For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Everything here rests on two counts of one: one God, and one go-between. The verse also calls that Mediator a Man — and that word carries the weight of how sinners come to God.
One God, One Mediator
Israel had long told a world full of idols that God is one. The second half of the verse is what the gospel adds.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinJudaism was the revelation and testimony of the one God. Christianity also reveals the true God. But it brings out an equally great truth: there is only one mediator, just as there is only one God. And this one mediator is the Man Christ Jesus, who came into the world and who gave Himself a ransom for all.
Moses once stood between the Lord and one nation. What comes now reaches further.
An Outline of Sound WordsIsrael had the truth of the one, true, invisible Jehovah, Maker of heaven and earth. He was not revealed then, but He truly was all this. Moses, too, was the mediator between that same Jehovah and His people, and there was no ministry. But now God has revealed Himself. The Mediator stands between Him and men — not just Israel — and there is a ministry towards all men.
What "Mediator" Means
A mediator implies parties at odds and a third who comes between them.
F. B. HoleGod is the One offended by sin: man, the offender: the Man Christ Jesus, the Mediator.
The longing for such a person is older than the gospel.
F. B. HoleLong before Christ appeared the hearts of men longed for a mediator. The book of Job is evidence of this, for that man felt the immense gulf that lay between God and himself... The One who steps in as arbiter or Mediator must Himself be God, to represent God fully. He must be Man, to represent man rightly. The Man Christ Jesus is He.
Why He Had to Be Man
The word "man" in the verse is not decoration. It shows how the two sides meet.
Norman AndersonThis proves the utter worthlessness of all men. Only Christ can bring men to God, and every one of them needs bringing. The Mediator is great enough to put His hand on the throne of God. By taking Manhood and going into death, He stooped low enough to put His hand on the sinner, so that He could bring him to God righteously.
His manhood is only half of what mediation takes.
William KellySo, just as we need, we have an adequate image of the invisible God. This Jesus is "mediator of God and men," though mediation goes further than representation. There are two parts in it — His manhood and His ransom. Both matter greatly if we are to know God, and if man, sinful man, is to be blessed as he should be in the knowledge of God.
One Means One
A count of one leaves no room for other go-betweens.
A J PollockDoes not 1 Timothy 2:5 sweep away at one stroke the intercessor-saints of the Roman system? It says plainly, "there is… one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all." The Virgin Mary did not give herself as a ransom. Our Lord did. And we can well trust the One who did that when we come to Him, rather than turn to any go-between.
Why It Reaches All Men
The reason lies in what God is like.
William KellyA great point in these letters is the good and loving nature of God. We must be blind if we fail to see it. That nature would have us look at all men without exception... "There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men." This is always the ground and character of First and Second Timothy. It is not the Father and His family; it is God and man.
Still a Man Today
Paul's word about Him is present tense, not past.
F. B. HoleLater still Paul writes of Him as "The Man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). He does not speak of Him as the One who once was the Man Christ Jesus. He is a Man today.
Summary
- One God. The truth Israel guarded among the idols stands unchanged; the gospel adds no second God.
- One Mediator. As surely as God is one, the way to Him is one: God offended, man the offender, Christ between.
- One Person, both sides. He must be God to represent God, and Man to represent man. He is high enough to touch the throne, low enough to touch the sinner.
- One ransom. Mediation takes more than showing us God: He gave Himself a ransom — and that reaches men, not one nation only.
- One forever. Paul still calls Him "the Man Christ Jesus" — the manhood He took up He never laid down.