The Mediator and His Work

We're starting this book of Philemon again, but what I want to speak with you, we're just starting in this book, but I want to guide you to another place. But before we do that, I just want to mention a few things. We saw two sermons prior to, or one sermon prior to last week, we saw that repentance was needed in order for Onesimu to come to Philemon and peace may take place. And we saw as well last week, we spoke about forgiveness. That's what was required of Friedemann, to forgive Onesimus for what he has done.

And we spoke what forgiveness is, and if you remember we said that forgiveness is love's merciful act, in which we drop the charge against the offender because the charge against us, we're done with. We see in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that the requirements that were against us, they were wiped out, they were nailed at the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And because of that, we are forgiven of our sins. He's the one who gives us the redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of sins. And because of that, now we have peace with God.

And if you remember, we spoke something towards the end about reconciliation. I said, I love this letter because there's a lot of similarities with the gospel for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you remember when we spoke about reconciliation, what happened here is similar to what happened with us in our peace with God. We are not brought back to the state in which Adam was. We are given a better place, a greater place than that in which Adam was.

We are now brought into the family of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. The forgiveness of sins and that reconciliation brought us to that place where now we are adopted into the family of God. We are now called children of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, our older brother. And yet it's not revealed what we shall be. But we'll see him, and when we see him, we will be like him.

We see the similarity here because the Apostle Paul will tell Philemon, receive Onesimus back. not as a slave anymore, not in the position that he was before, but much more than a slave, as a beloved brother. Receive him now as a brother who was saved by the grace of God as you were, not to mention that you owe me your own life as well, Philemon. The same gospel that saved you is the gospel that saved Onesimus. And I'm asking you now, Don't receive him as a slave anymore, but more than that, as a brother.

And we see that the goal of the Apostle Paul is reconciliation. And this reconciliation that we see in this letter is what points us to the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We see the glory of the gospel of Christ apply in the heart of His people, in reconciliation, in forgiveness, as He brings someone to repentance. And we see that in the context of the local church. And we are to forgive one another, as the Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven us.

But there's one aspect that I want to mention to you here, and it's a little bit of the work of the Apostle Paul. So reconciliation is the goal of the Apostle, and he plays a role of a mediator here. If you see that the Apostle Paul now, he's the one speaking on behalf of Onesimus. He's putting himself as someone mediating this situation between Onesimus and Philemon. We know that Onesimus spent time with the Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul says that he's the one whom he has begotten while in his chains. So this man Onesimus met the Apostle Paul probably in Rome when he was in prison, and there it was in Rome that he heard the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul was aware of what this man has done to his master, Philemon. And now the Apostle Paul, after this man is saved by the gospel of Christ, sends him back. But he doesn't just send him back, he sends him back with a letter that he, the Apostle Paul, has written.

And he sends him back to go back to his master, Philemon, and to show this letter so that Philemon would read this letter in the context of the local church to those who are around him. The Apostle Paul now steps in between, in that situation, and he now acts as a mediator between Philemon and Onesimus. And when we think of forgiveness, and when we think of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and even in the context of the local church, when we think of reconciliation, mediation always happens. The Lord may use someone to bring about reconciliation between two brothers, But mediation always happen because the Holy Spirit of God will bring conviction of sins to the one who have sinned. Because the Holy Spirit of God playing that role in which he brings conviction.

And it's the Holy Spirit of God granting the power through the gospel for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the other person to forgive. Mediation, when we think of forgiveness, always happens in the context of the local church. And we see that the Apostle Paul is acting in this role here. And I wanna point you, as I said, we are not dwelling in this text mainly. I wanna point you somewhere else.

And my main goal today is to see the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Remember that the whole of the Christian life happens as we look to the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture tell us, look unto me and be saved. We are saved as we look to Christ. The Scriptures tell us that sanctification happens as we look to Christ Jesus.

