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Our Singapore legal system has the avenue of mediation by the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC). The SMC, set up 5 years ago in August 1997, is dedicated to the promotion of amicable and efficient settlement of disputes. It aims to create an environment in which people can work together to find enduring solutions to conflicts and tensions created by human interactions. It contributes to the building of a harmonious society, and a thriving business community, by broadening awareness of, and providing access to, constructive means of dispute resolution and conflict management. The SMC will notify all parties involved and invite them to consider mediation to resolve their dispute. Thankfully, Singapore sees the need for official Mediators to resolve disputes rather than Judges in our Courts – more cordial and less fearful in resolving difficult issues.
God being the loving and wise One is also the Great Judge. However, He provides a Mediator for us to resolve our dispute with Him. Jesus is the Mediator who is fully able to be the acceptable One meeting God’s requirement. He is the Son of God sent by God to earth to be Jesus the Lamb of God to die at Calvary for the sins of the world. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:17). Jesus the Mediator is very special – He is also the Sacrifice in the mediation process. In the words of John the Baptist: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29)! The writer of Hebrews writes: “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22) – this is the shed blood of Jesus the Mediator. In the mediation of our dispute with God, Jesus the Mediator and Sacrifice is given to a sinful world – all that is now needed is for people to accept God’s loving solution and all will be settled in mediation.
Jesus the Mediator wants to reconcile man to God. He is the Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith and hence fully qualified to be Jesus the Mediator. This Mediator is not only the Sacrifice but also the Great High Priest who presents the perfect Sacrifice to a Holy God. God pronounce the presentation as acceptable to Him and endorses Jesus the Mediator as the perfect One to reconcile us to God. Praise God for the wonderful Lord and Saviour we have in Jesus our Mediator!
