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People may believe in many gods but according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:5: “There is only one God and one mediator between God and mankind – the man Christ Jesus”. Jesus proclaimed in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. These are important teachings of our Christian faith stated very clearly in these Bible verses.

One may ask: “What is the role and necessary qualification of a mediator?” A mediator is one who comes between 2 parties to resolve a conflict. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they were separated from God and cannot abide in the presence of the Holy God. Jesus, being fully God and fully man is the only sinless one who is qualified to be a mediator. The conflict is our sinful nature. Jesus came and gave Himself as the price to free all people from this sinful nature.

As an analogy, there is only one key able to unlock the door. There may be many types of keys, some might even be fanciful ones, some customary and handed down from many generations hundreds of years ago but they do nothing to get you to unlock the door. Only that one key can unlock the door. Jesus is the only one who can reconcile us to and intercede on our behalf with God the Father. The Christian can benefit from the advice given by Apostle Paul to Timothy from these verses by doing the following:

1. Fix our eyes on Jesus as the only Mediator and true Saviour. Resist submitting to misguided religious teachings and believing that such claimed intercession for us can be made by pious saints. Paul had warned earlier that there are many such prophets preaching different gospels that deviate from the truth.
2. Have the right understanding of Jesus our Mediator taught in the Bible and persevere in the faith in the face of trials, suffering and persecution so that we can stand firm amidst the proliferation of sin in the world.
3. Be righteous and holy like Paul who was called upon to minister to the Gentiles. Do our part by praying for all the people we know and sharing Jesus to them. Do not discriminate against people from other nations, race or culture but recognize that we are all – one in Jesus our Mediator.