We, with unveiled face beholding His glory, are being transformed into the same image as by the Spirit of God. Sanctification happens as we look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Glorification happens as we look to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we shall see Him. and we will be like Him.

That transformation and glorification, when we come to that point in which the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, happens as we see our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But not just that. That state of eternal glory happens, and continually happens, eternally, as we behold the Lamb of God, as we behold the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the light of that place. So the whole of the Christian life happens as we see the Lord Jesus Christ. But who is the Lord Jesus Christ?

And I wanna point you first and foremost to Philippians chapter two. And I wanna do that because our brother Joshua, he's speaking to us about the trinity, the work of the triune God and the salvation of his people. Our brother Richard is dwelling with us and speaking to us in John chapter three verse 16 of the work of the Son of God to save us from our sins. So let's go to Philemon, to Philippians chapter two. And we're dwelling, we'll be there in Chapter 2 for a little bit.

Just remember that reconciliation was needed in between Philemon and Onesimus because sin took place. And sin is what brought separation between Philemon, the master, and Onesimus, the slave. Sin took place and separation happened. So Onesimus ran away from the presence of Philemon, but was brought back through the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we can see the similarities with the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but they fall apart at some instance when we think of what God has done for us and when we think of our situation, the situation between us and the one who is holy.

So let's go to Philippians chapter two. Let's go from verse four. The Apostle Paul says this, let each of you look out, not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others. He says in verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being the form of God, did not take it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of man. and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Verse nine, therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow to those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God their Father. I want you to think about this, brother and sister in Christ, and my main goal as we present who our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is, the God-man, is that we may rejoice in the salvation that was given to us. If you don't know Christ yet, If we just heard about Him, I hope that by you seeing the work that our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, that you may come to the knowledge of Christ, not just mentally, but in your heart, that you may surrender totally to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you may know that He is the way, the truth, and the life. He's the way not just because He said He's the way, that would be enough, but because of who He is, that no one comes to the Father but through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So when we think brothers, sisters, and friends, and kids, when we think about what has happened to us, and we go to the Garden of Eden, we see that man was created in the image of God.

And he had fellowship with his Creator. Daily, man had fellowship and had the experience of the Creator with him. He was loved by the Creator and he had that fellowship with Him. But something happened, we see that. Adam and Eve, they had fellowship with God, but after that something happened.

When sin came into the world through the temptation of Satan, then we see the serpent, then we see what happened. That separation took place. Enmity between God and man took place. alienation, now God and man, they were put apart from each other because of the sin that entered into the world. That's the situation of everyone who is without the Lord Jesus Christ.

The scriptures tell us that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have broken that fellowship which we had with our Creator, and that was given to all of us as men in this world, as women in this world, born under sin. We saw weeks ago when we spoke about the heart of man, that the intentions of the heart of man were only evil continually. Man was corrupted in such a way that the Apostle Paul tell us that we were once darkness. The one who was the image of God now became darkness and had no more fellowship with his creator.

We see that picture of what happened between God and man when God himself put Adam and Eve out of the garden, showing the separation that had happened. The Garden of Eden, which was a place of fellowship between God and man. And we see that happening as the Lord put them out of the Garden of Eden. We also see this situation happening when Cain, when the curse is proclaimed upon him because of what he has done to his brother Abel. We see how Cain responds to the Lord.

And if we wanna go to Genesis chapter four, and you see this idea of separation, what has happened to him in Genesis chapter four. So he killed his brother. Let's go to verse eight. Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother?

He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Verse 11, so now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hands.

When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. Verse 14, surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground. Look what he says, I shall be hidden from your face.

So we see what happened, and that's a picture as well of what happened between man and God. The face of the Lord was hidden from man. We see in Isaiah chapter 59 that our sins, our iniquities, what makes separation between us and God. Our sins have hidden the face of God towards us. So that's what happened, and kids, we spoke about this in the kids' meeting.

Remember, that's what happened to all of us. Sin has entered into the world. And because of that, we have come into enmity against God. Separation between God and man. Everyone who is born into this world is born in enmity against the Creator.

