CHRIST our MEDIATOR: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, since as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was based on better promises” (Heb 8:6). A mediator (mes-ee’-tace) at its simplest is a middle man, a go-between for two parties, in our case between sinful people and a holy God. Our situation was desperate. We needed someone who was both God and man, who, in the words of W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary, could “comprehend the claims of the one and the needs of the other.” There was only one Person in the universe who qualified: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Aren’t you glad He was willing? At a deeper level, our Mediator acted as surety, a guarantor to secure the New Covenant. As Mediator of it, Christ administers God’s promises (2 Cor 1:20). He is the executor of His own inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:18; see also Heb. 9:15-24). —J.B.N.
