August 1 — "The Arbiter Has Arrived"

Today's Reading: 1 Timothy 2 

Isn’t it breathtaking to glimpse the brilliance of God’s design in Scripture? From Genesis to Revelation, there’s a golden thread woven through every page—Jesus.

As St. Augustine put it: “The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.”

One beautiful connection unfolds between Job and First Timothy. Job, battered by loss and grief, sat in the ashes—bewildered, broken, and desperate. He sensed the impossible gulf between a holy God and sinful man. And in his agony, he cried out: “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both” (Job 9:33). His words echo the ache of every human heart that longs for mercy but feels too far gone to reach it.

Fast-forward two millennia—and Jesus steps into history. What Job could only groan for, Paul boldly proclaims: “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” (1 Timothy 2:5–6). The yearning of the Old is satisfied in the certainty of the New. The Arbiter has come—and His name is Jesus.

A mediator is someone who acts as an intermediary or "go-between" to reconcile differences between two parties. The human race needs a mediator because we are separated—estranged from—God and we cannot bridge that gap on our own. 

We need a Mediator because sin created a great divide—a chasm in the universe—separating us from God. As Isaiah wrote, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have  hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2). No effort, goodness, or religion can bridge that gap. Only someone who fully embodies both divinity and humanity can stand in that space.

That’s what Jesus does. As fully God, He radiates the holiness, justice, and truth of the Father. As fully man, He enters into our frailty, temptations, and pain. He alone qualifies to “lay His hand on us both.”

Scripture isn’t a jumble of disconnected truths. It’s a divine drama—Spirit-breathed and Christ-centered. Jesus is the Lamb hinted at in sacrifices, the Ark of refuge, the Ladder to heaven, and the Mediator Job wept for. Do you see it? The brilliance? Job’s cry is met with Christ’s cross. The God who once felt distant now draws near—reaching with nail-scarred hands from Heaven to earth.

May wonder fill your heart today as you marvel at the unity of God's Word and the beauty of His plan. Rejoice—your Mediator has come. And He stands in the gap for you.