Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

Here we are, gathered in the House of the Lord this morning. As we look at the Church of Christ today, we see that it is not necessarily a place that would meet with Christ’s approval. We have strife and discord in the Church. There are multiple doctrines, all claiming to be true. Even within the Church, there can be multiple ways to heaven, with Jesus being one, but not exclusively the only way. Something must be done to bring the Church back in line with that of Christ, but how will that happen? Who will bring about that change? Paul sets out to answer those questions.

Our text is addressed to young Timothy, a young pastor in Ephesus. The purpose of Paul’s letter to Timothy is to encourage and instruct him as he called the Ephesians to be faithful to God’s Word. The Ephesian church wasn’t going to be the easiest place to pastor in, as false teachers were polluting the doctrine of Christ. What Paul wanted to see in Ephesus and in all places was the truth of Christ be proclaimed. Paul says to Timothy, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time." Paul says quite a bit in these two verses. First, that Christ is the sole means of salvation and secondly, that now is the time to preach that message.

When Paul speaks these words, he shows why it is so important to come to a knowledge of the truth. There are not numerous gods, each providing truth and salvation. There is one and it is God. Between this God and us human beings, there is only one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who at the same time is also true God. Who but Jesus could serve as our mediator?

That is the question to ask if you are Paul the apostle. If you were living at the time of Paul, then the answer to the question, "Who but Jesus could serve as our mediator?" had several answers. One answer was Jesus. Another answer was yourself, for the popular belief was that you could atone for your own sins by adhering to the Law of God. You still had the pagan gods of the day in the mix as well, giving people false hope that they would earn for you eternal life.

Not only did Paul have the desire that all would know Christ as their one mediator, he also desired that the Church would look like the Church. He writes, "I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling….”When Paul says, "I desire,"he is speaking as the chosen apostle and teacher of the Gentiles. He is not expressing merely a personal wish or desire. What he desires, what he wants, he has carefully considered and knows to be the will of God.

If there is any place where there should be prayer, it should be in the Church. The phrase, "lifting up holy hands," immediately reminds us of the way prayer was done among the Jews, and probably the early Christians. Their posture reflected their thinking about God – holy, awesome, a burning glory shining down on them, upon which they were not worthy to look. That was a realistic and pious perspective. At another time in history, men prostrated themselves before the altar, lying flat on the floor because they knew that they did not deserve the right to stand, or even kneel before God. This perspective reflected repentance very clearly.

Given the state of the Church at the time of Paul, this wasn’t always going on in Ephesus. Timothy, as the pastor, was charged to ensure that the Church acted as the Church. Paul’s concern was that we lifted up Holy hands. He was addressing our spiritual condition. There is only one way to get holy hands to lift up, and that is in and through Jesus Christ. Once we possess the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, all of which is by gift and grace though Jesus Christ, we have holy hands. We pray to God for all people, not only because He is the God who creates and preserves everyone, but also because He wants to save all people from the destruction is to come on the Last Day due to our sin. We pray that God would bring the whole world to the saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to what He accomplished for all people on the cross, that is, the forgiveness of sins, salvation from death and the devil, and the gift of eternal life.

All of this has to do with words that Paul speaks earlier to young Timothy: "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." In the end, that’s what it comes down to, that we would be saved. Now the question is saved from what? Paul throughout his writings mentions what we are to be saved from: sin and death. He says, "For the wages of sin is death."  Unfortunately, you didn’t always have that preaching at the time of Paul and you still don’t have that preaching today. We hear that we are pretty good people and only getting better. But that’s not the way that it is and Paul knows it and wants Timothy to not only know it but also preach it.

We have true peace in Jesus Christ and that is and should always be the central message of the Church. Christ is the one Mediator between God and man, who alone could secure peace with God where no earthly ambassador could. Earthly treaties are broken and peace talks fail. But your Mediator has made perfect peace, because He gave His life as the peace offering for all the world. He gave the ransom price that bought you away from the clutches of God’s enemy. The price was the Son of God, surrendering Himself upon the cross of Calvary. Your sinfulness and the sinfulness of all men demanded a response of war from God, but He turned His warfare only upon the flesh of His dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ.

This Jesus is not some unrealistic and unknowable God-figure who cannot understand or sympathize with us in our lives, but one who has been here and done all that we must do. He knows our weaknesses and our sorrows. He cares deeply for us. He hears our prayers and He loves us so deeply that in all things, He works for our blessing and good. He makes us to be like Him – righteous, and holy on account of His actions.

This is the Jesus that Paul desires Timothy and his Ephesian congregation to know. This is the Jesus that God desires that we know, a Jesus who goes to death and back for you and for your sins so that you would be made right with God. While the Church on earth does not always look or act as the Church should, we know that we always have a Lord who does what is necessary for us so that we would be called the Church and have the gifts that He gives to us so that the will of God would be made manifest in us, His beloved creation. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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