5 For there is
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Jesus Christ is God. He is a member of the 3-in-1 one, true God. He is the
mediator between God in Heaven (God the Father) and men here on the earth. Yet
Jesus was not only fully God, but also fully man. He hungered, tired, and was
tempted just like us. Yet He lived through it all without ever sinning once! Do
you believe in the one, true God? Do you believe that He is 3-in-1 (Father, Son
and Holy Spirit)? If you do not believe these two essential truths, you will
have great difficulty making the New Testament fit into your faulty framework.
For the Scriptures speak of Christ the mediator and prince of peace, of God the
Father who reigns in Heaven above, and of the Holy Spirit living within and
empowering Believers to do the Lord’s will.
6 Who gave himself a
ransom for all,
Jesus Christ gave His life
as a ransom to many…—NO!—but to all! God does not want any to perish, even
Jesus did not lash out in anger at His executioners, but prayed that God
forgive them for their sin! What a difference of perspective! Ransom carries
with it the idea of Christ paying for our bondage to something. That bondage is
the bondage of sin. Christ paid and redeemed you (bought you back) from that
life of sin. All you have to do is accept His free gift of salvation and rely
on His Holy Spirit to give you power to live as Christ lived. The same Spirit
that raised Christ from the dead lives in Believers (Romans 8:11)!
to be testified in due time.
1
Tim 2:5-6 (KJV)
To be testified in due time. . . At
the perfect time, Jesus died for us all. Those who died before He came that were
Believers were looking forward to His coming, and we who have died and live
after Christ has risen again look backward to trust in Christ. It was in the
right time, the perfect fullness of time that Jesus died for us. Likewise, in
the fullness of time, God has made entrusted the Great Commission of Going, and
proclaiming the Gospel. But that is not all of the Great Commission! No, we are
to stay with those who have accepted Christ’s Gospel and teach them all that
Christ commanded (this is first of all the Gospels, but I believe extends to
the whole Bible because Jesus is the Word (the Bible, John 1). We are even to
disciple nations! Take heart, dear reader, for God has a plan of redemption for
this world and He has invited, and even commanded that you join Him in this
most important work.
When I think
about this command to disciple the nations, and the the Writings of Paul in
Titus 2, the picture I get as the Biblical picture is that mature believers are
to teach the younger ones. I think of Christians simply sharing Christ’s love
in neighborhoods, counties, and cities and starting house church networks and
meeting together in public places to study God’s Word (just like the Early
Church met daily in the Temple Courts and devoted themselves to the Apostles
teaching). And how Paul simply would go to a city, start preaching to the Jews,
then progress to the Gentiles and plant the Church (he never built any
buildings), but preached in the marketplace, publicly, and from house to house.
Then Paul would appoint elders (Teachers, Pastors, leaders) of the local
churches and move on. He truly discipled as Christ said to.
