"The Arbiter"

"And He said, Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live" (Exodus 33:20).

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 4:6).


I recently heard a public figure strongly proclaim that he had learned he did not need anyone to approach God for him, and that he had found redemption through directly coming to the Lord for himself.

I initially found myself agreeing with the gentleman because it is certainly true that every human being must personally relate to the Lord if we are to know Him as He desires to be known. However, the man did not testify that such knowledge cannot be attained without an arbiter, or "go between" who can safely and surely lead us unto God.

"Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

"There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5).


The gulf between the Divine and the human is far too vast for the latter to independently approach the former. His infinite nature conflicts with the reality that we are "but flesh, a wind that passeth away" (Psalm 78:39). Even more, "your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). Thus, while the aforementioned gentleman was correct in that we must come to God personally, the truth is that we cannot come to Him personally. The dilemma seems beyond resolution, and the chasm too wide for any hope that we can ever truly know the creator and sustainer of our being.

The Lord Jesus is our resolution and fulfillment of hope. In Him, the Infinite and the finite are so perfectly met together that God and man are one. "I and my Father are one... He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John 10:30; 14:9). In our Savior, Heaven and earth united to birth the chief delight of both realms. He alone can bring man to God without violating the holiness of the Divine, and God to man without destroying the very existence of the human. There is no one like the Lord Jesus in both Heaven and earth, and His nature, being, and mediatorial office are the most fascinating subjects our minds can ponder.

No finite human can mediate between God and ourselves. We must determine to come, and believe that we can approach the Holiest. But we must come by the way of that Human who is also Divine, and in whom "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). I hope that I simply did not listen long enough to the gentleman whom I did not hear given testimony to the grace of the Lord Jesus whereby God can be known in the most loving and intimate communion. There is no other way, and we need no other way.

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."
(Hebrews 10:19-22)