Homosexuality and the Mediator

εις γαρ θεός, εις κάι μεσίτης θεου κάι ανθρώπων, άνθρωπος Χριστός Ιησούς (1 Tim. 2:5).

"One for God, One and Mediator God and man, man Christ Jesus" (Word for word from Greek to English)  "For there is One God, and One Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (My translation).  "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (ESV).

I am beginning a work on 1 Tim. 2:5-6 for some messages that I will be preaching in Mexico City and in Maine upon the subject of propitiation (the means of appeasing of the wrath of God).  In the beginning of my meditating upon this Scripture passage there are a few things that stand out as very obvious.  First, there is a definite hostility between two parties.  The two parties are God and man. Psalm 11:5 says that the LORD . . . "hates the wicked and the one who loves violence" and Romans 1:30 says that man is a "Hater of God".  The great problem between God and man is that God is Holy and man is sinful.  Holiness and sinfulness go together no better than oil and water, pro-life and abortion, freedom and slavery, or light and dark.  They are opposed to one another.  Second, the only way in which reconciliation can be obtained is through the work of the Mediator.  A mediator is "One that mediates between parties at variance" (Webster).  Third, the only way these two parties can be reconciled is if God is appeased.  The only way God can be appeased is by His justice being fully satisfied.  The only way to satisfy His justice is for Him to execute His full wrath upon the guilty party.  Thus, the Mediator in this scenario will need to place Himself υπέρ (in his stead, substitute, in place of) the guilty party.  Lastly, the One Mediator (vs. 5) will give His life as a sufficient ransom (vs. 6) and this Mediator is to proclaimed to the whole world.  The entire world needs to know that their hope is through Him alone, by faith alone, because He alone is the Savior.

Man has sinned (Rom. 5:12) and broken the law of God.  God is holy (Isa. 6:3) and will not excuse sin.    The only hope for reconciliation is for a sufficient Mediator to resolve the conflict.  Jesus Christ throws Himself between holiness and sinfulness and becomes the sponge for the water of God's wrath.  Jesus Christ soaks up the totality of God's wrath in the place of the guilty sinner.  The guilty party looks to Jesus Christ by faith for salvation.  If the guilty sinner does not trust in Jesus Christ alone for his pardon then he will have to absorb God's wrath himself for all of eternity in hell.  An eternity in hell will not be sufficient for man to pay his sin debt.  The only way the sin debt can be satisfied is for an absolutely perfect Mediator to substitute His life in place of the guilty party.  Jesus Christ has done this.  Repent and believe Him.

One last paragraph to touch on the title of this blog.  Homosexuality is a sin (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Deut. 23:17-18; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10).  God hates sin.  Man sins when he commits acts of homosexuality.  The only way to solve this dilemma is to find a Mediator.  The homosexual must look to Jesus Christ alone as his substitute for the remission of sin.  The only way for the homosexual to have peace with a holy God is submit his life to Jesus Christ by repenting of his sin and believing upon the meritorious work (a work that satisfied God) of Jesus.  It is utter blasphemy to think that Jesus absorbed the wrath of God in the place of sinners to enable them to continue living in their sin.  Jesus' mediatory work was done to set men free from sin, not to enable him to live in it.  Oh, that the homosexual, fornicator, drunkard, prideful, reprobate, and etc., would repent of sin and flee to the only One who can bring peace between them and God.  

Alone

καί ουκ ειμί μόνος - Yet I am not alone (John 16:32).

Towards the end of Jesus' public ministry He comes to a point of acknowledging that all His closest followers will abandon Him.  Those who have heard His teaching, seen His miracles, and marveled at His prayer life will be scattered to their own homes and leave Jesus all alone.

Certainly there is a level of pain to be deserted by those you have invested so much in.  The Lord had taught these men personally.  He had slept out under the stars with them.  He had eaten and drank with them on numerous occasions.  He had done ministry together with these men.  They had prayed together and discussed the Scriptures together.  They witnessed Him walking on water, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk, and He even raised the dead.  He could even raise men who were four days dead.  Jesus not only did all of these things, but He was kind, loving, merciful, thoughtful, and the best friend they would ever have.  Yet, at the hour of His deepest need they would scatter in fear of their lives.  They would leave Him all alone.

How would Jesus respond to such treatment?  How do we respond to such treatment?  The common response is anger, hurt, disappointment, and a range of emotions that send many a soul into depression and anxiety.  Many people look within themselves and try to figure out what they have done wrong.  Others pour out anger upon the person who would desert them.

What means are used to deal with a time of desertion by the closest of friends or even family?  Some will turn to eating food to comfort their emotions.  Some will spend money and buy things that will supposedly give them happiness.  Some will take a trip and simply try to get away in order to escape the pain.  Some will curl up in a ball and pull the covers over their head in hopes that all will go away.  Some turn to alcohol and drugs.  Some turn to Prozac.  Some will turn to Dr. Phil, Oprah, and the Ellen Degenerate show.  The ways people respond to abandonment are entirely to numerous to list,  so let us return to the Lord and His response.

He responds with a truth that is sufficient for all of eternity and rises above the level of horizontal wrangling, "I am not alone"!  The reason He knows this is because the truth is that His Father will never abandon Him.  He follows this statement with direction for those who abandoned Him and then the next chapter is the recording of the greatest prayer ever prayed.  Oh, to God that we could learn such a valuable lesson from the King of Glory.

When abandoned by parents, children, siblings, relatives, church friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even by our best friend, that is the time to respond like unto our Lord.  "I am not alone".  The reason the Christian is not alone is because He will never leave us or forsake us.  He has never lost one of His own.  He will not cast away anyone who comes to Him.  The Christian can never say, "Nobody loves me", "Nobody cares", "Nobody knows my pain", or "I have no friends".  These are all lies.  The truth is that in Christ the Christian is never alone.  A Christian may have gloom, depression, and real sadness over relationships, but it is at these points that the Christian must learn to preach to himself: "I am not alone"!