And that's what Jesus is called, here in I Timothy 2. He is the "one mediator" between God and men, or humanity. Jesus is the One who enters the strife and makes peace.

 

Which is Good News for us, because there is a conflict. Our conflict.

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God created us for peace always – together with God, safe and satisfied, enjoying His favor for eternity.

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But all of us are rebellious sinners. We are against God, at war with our creator. There is now, because of sin, a wide, impossible distance between us.

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And it's a war that, on our own, we will lose. We're hopeless in sin, estranged from God, forever unreconciled. 

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But, Merry Christmas, there is One Meditator!

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The 19th-century preacher Charles H. Spurgeon once preached: “When the newborn King made His appearance, the swaddling band with which He was wrapped was the white flag of peace. That manger was the place where the treaty was signed, whereby warfare should be stopped.”

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In the conflict between sinful us and perfect God, Jesus arrives on earth to make peace. And Jesus not only enters the war zone, but He takes the war on Himself. Jesus takes the sin of rebels and on a cross takes the death that rebels should die. In the crucifixion of Jesus, the strife ends.

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And so, like the angels declare on the night Jesus is born, there now is "peace on earth." Jesus, our mediator, is here!

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When we believe this Good News, we are no longer hopeless, estranged from God, an unreconciled. The wide, impossible distance that keeps us from God — our sin and death — it doesn’t have to be that way any more. 

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Jesus has mediated the conflict and – because Jesus also rose from death! – He now welcomes us into real relationship with God Himself, safe and satisfied, enjoying His favor for eternity. 

 

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TCC is reading the book of I Timothy in the Bible today as part of our Year in the Bible reading schedule. Learn more about TCC's Year in the Bible project here – and join us in reading the rest of the Bible as we close 2022.

 

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Find more information about Christmas events and services at TCC at tccamarillo.com/christmas.

Merry Christmas!