The Tenth Day of Advent

The Tenth Day of Advent

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time.

I Timothy 2:5

We don’t often think of ourselves as needing a mediator. Most of us do not go to the courts for resolving issues, and we are pretty good about taking care of things that go wrong between us and others here on earth. We resolve issues with merchants and insurance companies and families all by ourselves.

But this Scripture sounds as if we might need a mediator to stand between us and Almighty God! That is one court that I don’t want to go into alone! And one of the lovely things about Christmas is the knowledge that we will never have to do that. We will never have to stand before God without a mediator, without someone to speak on our behalf. When we finally face God, Jesus will be there with us!

Sometimes I like to think about how that will be. What will it be like to stand there and know that I have never been able to be all the things I want to be? To remember all the things that I wish I had not done. To wish I had not said something that was wrong or wish I had said something that would have been calming and comforting to another. And as I contemplate just such a meeting, I know I can relax because when I begin to stammer to God that I wish I had not done something, Jesus will say, “It’s all right, Father, I paid for that.” When I remember being careless in my prayers and blush at the thought of neglecting my time with God, Jesus will intervene with, “It’s all right, Father, I paid for that.” When I have to confess that sometimes I was just lazy and wasted time, Jesus will chime in, “It’s all right, Father. I have already taken the blame for her slothfulness.”

Imagine! God’s Christmas present to us on that first Christmas keeps on giving! The little-baby-grown-to-be-a-man Savior now sits at the right hand of God intervening for us, and when we face God in eternity, Jesus will be there with us to take away our stammering and give us courage. I don’t know how such knowledge impacts you, but it makes me even feel more confident in my day-to-day life here on earth!

I love hearing my friends say that they are praying for me. And I welcome each and every one of those prayers. But how much more comforting to know that Jesus is mediating on my behalf right now! Thanks be to God that on that first Christmas he gave us the best gift of all, a gift that has made it possible for us to stand flawless before God! 

Father, thank you for your wonderful plan, not only to have Jesus die for us but also have him pray for us – mediate for us – today and in eternity! You have literally taken care of everything, and we are grateful! Thank you. Amen

The Light of the World
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.