Some evidently see in this verse that God is being said to be the mediator, and that, since Jesus is the mediator, they evidently are reading into the scripture that Jesus is God. The context here shows that this is related to God's promise to Abraham for a seed. -- Galatians 3:14,18,19; Genesis 12:2,3; 22:18.
Actually, "God" here is presented as being only one person, the same one person who is the "one God" in 1 Corinthians 8:6. "God" in Galatians 3:20 is the same one person who is the "only true God" in John 17:1,3. It is the same one person who is the "the Lord Jehovah" of Isaiah 61:1, ELOHIM of Isaiah 61:1 and Micah 5:4, who anointed and sent the Messiah.
God is one, and he bound only himself to the promises of that covenant, thus he is the only party bound in the covenant of promise that God concluded with Abraham and his seed. God gave the promise unilaterally, and He is, therefore, the only one to whom this covenant is binding. When a covenant binds only one side to it, it does not require a mediator. Since God is one, there is no mediator needed in the covenant promise that God made to Abraham and Abraham's seed. The seed of Abraham consists first, of Christ, and secondarily, all who belong to Christ (Galatians 3:16,26,29) The promise of blessing is to all nations through the Christ. (Galatians 3:14) Of course, the blessings do imply a reconciliation, which would require a mediator, but the promise itself requires no mediator. The mediator between God and the nations -- the heathen -- who are to be blessed, then, is the seed of Abraham, especially Jesus himself.
Nevertheless, it should be apparent that "God" in Galatians 3:20 is the same one person who is "God" in 1 Timothy 2:5,6:
{1 Timothy 2:5} For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men. It was the man Christ Jesus
{1 Timothy 2:6} who gave himself as a ransom for all to be witnessed in its own times
The "one mediator" here is Jesus, who came as a man in order to sacrifice his humanity as the ransom (offsetting, corresponding price) on behalf of all mankind. Jesus is not the "one God" of whom are all, but Jesus, being a sinless, fully obedient human being, had the price necessary to satisfy God's justice, which he sacrificed to buy back what Adam lost for himself and for all his offspring. -- Romans 3:23-27; 5:10-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19; 1 John 2:1,2; 4:9,10.
God is thus not the mediator between Himself and man, but God is the one to whom man is reconciled by means of a mediator. Man is not reconciled to Jesus, but rather to the God and Father of Jesus.
Some related studies:
Did Jesus Have to be Both God and Man in Order to be the Mediator?
The man Jesus - Still a Man?
The Price of Redemption -- God or Man?
No comments:
Post a Comment