ONE GOD, ONE MEDIATOR, ONE RANSOM
1 Timothy 2:4-7
Last Sunday morning we saw 2 Timothy 2:1-2 that Paul exhorts young Timothy “that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.”
The “all” in this case being “all without distinction” rather than “all mankind without exception.”
Then among these people Paul mentions that we are to pray for kings.
We are in power whether we like that individual or not. Not because I said so, but because Paul gives us two reasons found in verses 2-3.
Reason 1 is found in verse 2. “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
You see God’s standard for Christian living is higher than the worlds.
In 1 Peter 2:9-10 it says, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
Praise God that every believer in Jesus is a child of God. We have mercy and grace because Jesus our high priest, became the ultimate sacrifice,
And he died for our sins! And we are to show forth that light. We were in darkness, a slave to sin but I’m so glad that Jesus found me and he washed my sins away. Hallelujah!
Did you realize that the peace of our community is related to the prayers of the people of God? The primary reason for praying is for the good of society and that the church might effectively minister to the needs of the community.
But a second reason is given to us in verses 3-4. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Paul is saying here that the prayerful life of a Christian si good and acceptable because it is God’s way of opening up men and women everywhere for salvation.
“God is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness; but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Here in our text, Paul says, “God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” So prayer is the first artillery salvo that opens up a territory to possess it for God. Thus, when we pray for people to get saved we can expect that God will do it, and that they will hear the truth that they have never heard before. Listen, Satan has got a hold on them so that they won’t hear the Truth of Jesus or see the Light of the World, which is Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 says this, “But if our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the prince of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Prayer does not change them immediately. It’s not a magic wand that we can wave around. Once we pray for them, then we have to witness to them and share our faith. There comes a gradual dawning light. The darkness disappears, and people start for the first time to understand their own nature that they are sinners, separated from God, according to Romans 3:23, and their need for forgiveness. This is in line with God’s great purpose, for He desires that all men shall be saved; the saving is God’s work, the sharing is ours.
There are no human barriers to men and women coming to God. It does not matter what the color of your skin is, what your socio-economic class, your background may be, your nationality or the state of your heart, how bad you have been, etc. Paul stresses that there are no distinctions. God desires all kinds of people to be saved.
The wonderful thing is that as you pray in this way, all kinds of people de come. I have been amazed at some of the people God has reached. I have prayed for people I never expected God to reach, but he did for His glory. There were others I never had any heart to pray for at all, but God reached them too. SO God desires that all kinds of people to be saved. There is no barrier in life to that salvation when the Spirit of God starts to draw.
In verses 5-6 it says “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
Paul brings that in because he is stressing the fact that despite all the distinctions that appear to be among men there is only one provision for their redemption: that is God. There is only one God. There is not a god for the Hebrews and another for the Gentiles. There is not a god for the Muslims and another for the Hindus.
I have heard this from people: “I have my own god. Others have their god and you have your god.” But there is not a million or a billion gods. The truth is that there is only One God: “One God and Father of us all.” Read Acts 16:24-28.
All mankind must relate to him, despite differences in our culture, our background, or whatever. There is only one true God over all the earth.
And there is only one Mediator: the Man, Christ Jesus. The reason for that, of course, is his unique nature: Jesus is both man and God. (explain)
Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and no one comes to the Father but by Me.”
Jesus is the only path to God. This is what he meant when he said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Then there is only one ransom: “He gave himself for all.” He did not send a committee of angels to do it. He gave Himself. That is the glory of the gospel.
Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
1 John 2:2 says, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Mark 10:45 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
“Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.”
If you are going to come to God there is only one way to do it, by the gospel, the good news that Jesus is the Way, that by His life and death He is the Way to God. So you have to have to put your faith in Jesus Christ. You can’t be saved by your works.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “By grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast.”
If there was any other way, than God would not have had to send his only Son to die on the cross, and reconcile us to God, restore our relationship with the Father.
I rest my case with this morning. Everywhere this gospel has touched people, through some twenty- one centuries now, they come:
Out of superstitions, out of violence, out of degradation, out of sexual immorality, out of drunkenness, out of drugs, out of occultism, and are healed, are delivered. Wholesomeness comes in. Homes become happy. Hearts become bound together in love and truth. What greater testimony could you ask for than the record of what the gospel does when it touches your life.
