I’m changing the naming format of this series. This makes so much more sense!
Q & A 16
Q. Why must the mediator be a true and righteous human?
A. God’s justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for sin;1
but a sinful human could never pay for others.2
1 Rom. 5:12, 15; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14-16
2 Heb. 7:26-27; 1 Pet. 3:18
I don’t know why this isn’t taught more frequently. Do we assume that only a human could atone for a human? Do we look at the end result of Jesus, being fully God and fully human, and assume that everyone understands the necessity? I honestly don’t know, but I only recall one sermon in the last 20 years that highlighted this, and I have an uncanny knack for remembering sermons. It’s possible that this has been taught in my presence more than once, but I honestly doubt it.
HEBREWS 2:14-16 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
Of the three provided references underscoring the necessity that our redeemer be fully human, this one seems the clearest to me. Jesus had to be flesh and blood in order to pay for the sins of humans. Jesus had to be completely human. Not a 50% human and 50% God hybrid. He had to be fully human. And you know what, Jesus is fully human today. He is in Heaven right now, breathing air, eating food (Mark 14:25), being human. And yet, He remains fully God at the same time.
He went through everything another person might experience. He was born, grew and experienced growing pains, he learned from his parents and others who instructed Him. He hungered. He suffered. He died. He had every mark of humanity anyone could ever expect. And because of this, He is able to intercede on behalf of humans everywhere. He delivered those whom He came to save from death and despair. But no such payment was made on behalf of the angels. There is no savior for the third of angels who fell with Satan. They are condemned and without hope. But humanity is not without hope. We can turn to the one who took on our nature so that we might be made whole.
It is also worth pointing out that last phrase of the provided verses. Jesus does not help the angels in a salvific way, but He does help the offspring of Abraham. There are some who limit this to the physical offspring of Abraham or to those who follow religious instruction based loosely on the descendants of Abraham. But the offspring of Abraham is not a physical matter, nor it is a matter of inventing alternative ways to claim a religious continuation beyond access to an altar or a temple.
Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
The offspring of Abraham is not defined by genetics, not ultimately. Yes, Jesus was physically related to Abraham. But the point I am hoping to make here is that Jesus is more than just one of many descendants of Abraham, for if He were nothing more than one of many He would not be able to bear the sins of many. Jesus is the culmination of the promise. Every promise made to Abraham, every promise made to Moses, they were all promises made to Jesus. These promises matter to us today, for every promise made to Jesus is also of benefit to those who are found in Him. I am not the redeemer of anyone, for I have sinned. But every promise to Jesus applies to me because my life has been hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
HEBREWS 7:26-27 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
And that is vital! In order for my sins to be atoned the one standing in my place must be without any sin of his own. In Adam all sinned, and every person is conceived in his or her mother’s womb guilty before a holy God. There is nobody born of natural means who can claim such a status before the all consuming fire of God. Nobody with sin can stand in my place! The one who can be my substitute would need to be holy, innocent, unstained, in the world but not of the world. Every mediator God ever provided to the people had shortcomings, both inherited and failings of their own. Nobody was able to receive a permanent covering for their sin under the previous administration.
Q & A 17
Q. Why must the mediator also be true God?
A. So that the mediator, by the power of his divinity, might bear the weight of God’s wrath in his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.1
1 Isa. 53; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21
Two of the most beautiful words in the Bible are, “But God.” There are occasions where the text describes the impossible position man apart from God finds himself in. And then God intervenes and only through the work of the perfect man can we be redeemed from our plight. This perfect man had to be just that, but at the same time this perfect man had to be fully God. The weight of one person’s sin is that even a perfect natural man, not that one can be found, could not bear their burden sufficiently.
Jesus is the righteousness of God! If you have seen the Son you have seen the Father. If you confess the son, you have the Father as well. The two are so intertwined that the work of one is made visible in the work of the other. (John 5:19) There is no contradiction or dispute among them. The two are one in mind and in mission (John 10:30) while remaining distinct persons.
