WHO IS YOUR MEDIATOR? We are all sinful. We were born in sin. We inherited a sinful nature. We are all sinners. Sin has created a separation between God and us. But the good news is that someone bridged the gap between us and God. That someone is our go-between. He is our mediator.

We continue our study of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14; within this context, while seeking to understand how to navigate in the cosmic battle between good and evil, we examine our need for a mediator.

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Let Us Invite God’s Presence:

Holy Father, thank you for our mediator; we ask that you forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who have done us wrong. In Jesus’ Name Amen

Jesus is our only mediator. Why do we need Jesus as our mediator?  We need Jesus as our mediator because sin creates a separation between us and God. We are all born with a sinful nature inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God’s command.

Therefore, sin disrupted the relationship between humanity and God, leading to spiritual separation, moral brokenness, and the inability to reconcile with God through our own efforts.

According to Romans 3:23, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Due to our condition, we are unable to bridge the gap and restore our relationship with God on our own. No amount of personal effort, good deeds, or religious observance can remove the effects of sin or earn salvation. The separation between God and humanity requires divine intervention. This is where Jesus, as our mediator, plays a crucial role. Jesus was fully divine and fully human. He lived a sinless life and offered himself as a sacrifice on the cross to atone for our sins. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus made it possible for us humans to be reconciled to God.

Therefore, by putting our faith in Jesus and accepting him as our Lord and Savior, we can receive forgiveness for our sins, experience a spiritual transformation that gives us the power to overcome sin, and obtain a restored relationship with God. Jesus serves as the mediator who bridges the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God, providing the means for grace, salvation, and reconciliation.

But the beast in Revelation 13 that rose out of the sea has attempted to counterfeit our mediator. Remember, the beast is symbolic of a religious and political power that Satan uses as a cloak to mask his hidden agenda. He wants our worship.

For more about the efforts of this beast that rose out of the sea, review the previous lesson at SabbathSchoolDaily.com.

Revelation 13:4, 5 describes this beast as follows: 

Revelation 13:4-5

4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (Revelation 13:4-5)

The first animal in Revelation 13 is a religious and political power that has gone away from the teaching of the Bible. This power rises out of pagan Rome, and it grows to become a worldwide system of religion. According to Revelation 13:5, this religious power is a blasphemous power that tries to act the same as God. It attempts to assume the privileges and prerogatives of God and claims to be equal to God.

Luke 5:18–26 and John 10:33 identify two aspects of blasphemy.

One is claiming the ability to forgive sin as expressed in Luke 5: 20, 21

20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:20-21)

And claiming to be God, as in John 10:33

33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:33)

The Jewish religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy, that is, acting the same as God. They, however, were wrong because Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus has the right to forgive sin.

Notice what Jesus says to Philip in John 14:9

“ ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?’ ” (John 14:9).

Jesus can do everything God the Father does. So, Jesus has the power and authority to forgive sins.

Consequently, 1 Timothy 2:5 teaches that there is one Mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ.

But the Roman Church teaches something different. It teaches that the priest, a mere human is the mediator between God and sinful humanity. But, because the priest himself is a sinful human being, he cannot be our mediator because he also needs a mediator.

Blasphemy is defined as the claim of any human to be God or to stand in the place of God. Therefore, anyone who tries to replace Jesus and His work for us in heaven is guilty of blasphemy, regardless of who they are.

The point is: No human has the right to take the place of God in our lives. Nor do they have the right to claim to be God on earth or act in the place of God. But that’s exactly what the Roman Church says. As a matter of fact, here is what is said about the top leader of the Roman Catholic Church: “The pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man. . . . He is as it were God on earth.”—Lucius Ferraris, “Papa,” article 2 in his Prompta Bibliotheca (1763), volume 6, pages 25–29.

Moreover, Pope Leo XIII bragged: “We [the popes] hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”—The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII (New York: Benzinger, 1903), page 193.

But notice what the Book Story of Redemptions says about what happened when the Roman Church came into power.

 The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their mediator and that none could approach God except through him, and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was, therefore, to be implicitly obeyed. A deviation from his requirements was sufficient cause for the severest punishment to be visited upon the bodies and souls of the offenders. (That I May Know Him, p. 244.)

However, the truth is, as human beings, we are all sinful. We need a mediator. And there is only one mediator between God and humans, and that mediator is Christ Jesus. Who is your mediator?

Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Houston, TX 77088

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