Apples of Gold

We all likely know someone who could use an intervention, if we are being completely honest, sometimes that person is us! Whether we find ourselves on the couch devouring an entire bag of potato chips, or struggling to maintain our composure during an emotional onslaught, we all could benefit from a mediator from time to time. 

Job found himself here during the biggest test of his life. The desperation in his words is engaging:

Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me. God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. Job 9:30-32

Job’s friends certainly weren’t much help and we don’t even want to talk about his wife! His cry for a mediator came from a pretty lonely place. Those around him were assuming the worst and tossing some of the most misguided advice available directly at him. 

Job had spent his life trying to please God. No sin came to mind when he attempted to make sense of his woes. 

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless-a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. Job 1:1

Very few have lived their lives in such a way that they would merit a description like this. According to the sloppy theology of many today, Job should have been healthy, wealthy and satisfied. The ferocious trials that came his way didn’t seem to make sense. 

No wonder Job was confused. Even as the messengers arrived in succession, like a relentless tide, driven to the shore by an approaching front, he learns of the loss of his livelihood, his workers, his home and his children. Even in this his response is far more composed than you would expect:

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, I came naked from my mother’s womb and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD! In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. Job 1:20-22

As the days wore on Job suffered severe physical discomfort and a constant emotional drain from his less than helpful companions. He longed for someone to intervene to God on his behalf. 

The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment. Then I could speak, to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength. Job 9:34-35

The suffering Job was enduring was not the expected outcome of a life well-lived. And yet here he was. His friends believed he had some secret sin that God was punishing him for. Job, himself, didn’t know what to think. Many of us have been there as well. Ever asked, or thought: What did I do to deserve this?

Job’s cry for a mediator reminds me how thankful I am that we have one!

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5

Struggles and trials still come but unlike Job we have direct access as a result of God’s perfectly planned intervention! 

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Matthew 27:51

This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. Ephesians 3:11-12

Paul, likely writing this while imprisoned in Rome, encourages us that our circumstances don’t dictate our access to God. Our confidence need not be shaken during our struggles. How quick we are to assume that God’s favor makes us unsusceptible to difficulties. Struggles are not divine punishment. (Although if we are in willful disobedience they can certainly be a tool to guide us back to solid ground).  

Our Mediator brings access. Our Mediator brings forgiveness. Our Mediator brings healing. Our Mediator brings Confidence.

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one-for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one-for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Romans 8:33-34

Job cried dismally for someone to intervene before God on his behalf. Not only do we have a Mediator who wants us to succeed, he is pleading for us! It is difficult for us to honestly assess our weaknesses and grasp the reality of our standing with God. Confidence in our position before God is not pride-it is embracing the relationship that Jesus purchased for us and even now, he pleads for us. We cannot fully absorb who we are in Christ until we come face to face with who we are apart from him.