Raising up their fist against the one who created them. And who give them breath. And who give them air to breathe each and every day of their lives. And we see that that happen. So now we come to the dilemma and that's the question.

How can we, who became darkness, have peace with the one who is light and in whom there is no darkness at all? That's the question that we ask. How is it possible that now I can have peace with the one who is holy, with the one who demands perfection, if I became darkness, if I have broken that relationship which I had with the creator? That's the question. And the scripture tell us that the answer for that is the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And we need to think about who our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is. The work of mediation is needed. There is no other way that I can have peace with God, that I can have peace with God, unless the work of mediation takes place. unless someone steps into our place and represents us before God and take what we deserve upon himself. And that's the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And we see the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter two pointing to the one who is the mediator between God and man. Remember that Paul in 1 Timothy chapter two, he will tell us that there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So kids, remember the question that we asked in the kids' meeting. What do the Scriptures reveal of the Son of God? Remember that last week we said that the Son of God is the eternal begotten of the Father.

He's eternally begotten of the Father. And the answer for this question, this week or today, we spoke that the Son of God, he became flesh, he took upon himself flesh, and he became one like us, to be the mediator in between us and God. So the mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ alone. And praise God for that. And we see now in Philippians chapter two, not just the work of mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see who is the one who is the mediator. And I said, it's Christ himself. Because the mediator needs to be truly God. Paul will tell us in Philippians chapter two, the one who was in the form of God. It's needed as a representative of God.

He needs to be truly God. And there are a few things why he needs to be truly God. We can speak about two of those things. He needs to be truly God because there is no one No creature, no angel who can understand the righteous requirement of the holiness and righteousness of God. There is no one who can fully comprehend what is needed to appease the wrath of God, the one who is holy and who hates sin.

There is no creature found in the whole universe that would be able to understand fully the requirements of the righteousness of God against the sin and the sinner. So he needs to be truly God and praise God that he is. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who was in the form of God. He's the one who is the truly God. He's the one who came and he's the one who represents God before us.

He knows fully the requirements of the righteousness of God because he's God himself. Just think, there is no man, there is no woman in this world who could understand the requirements of the righteousness of God that could stand in our place when we think about it. Sin has darkened our minds. Everyone who is born into this world is with the mind darkened but the Lord Jesus Christ. but he is with the mind darkened because of sin that has entered into us, because of sin that dwells in he and that lives within me.

Remember that the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not follow Christ, and we are blinded because of the sin that was affecting us, that has changed our most inward part, who has changed us in such a way that we became now darkness. We see that there is no man who could comprehend the righteous requirements of the holiness of God against sin and against the sinner. Not even an angel could comprehend that. The ones who have not fell into sin. They understand the righteousness of God, but not fully.

Remember that Paul would tell the Corinthians that no one can understand the deep things of God but the spirit of God. It's God himself who can understand the righteous requirements of his holiness. What sin does to man and what is required so that man may have peace with God. He needs to be truly God. There is no other way.

And he is truly God. There is one more thing as well. Who can stand before his indignation? We sang this afternoon, who shall stand before thee? If you count our sins, if you come to us and count your sins, who can stand before God?

Who can stand before his indignation? Remember, he's the all-powerful one. And his wrath is an all-powerful wrath because this is his love for righteousness, his love for holiness. And who can stand before God but God himself? So it's needed that the one who come to be the mediator between us and God, he needs to be truly God.

He needs to understand the full requirements of God and he needs to be able to stand before the one whose wrath is kindled against sin. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the one. Remember, the one who was in the form of God. But our mediator is not just truly God. And we see that the Scriptures will give witness of his divinity when we think about the divine nature of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

One person with two natures, his divine nature being shown forth in the Scriptures. As we read the Gospel of Mark, we see instance in the Lord in which the Lord Jesus Christ healed the sick. He brings sight to the blind. He makes the one who cannot hear, hear again. He defeats death, raising people from the dead.

