LESSON #1: WHAT IS A MEDIATOR?
Who is Christ Jesus? He is the One who mediates between God and man. What does it mean to be a mediator? To be a mediator means to be a liaison between two parties or to be the one who connect and solve the problems between two parties. Being an intermediary is like being a bridge between two different and separated sides. Paul the apostle wrote, "Now a mediator does not mediate for one only." (Galatians 3:20)
LESSON #2: RECONCILING MEN TO GOD
The biggest problem that separates man from God is sin. A sinful man cannot come directly to the righteous God. Likewise, the righteous God cannot come directly to a sinful man. Someone must become a mediator first, bringing reconciliation between them. However, not just anyone can be a mediator who reconciles men with God. A mediator must fully understand the two parties to be reconciled, namely man and God.
LESSON #3: A MEDIATOR FROM GOD
Paul the apostle wrote, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) All men fall short of the glory of God because all men have sinned. So, no man truly understands God. No man is qualified to be a mediator between God and men. Therefore, this mediator must come from God Himself. But in order for him to truly understand man, he himself must become man and experience life as man on the earth.
LESSON #4: GOD BECOMING MAN
Only one person could become a mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ. Why? It is because He is the Son of God (Hebrews 1:5) who was born as the Son of man (Luke 1:31). He is God who became Man.
When the Lord Jesus lived on the earth, He revealed God to men (John 1:18). What does it mean? It means God could be experienced as Man who could be heard, seen, looked upon and touched (1 John 1:1).
LESSON #5: GOD DWELLING IN THE MIDST OF SINFUL MEN
When the Lord Jesus lived as Man on the earth, He fully revealed God to men. He said, "Whatever He (the Father) does, the Son also does in like manner." (John 5:19), "The word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” (John 14:24) and, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) Paul the apostle wrote, "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9). Through the Lord Jesus, God came and dwelt in the midst of sinful men.
LESSON #6: CHRIST JESUS' DEATH ON THE CROSS
What about men? Can men come with sin to God in heaven? No, they cannot. The incarnation (God becoming man) can indeed bring God into the midst of sinful men, but it cannot bring sinful men to God in heaven. What can bring sinful men to come to God in heaven? It was the crucifixion. On the cross, God made the Man Christ Jesus who knew no sin to be sin. He died in place of sinful men, taking their sins upon Himself, so that they might be justified before God, even become God's righteousness in Him (2 Corinthians 5 :21). In other words, God through Christ Jesus' death reconciled sinful men to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18).
LESSON #7: CHRIST JESUS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD
After His resurrection, Christ Jesus was then taken up and entered into heaven to appear before God on behalf of mankind (Hebrews 9:24). He became the High Priest who is at the right hand of God, living always to be the Mediator of men (Hebrews 7:25). Because He had lived as Man and experienced all the trials in the world, He was also able to feel the weaknesses of humans, so that He became Man's Advocate before God (Hebrews 4:15; Romans 8:34), Therefore, as it is written in Scripture, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) and, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)
LESSON #8: BECOMING THE SONS OF GOD
As God who became Man, Christ Jesus revealed God to men, so that men could experience God in any situation and condition. As the Man who died on the cross for sinners, Christ Jesus showed to God what He had done for men, so that men could come to God boldly and experience Him in his worthy state. Thus, Christ Jesus the Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men become the sons of God.
