“Trinity – The Mediator”

Scripture: Romans 5:6-11; Romans 8:34-39

The second Person of the Trinity is, of course, Jesus Christ, and scripture gives us many names for the Lord. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Matthew 12:8 refers to him as Lord of the Sabbath, and, of course, there are even more, such as Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8), and the 7 “I AM” statements (“Bread of Life” – John 6:48; “Light of the World” – John 9:5; “Gate” – John 10:7; “the Good Shepherd” – John 10:14; “Resurrection and the Life” – John 11:25; “the Way, the Truth, and the Life: - John 14:6; “the Vine” – John 15:1). But none of these names refers to the intercession that Jesus brings to defeat the hold that sin has on our lives. But Jesus is also our Savior (Luke 2:11), and that is what a savior does – he intervenes to end the death threat that is upon each of us.

Augustine was a Neoplatonist – a philosophical school of thought in the 3rd and 4th centuries that considered the truth surrounding reality. It was anything but a faith process, but Augustine, searching for an understanding of what “abiding in Christ” was all about, would only later made the connection to Christ’s sacrifice as a means to his atonement. But it did come to him through the Book of Romans, and he did discover that Jesus was holding out a unique relationship to not only him, but to the entire world.

This is what he found in Romans, and this is what led him to understand the “mediation” that the Lord achieved for him.

Read Romans 5:6-11

Even with all the intelligence that Augustine possessed, it was this passage that gained him insight into his unworthiness. He could argue philosophical thought with the best of them, and yet, for all his intellect, could never quite grasp the salvation that Jesus offered to him simply by faith. There was no price, there was no effort, there was no great act demanded of him. And the gift was prepared for him long before he was ever born and long before he ever understood.

Two weeks ago, we talked about the love of God, and how it led the Lord to give his all to become Savior of the world, and all that we had to do was to believe in him (John 3:16). For the logical mind, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, unless, that is, until we ask the questions “How good a life must I live before I can gain the righteousness of God?” And the only “logical” answer must be “We must become as good as God!” And as Jesus tells us in Luke 18:18-30, that “No one is good except God alone”.

Paul tells us that Christ’s coming into this world occurred at just the right time, and that he surrendered his life to the ungodly, on behalf of the ungodly, also at just the right time. This “time” wasn’t chronological in nature, but spiritual. God’s timing will never be understood through logic or examination – it only comes to us by faith. And by faith, God’s timing, or more importantly his actions, are always right. The Lord’s Plan - its implementation, its effect, its call, its offer – is available to all who will accept it, and we are never expected to understand it. Believe that “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”! And that is a lesson that Augustine, and we, must learn fully.

For many, though, there is a troubling phrase in this passage – that reference to the time when we all were enemies of God. Think about that – how much would you give for the benefit of an enemy – one who hated everything you stood for, one who wanted to rid their lives of you and your attitude, one whose only desire was for your message to dry up and die? That is who we were before grace came into our lives! And in Romans 1:18-19, Paul addresses one possible response of God toward the “godlessness and wickedness of men”, and it is called “The wrath of God”. Paul writes that godlessness isn’t necessarily a hatred for God, but simply the suppression of his truth.

Jesus came to act, on our behalf, to overturn that wrath, and to replace it with righteousness – the very thing that we need, but have absolutely no way to gain on our own. Christ has become the Mediator between the ones who are wicked (that’s you and me!), and the One, the only one, who is good. And it didn’t require gifted speech or a monetary ransom – it required his death on the Cross.

By faith in the salvation that comes through the blood of Christ, wrath and destruction are trumped every time. And that, my brothers and sisters, is a reason to rejoice!

Read Romans 8:34-39

Who condemns? Jesus! But is it Jesus alone? No - it is God in his entirety! But this condemnation isn’t what will occur on Christ’s Day of Judgment – it is the sentence right now for all who suppress and reject the truth of God. So the very one who condemns is also the only one who can save. But remember that salvation doesn’t come because our Mediator has changed his mind and heart – it comes when we change ours.

And when we come to that realization, when we come to our senses, when we make the decision to allow our life to be a reflection of Jesus Christ, it is then that salvation becomes a reality for us. But what about the sin that continues to crop up and haunt us every day that we live? Won’t that damage our salvation?

Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ! It is important that we seek his forgiveness, though, but the love that led Christ to Calvary will never leave us. And there is nothing that the world can throw at us that will ever change that. Satan’s world has no power over God, but the power that exists in the love of Christ can, and will, overcome everything that the world stands for.

And by faith, the strength and blessing that comes to each of us will be beyond anything that we can ever imagine. And the list that Paul offers – those things that we might think can cause the Lord to withdraw his love from us – assures us that it will never happen. Think about it!

Not death or life. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, there is nothing that we can ever do in this life that would break his love. The allure of earth will always be before us, but it can never put salvation in jeopardy. And by the Lord Jesus’ death and bodily resurrection, we are promised that death can never hold us, either.

Not angels or demons. By faith in Christ, there is no power in heaven that will ever re-condemn us and doom us to death. And as we discussed before, the love of Christ will always defeat the power and hatred of Satan and his minions. The Darkness has already lost, and even though he continues to try to mislead us, every effort that he makes is futile.

Not the present or the future. The love of Christ is eternal, and it exists beyond earthly time and sinful condemnation. Notice that Paul doesn’t include our past! Our past life has already been defeated in that moment that we gave our life to Jesus Christ, so it no longer can have any influence on either our now or on our tomorrow.

Not any power. The rulers of earth’s tribes and nations have great authority. Romans 13:1 tells us that human authority has been established by God Himself, and that we are to submit to that authority. But that doesn’t mean that the authority that our leaders have is greater than, or even equal to God’s! No power on earth is sufficient to intervene between us and our Lord.

Not height or depth. There is some thought that this may have referred to astrological beliefs, a form of false spiritual power, a power which we can also take as satanic power. There is nothing that can give us more than we receive through the love of God, and there is nothing that can diminish the love of God.

Nothing else in all creation. I think that Paul threw this thought in, just in case he missed something! He wanted Augustine, and he wanted each of us, to understand that nothing exists and nothing ever can exist, that could even remotely have a chance of “separating us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus mediated our salvation and there is nothing that can interfere with that, and for Augustine, that was a huge revelation. He would come to understand that justification by faith in Christ would be the only way to eternal life. He would come to understand that the only reality that we can depend on is that which resides in Almighty God.

He would write of his new found faith, and those writings from the 3rd and 4th centuries would be preserved. And when Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest in the 16th century, read those dissertations, they would lead him to reexamine the Book of Romans. And as he did, he too would discover a new outlook on his faith. And Luther’s writing - “Introduction to the Book of Romans” would also touch the heart of John Wesley on that night when his “heart was strangely warmed”.

The faith that Augustine, and Luther, and Wesley discovered, is the same faith that Christ is calling us to claim. Romans isn’t just for the perverted of Rome – it is for all who subscribe to the authority of earth, and search through it to find the truth of reality. Jesus Christ is the only reality that we will ever need. Claim it, and live.