This is the proclamation of who He is. He's the one who can forgive sins. We see the proclamation of the scriptures pointing to the divinity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, His divine nature. And we see even the Apostle John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saying that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made that was made. And he says, in the Word, who was God, with God at the beginning, he became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. We see the Lord Jesus Christ proclaiming who he was when he said, before Abraham was, I am. We saw instances in which the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed himself to be the one whom God has sent, the Son of God. When he asked Peter, but who do you say that I am?

Father Christ, the Son of God. So we see that the Lord Jesus Christ is shown to others in his divine nature, yet not visible to the eyes of the apostles as we saw in the day of transfiguration, that was visible to them, his divine nature, his glory as the son of God. But he's not just truly God, he's truly man as well. The scriptures tell us that the one who was in the form of God did not take it robbery to be equal of God, but he humbled himself, taking the form of a born servant, the form of a servant. He became one like us.

And when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to think as the God-man. Yeah, He's the Son of God. In His divine nature, He did not cease to be who He was before. He was always the Son of God, and He'll always be the Son of God. And He did not put aside His deity.

He was, and He'll always be the Son of God. But He became, as well, the one whom He was not before. He took upon Himself flesh. He took to Himself human nature. He became one like us.

And we see the beauty of our mediator. And he needs to be truly man. Man was the one who sinned against God. Man is the one who owns God. Man is the one by the very acts that we were created by God, God deserves our obedience.

We are now bound to obey God, whether we want to do it or not. When man was created, by the very fact of being a creature, he needs to obey the creator. The creator is the one who is all wise. The creator is the one who knows all things. The creator is the one who is sovereign.

The creator is the one who is all powerful, and he has the right to command what he wants, and to give the instructions as he wants, and we are required to obey him, whether we want to do it or not. Remember that God told Adam and Eve that in the day that you eat, you shall not eat from the fruit that is in the tree that is in the middle of the garden, because in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die. And yet man disobeyed God and sinned against the Lord, transgressed against the Lord, and sin came into the world. By the very act of being a creature, we need to obey and we own God obedience. And that's why the scripture tell us that the one who is to represent us before God needs to be truly man.

And we see that in Hebrews chapter 10. And I think when the author of Hebrews will tell us that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, he's pointing as well implicitly to the idea that no other creature could pay for what we men have done. Someone like us should stand in our place. So that's why the scripture tell us that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin and the Lord Jesus Christ said, you have prepared a body for me. I have come in the fullness of the book, it's written of me.

I have come to do your will. A body was prepared for me because you have taken no pleasure in burnt offerings and all those things that were done. They were just shadows of the things that were to come. So let's go to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse two, for then will they not have seeds to be offered?

Speak about the sacrifice that were done in the Old Testament. For the worshippers, once purified, would have no more consciousness of sin. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible, the author will tell us, that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Verse five, therefore, when he came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me.

in burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin, you had no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come in the volume of the book it's written of me to do your will, O God." So we see that a man needed to come to rescue us from our sins. And as we said, it cannot be only a man. Because only a man cannot understand the full requirements of the righteousness of God and the holiness of God.

And he cannot be only God because being only God he cannot represent us before God. And we see that the scriptures will point and will tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the God-man. Remember what I said, he did not cease to be. He was in the form of God. He did not take it robbery to be equal with God.

He did not cease to be who he was. in his divine nature, but he became who he was not, as he became flesh and dwelt among us. And we see the need that we have of this mediator to be truly man and truly God, the one who come in our place. In the scriptures tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ, he was born of a woman, Galatians chapter four, born under the law to rescue those who were under the law. And we see the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Brothers, sisters, friends, there is no one else In this world, there is no creature that God could have made that could rescue us from this situation and from what we deserve from this holy God, but the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no one else who could take our place but the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the things that we said, he must be truly God, because he's the one who needs to understand fully the requirements of the righteousness of God. He must be truly God in order to be able to handle the full wrath of the Almighty One. Remember that when he was risen from the dead, Paul tells us in the book of the Apostle to the Romans, he'll say that he was declared to be the son of God by the resurrection of the dead.

