1 Timothy 2:1-8

1 Timothy 2:1-8  I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.  And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle — I am telling the truth, I am not lying — and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. 

Men sometimes will believe in a nebulous, amorphous God: a power, spirit, energy, entity, beyond knowing.  For most men, if He (it) exists at all, He is an absent creator, a clock master, who placed time into existence but has now turned to other tasks, ignoring or oblivious to his handiwork.  At most God is but an abstraction, a concept that constantly evolves as man evolves.  However, in the above passage, Paul says very clearly God is REAL, and He should be prayed to, for God is interested in his creation, and He has a definite purpose for creating man.  He desires all men to be SAVED AND TO COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH that there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.  This is the truth of the Bible. 

Job longed for a mediator who could present his just cause to God.  He knew it was impossible to argue against an unknowable God, one who exists beyond man's grasp.  His case was hopeless unless there was an entity between him and God who could rightly present his "human" case.  He needed a heavenly entity that had experienced life as he had experienced it to argue his case before God.  Christ, the Son of God, is that holy one, that mediator.  Christ makes sure our requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving break through to the throne of God.  He destroyed the enemy of the air who deflected prayers and destroyed our peaceful lives.  He carries our lives into the throne room of the immortal, invisible, the only God. (Chapter 1:17)  He alone paid the ransom to deliver the dead, the slaves of sin, to God himself.  Jesus Christ places his robe of righteousness around mere men who believe in him.  His salvation has come to us.  He is our adjudicator in the throne room of God.  

Paul tells us to live peaceful lives with the authorities of this world so this wonderful message that there IS A MEDIATOR between man and God will be told.  He desires all people to know there is a propitiation for sin, and man can have an intimate relationship with ALMIGHTY God.  He desires them to know that eternal life comes through Jesus Christ, and He is the advocate that man needed for a right relationship with God.  Paul asks the Christians to PRAY for their leaders, not FIGHT THEM, as so many do today.  Why?  So the GOOD NEWS might be spread, so some might be won to Christ.  So the world will understand what TRUE PEACE (Jesus Christ) is all about.  We should pray, not argue.  We stand our ground, but we should not be disrespectful, unpeaceable.  We should contend for the truth, but we should do it in a milieu of love and peace.  All other attitudes carry the tag of the world's spirit.  As a brother in Christ reminded me this week, anything done in anger and not in Christ's love will not bear good fruit.  

Sadly, there will be disputes, there will be rumors of wars and war until the end of time, but our mission is to bring peace to a sick and raging world, a message of healing and reconciliation: JESUS CHRIST HAS COME TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM SIN AND DEGRADATION.  HE HAS COME TO BRING PEACE.  As John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, prophesied, And you, (John) my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun (Jesus Christ) will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of PEACE.” (Luke 1:77-79)  Praise his name forever.