John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
Consider 2 Cor 5:21 for a moment. This is, perhaps, the most concise verse describing the exchange of our sin for the righteousness of Christ in the Bible. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The chief end of God is to glorify God, and one part of this was to act on behalf of the image bearers of God. Jesus didn’t just become sin either. He was made to be sin. It was intentional. The iniquity of all who would be found in Him was laid on Jesus as our sacrifice. Because of this, the righteousness of God was laid on us. Jesus had this righteousness of God specifically because Jesus IS God. It was not loaned to Him for a task. He retained that status, even as He was made sin. But God.
Q & A 18
Q. Then who is this mediator—true God and at the same time a true and righteous human?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,1 who was given to us to completely deliver us and make us right with God.2
1 Matt. 1:21-23; Luke 2:11; 1 Tim. 2:5
2 1 Cor. 1:30
Yes, I got ahead of myself here. No, I am not upset that I did. It is no spoiler to the story to say that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. A spoiler in a story is when someone tells you of a surprise that is set to come later on so that you view the earlier scenes with that end result in mind. The Bible tells us to expect the seed of the woman to receive a venomous wound as He crushes the head of the serpent. As the story progresses we are told the qualifications of this promised seed. He must be human. He must be God. It isn’t until the gospels that we receive the name of this promise.
There was an element of surprise prior to Jesus. It isn’t until the major prophets that a name was offered, and even then it was more of a descriptor than a proper name. Immanuel means “God with us” and that is truly who this promised son was, and is. Jesus is the same name as Joshua, and that is the name that Joseph was to give this child. So “God with us” was to lead the people of God into the conquest of the land, and the cleansing of the land is a picture of the defeat of sin and death, both in our lives and throughout the entire world. “For God so loved the world.”
1 Corinthians 1:30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
This cleansing of ourselves and of the places we reclaim in the name of Jesus are brought into a right relationship with God. Not through our works, never through our works! We remain sinners and saints all at the same time. But God is glorious, and the glory of Jesus is draped over our shoulders before God so that our works, feeble as they may be, are seen as righteous acts before our Father in Heaven. Jesus is our righteousness, sanctification and redemption. When we are weak He is strong, and it is His strength that we can boast in, not our own.
Q & A 19
Q. How do you come to know this?
A. The holy gospel tells me. God began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise;1
later God proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs2 and prophets3 and foreshadowed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;4 and finally God fulfilled it through his own beloved Son.5
1 Gen. 3:15
2 Gen. 22:18; 49:10
3 Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1-2
4 Lev. 1-7; John 5:46; Heb. 10:1-10
5 Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4-5; Col. 2:17
This is one of several reasons I love Biblical Theology, which is the study of the Bible as a unified story, written over 1500 years by 40+ diverse authors in 3 languages. The story remains the same. Mankind has thrown all of creation under a curse and from the very beginning God began to reveal how He would undo the damage that we made and continue to make. As the story progresses we learn more about how this would come about. The godly line of Seth was seen as a conduit for this relief and culminated in Noah. Hundreds of years later, Abraham was shown to be the lineage of this serpent killer. Out of the twelve tribes of Abraham’s grandchildren Judah was shown to be the tribe from which this would happen.
The law handed down to Moses foreshadowed a righteousness that could not be attained by any man as well as a forgiveness that was temporary. Like me, the people sought after temporary solutions over the only eternal one. People haven’t changed all that much throughout history. Many years later, David was the line representative, serving both as the fulfillment of earlier prophecy and also as the precursor to new prophecy. The prophets revealed more about this coming promised one and the gospels are where the promise was fulfilled. After that, the apostles explained what had just transpired for ones such as me who are slow to catch on, but who are thrilled to look back at the faithfulness of God despite our crookedness. We can now gasp at the beauty of Jesus as we long for the day when we can see Him face to face!
1 John 2:23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