He was the one who was able to victoriously win over death. And he was the one who was able to suffer the wrath of God fully that we could never do. Remember what our sister Rita sent to us on telegram today. She said that Christ came. to pay a debt that he did not own, to pay a debt that he did not own, because we could never have paid that.

And no one else in this whole world could have paid that. Not even a righteous man, if that was possible, could have paid the price that we all need to pay, that we own God, the debt that we have with God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is this one. But look to the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as I said, He is the Son of God. He did not cease to be who he was.

Remember, John will tell us, he was in the beginning with God and he was God. He had a glory with the Father as the triune God enjoying constant fellowship within himself, within the Godhead, in no need of anyone, self-sufficient in himself. And we see the argument of the Apostle Paul. What humbleness that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has shown towards us. He had no need to do that.

And then we see a proof of what the Scriptures tell us, that God is love. There was nothing that drove God, there was no need of God to do such a thing, but love and love alone. It's because of who he is and he decided to do so. There was nothing in you, nothing in me, that would make our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ come into this world and become one like us, yet without sin, to save us from our sins and from the wrath to come. the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The one who was in the form of God did not take robbery to be equal with God, but he humbled himself. He did it willingly. The Lord Jesus Christ said that he's the one who gives his life, willingly. He's the one who takes it back. He's the one who came down from heaven.

A body was prepared to him by the Father, but he willingly did that. The one who was the law given, who is above the law. The one who is not subject to his own law because of who he is, but he's above the law. He's the one who put himself under the law. He was born under the law, he willingly.

was made one like us and became obedient to the point of death and death of the cross. Remember Christ Jesus, he's the mediator. And when we think of what is the work of mediation, what is required in the work of mediation, what is required of the one who takes this work? First, it requires humbleness, and that's what the Lord Jesus Christ did, as we said. He humbled himself, and he left his glory to become one like us, not ceasing to be whom he was, but becoming someone whom he was not as he took upon himself human nature.

One person, two natures, a divine and a human one. And you see instances of his human nature in the scriptures, when it says that he was hungry, when he says that he cried, when he says that he was sorrowful to the point of death, when he was praying, when he was sweating, drops of blood. We see the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross. We see the instances in which the Scriptures point to the human nature of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But because he's one person, we can safely say, as the Apostle will tell us, that God was the one who shed his blood for us.

He is the God-man. So what took for the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish this work of mediation? Paul will tell us that he was obedient to the point of death and death of the cross. The first thing that was needed was obedience. So the Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to the Father in all things that he did.

Everything that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did was necessary for our salvation. When we think of our Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself flesh, that was necessary for our salvation. He needed to be the God-man. When he was born of a woman, born under the law, that was necessary for our salvation. So accomplish that which God has purposed him to do.

To do your will, O Father. That's why I came. That was His food to do the will of the Father, to be the sacrifice and the propitiation for the sins of His people. That's why He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Obedience was required.

As I said, He was born under the law. He was obedient to the Father as the man Christ Jesus in everything that He did. That's why we see, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He does everything that pleases me. He does everything that I tell him to do.

He is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Obedience is needed. The very fact that we own obedience to the creator by being men and by being our representative before God, he needed to be like us. Being born of a woman under the law to come and obey God in all things. But as I said, his obedience did not start here.

It started as he came down from heaven and became one like us. leaving his glory and becoming one like us. So not just obedience is needed, but sacrifice is needed as well. Remember that he was obedient to the point of death and death of the cross. By one act of obedience, he has saved us, Paul would tell us in Romans, because by one act of obedience, what Adam has done, he has brought sin into the world and now all have sinned for short of the glory of God, but by the one act of obedience of the Son of God, we were saved from our sins and saved from the wrath to come.

