Bible Verse of the Day Saturday June 10th, 2023

1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed at the proper time.

Regardless of how strong, devout, or extraordinary, we don't need another human to mediate for us before God. As his children, we can go to Him unreservedly, realizing God himself has given the ideal mediator between himself and us. That mediator is the head of the Church and the prominent priest appearing before God for our benefit. He goes by Christ Jesus, our ruler, rescuer, and brother. Left to our power, we will not have the strength or the righteousness to approach God; we can only do that in Christ Jesus through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. Jesus paid the debt for our sins while He was here on earth, on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus is now at the right hand of God, interceding for us, speaking to the Father on our behalf.

Paul's message to his missionary partner, Timothy, reflects Jesus's message to John (John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.) In the world, not just today but since the beginning, too many folks believe that all roads lead to God. The worldly people claim that if someone is sincere and keeps a good heart, all roads lead to God. The Bible begs to differ on that point; you can be as sincere as possible about working your way to heaven, but the problem is you will be sincerely wrong. The tax collector and the Pharisees presented themselves to Jesus sincerely; however, Jesus turned one away, and the other was accepted (Luke 18:9-14). The rich young ruler was turned away from Jesus because he valued his worldly riches above eternal life (Luke 18:18-23). This biblical truth is explained clearly in the Proverbs.  There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12).

Too many folks in the world believe that God is being intolerant or narrow-minded since He has created only one path to eternal life with Him. However, the thought must be looked at from God’s perspective. He sent His only Son Jesus to suffer the cruelest death that the world has ever known and die on the Cross to pay a debt that would be impossible for us to cover. It would be like us saying to God, “we do appreciate the gesture but if you want to be fair you would create many other ways for us to gain eternal life.”  God has made way for all to receive salvation and know eternal life. It is not complicated, the things of this world that so many treasure above all things will become insignificant and unimportant when we get down to our final few days in this life.