“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6

What a beautiful passage to read on Resurrection Sunday! The reminder of the purpose of the cross: restoring our relationship with God. We, enslaved to sin and death, are under the great wrath of God, unable to escape. But Christ, in his infinite love, took on himself the wrath of God and paid our ransom. We are no longer hostages—we are free!

Paul emphasizes the fact that this happened through “the man Christ Jesus.” The Greek is much more emphatic—the reason we are ransomed is because Jesus became a man for our sakes. The great lengths which he went to are the great testimony of his love for his people! Puritan John Owen wrote of this incredible mediation of Christ on our behalf:

“[Jesus] lay his hand upon God, by partaking of his nature; and he lays his hand upon us, by being partaker of our nature: and so becomes a days-man, or umpire between both. By this means he fills up all the distance that was made by sin between God and us; and we who were far off are made nigh in him… Upon this account (that is, his union of natures) it was that he had room enough in his breast to receive, and power enough in his spirit to bear, all the wrath that was prepared for us.”

John Owen, Union with Christ, page 51

Amen! The most important relationship in any of our lives—our relationship with God—can be a loving, peaceful relationship because of what Jesus Christ our Mediator did on behalf of his elect. That is the glorious message which we remember on Easter! Praise God!

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The “Isolation Introspection” series started as an opportunity for me to encoruage members of our Bible Study with daily reflections from the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan during the 2020 “Stay at Home” mandate in Los Angeles. I’ve moved them here so that they can be shared easily, and perhaps benefit others. I hope you enjoy!