So the Lord Jesus Christ, truly man, truly God, what was required of him? Obedience and sacrifice. Remember that the author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter nine will tell us the need for sacrifice when we think of the Old Testament and the temple and everything and the utensils and everything that was, by sacrificing, by the sprinkling of blood, they were made holy. And we see when a New Testament, when a New Testament is about to happen, the death of the testator is what brings that New Testament about. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ will say, this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant.

And let's go to Hebrews chapter nine. So we'll see that. Look what he says. He was saying about how it was in the temple and the tabernacle and it says in verse nine, it was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifice are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. Concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings and fleshy ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

He says in verse 11, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, he's the mediator of the new covenant. By means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

For a testament is in force. after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore, not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water, scalded wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "'This is the blood of the covenant "'which God has commanded you.' "'Then likewise he sprinkled with blood "'both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.

"'And according to the law, "'almost all things are purified with blood, "'and without shedding of blood, "'there is no remission.'" Verse 23, "'Therefore it was necessary "'that the copies of the things in the heavens "'should be purified with this, "'but the heavenly things themselves "'with better sacrifices than this. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another. He then would have to suffer often since the foundation of the world.

But now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. So what took? What is the work of mediation?

What is required of the mediator? Obedience. He was obedient to the point of death and sacrifice because of what we have done against God. And we see that when our Lord Jesus Christ is at that cross, he's taking upon himself all our sins. That's the gospel for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He takes upon himself all our sins, and he suffers the full wrath of God. He drank the cup of the wrath of God fully, the cup that we could never drink, and that we could never drink to appease the wrath of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ did that for us, the God-man. There is no one who was able to do that but the Lord Jesus Christ. and when we think of the outcomes of his work.

Remember, the God-man, a mediator, is needed to bring peace in between us and God. And the mediator needs to be truly God, and he needs to be truly man. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who took upon himself, who became flesh and dwelt among us, who was obedient to the point of death, who entered that cross in our place and bear the full wrath of God. And there are outcomes for his work. First, the first outcome is reconciliation.

We are now brought into terms of peace, if peace with God. Having now peace with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Paul will tell us when he's writing to the Romans. Reconciliation has happened. As I said, Because of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we were brought to a place greater than that of Adam and Eve. We are now called children of God.

We have peace with God now because of the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, because of what He did for us. Everything that He did on our behalf. Not because He needed anything, but because we were in great desperation for someone to come and rescue us from our sins, so that we would flee from the wrath to come. So the first outcome of the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is reconciliation. Now we have peace with God.

Now you who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, reconciliation only happens as you rely on the God-man. He said, there's no other way that you can have peace with God. You cannot appease God himself with anything that you do. Our works are in vain, as we sang this afternoon. Everything that we do, our righteousness, they are like filthy rags before the one who is holy.

It's all tainted with sin. That's who we are. And that's why we need someone else to rescue us from this place in which we are now. and we have the Lord Jesus Christ. So reconciliation happens through the work of our mediator.

But not just reconciliation, the Lord Jesus Christ is vindicated. Remember what we said in Romans chapter one, that Paul would tell us that he was declared to be the son of God by the resurrection from the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ is vindicated, and we see that in Philippians chapter two as well. Look what Paul would tell us. After he says that Christ was obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, he says, therefore God also has highly exalted him, in verse nine, and given him the name which is above every name.

Christ is vindicated. They will see the one whom they have pierced and they will mourn. They will see that he is the one indeed whom he said he was. God has given proof of that by raising the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. When we saw the Lord Jesus Christ, when He came into this world, as I said, He did not cease to be who He was, but He veiled Himself in His human nature by becoming one like us.

So we did not see form or anything in Him that would make us come to Him, as Isaiah would tell us in chapter 53. There was nothing in Him that would see and make us desire Him. His glory was veiled from us. But yeah, he was, and he'll always be the son of God. So Christ is vindicated.

Reconciliation happens, and Christ is vindicated. He'll be vindicated when he see the fruits of his labor, and he'll be glad with that, as I will tell us. Brother and sister in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes again to take his people to be with him, remember what he said in John chapter 14. I will go, but do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions. I will go, but I will come back. I'll prepare your place, and when I have prepared your place, I'll come back, so that you may be with me. Wherever I am, you may be with me forever. And we see the testimony of the scriptures.

Christ is vindicated when his church is gathered to him at that great day in which everyone who was saved by the grace of God through the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the God-man, Christ will be vindicated on that day. to the vessels who are vessels of His grace, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved. We see that Christ is vindicated, but Christ will be vindicated as well as the judge of this world. the one who was despised by the world, and the one who is still despised by many, he'll be vindicated as he'll come again, the man Christ Jesus to judge the world in righteousness. Let's go to Acts chapter 17.

That's the testimony of the Apostle Paul. Acts. He says, verse 31, because he, God, has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man, the man Christ Jesus.

He'll come to take his people to be with him. He's vindicated. You'll see the fruits of his work and he'll be glad. He'll be also vindicated as he come as the judge of the world. He'll judge the world in righteousness.

So we see that redemption happens. That's the outcome of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. And vindication happens. The Lord Jesus Christ is vindicated by God and given to be the one who judged the world in righteousness. God has appointed this man.

to be the one who will judge the world in righteousness. And he has given assurance of this by raising the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Christ is vindicated. Let's go again to Philippians chapter two. Christ is vindicated.

He'll come to take his people with him. He's vindicated, and he'll judge the world in righteousness. He's vindicated, because look what will happen. Philippians chapter two. that, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ is vindicated, as everyone will recognize who he indeed is, King of kings and Lord of lords. as He'll come in glory, the glory of the Father, to judge the world in righteousness, but to take us to be with Him. The mediator, Christ Jesus. The mediator, Christ Jesus, who came to save us from our sins. But not just that, what happens?

The outcome, reconciliation, we are reconciled to God. We who are enemies of God, we who came to separation between us and God, we are reconciled to Him. Not just that, Christ is vindicated. but not just that, God is glorified. Remember that scripture will tell us, because of him, and through him, and to him are all things to whom be glory forever, amen.

All things that God has done and that God is doing is to the glory of his name. Remember that the salvation of His people is through the praise of the glory of His grace. The damnation of those who do not come to Christ is through the praise of the glory of His justice, of His holiness. They did not come to Christ. And those who came to Christ, they are to the praise of the glory of His grace.

All glory be to Christ, our King, as we sing. All glory be to the one who has rescued us from our sins. All glory be to the one who will bring about righteousness into this world. As we see sin abounding, but we will see the righteousness of God when the Lord Jesus Christ comes, taking hold of this place. As He comes and He ends everything with fire, and He takes us to be with Him forever.

So brother and sister in Christ, just think about what took God to save you from your sins. What took Him to save us from the wrath to come. A man could not do it only. God alone could not do it. It's the God-man.

When we think that God alone could not do it, it just means that we need someone who represents us before God. and we have the Lord Jesus Christ. And think about the glory of our Savior. Remember, he did not cease to be who he was, he became who he was not by taking upon himself human nature, and now he's the man Christ Jesus seated at the right hand of God the Father. He's representing us in heaven, the man Christ Jesus.

He'll never cease to be the man Christ Jesus. The two natures in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. What glory, what glory as we look to the glory of our Savior. That images and words cannot even help us to realize and to understand the beauty of the one who came and saved us from our sins. The beauty of the triune God and the beauty of the Son of God.

And we need to look to Him because we can only know the Father as we look to Him. And we need to look to Him and we can only look to Him as the Spirit of God gives us testimony of Christ through these scriptures. the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. He's always the Son of God. He was always the Son of God.

He became the Son of Man to represent us before the Father. And remember, you who are without Christ, there is no one else who can give you that peace with God but the God-Man. the Lord Jesus Christ. We need him. As I said, he's the way, the truth, and the life.

And he's the way not just because he said he's the way, but because of who he is as well. Because he said he is, but because of who he is. The only mediator in between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So the scriptures tell us, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, so that you may be forgiven from your sins, so that you may have peace with God. repent and believe in the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one who was in the form of God but did not take it robbery to be equal with God, the one who humbled himself and become a servant, became one like us, who live the perfect life, because that's what God demands, perfection, who shall ascend to his holy hill, the one who is pure in heart, the one who works righteousness, no one else, and that's Christ and Christ alone.

And on that day, brother and sister, rejoice, because your hope is found in him and in him alone. And when he sees you, brother, when he sees you, sister, he sees you through the lens of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has brought you to that place. And that's why everyone, angels and men, will sing that day. Revelation will tell us that salvation is of the Lord, belongs to our God.

It took God to do what we could never do. to become one like us, and to die in our place, to live a life we could never live, to please the Father in all things, and to be the propitiation for our sins, to pay the price that we would never be able to pay. And even those who are in hell right now, they will not be able to pay that price fully. It's an eternity of suffering. Remember that our brother was reading Mark today.

It's a place where fire does not end. where the warm is always there. So you could never have peace of conscience in that place. But the Lord Jesus Christ drank the cup fully. He overcame death.

He overcame the wrath of God. He overcame sin so that we may be saved through him. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Verse 20, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order cries the first fruits. Afterward, those who are Christ's at his coming. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. Now, when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all, that he may be glorified. And he will be, and he's being glorified through the salvation of his church.

and he is being glorified as he acts in justice, bringing the damnation of those who are not in Christ. Praise God that He has saved us. Praise God that He has undertaken such a task that no other creature could have done. Praise God that we have peace with Him. Praise God for all He has done in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise God for sending His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ who willingly came and took upon Himself flesh to be one like us. Praise God for the Holy Spirit who give us witness of Christ and who helps us to see the glory of the mediator. Praise be to the triune God. We have no hope without him.

Our hope is him and him alone. Christ, our righteousness, the mediator in between God and man. Amen, Christ Jesus. Amen? Let's pray.

Father, we thank you, Lord. Just speak to our hearts and that which was according to truth. Bring it deep into our hearts, Lord. What a great task, and words fail us to touch in this, Lord, because it's too much for our mind and our comprehension. It's understood by faith only.

Great is the mystery of godliness, that God was manifested in flesh. What a mystery, Lord Jesus, that we cannot comprehend. truly man, truly God. You did not cease to be whom you always were, Lord Jesus, and whom you are, the Son of God. And we thank you.

We thank you that you became one like us, taking upon yourself human nature, and that you are now representing us before God. You have done what we could never do, Lord. What a great task you took. and we can rejoice because you have accomplished it all. You said, it is finished.

And when you died on that cross, with everything that happened, Lord Jesus, the centurion that saw it, he said, truly, this is the Son of God. Thank you for all things, for willingly doing what you did for us. Help us to grasp the height and and the immensity, Lord, of what you've done for us, out of love, not out of anything that is in us, and not because you needed anything, because you are sufficient in yourself, try you in God, but you did what we could never do. You brought peace in between us and you. Thank you for all things.

Please forgive me if I said anything wrong, Lord, and just help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, that He may be the one that we think often and always, whatever's pure, whatever's righteous, whatever's of good fame and reputation, that we should think on these things. And Christ, You are the one. You are the one righteous. You are the one who is beautiful, Lord. You are the one that we should think often.

So help us to do so, to have you in our minds always. Help us to look to you, the author and finisher of our faith, and to rejoice in this great work that you have done for us. Be with us, Lord, as we come before you. The table just help us to understand what you have done for us more and more, and to rejoice in our hearts. Thank you for all things, in Jesus' name, amen.