That is an excellent question! To begin with let’s define the word “mediator.” Mr. W. E. Vine, in his expository dictionary of New Testament words, says that it literally means “a go-between.” He goes on to say that it is “one who mediates between two parties to produce peace.”

Now let’s read Galatians 3:19-20: “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of the mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one” (NKJV). In the covenant of law there were two parties: God and Israel. Who was the mediator? It was Moses, who went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the law from God. Here we also learn that God passed it on to angels first, and then they gave it to Moses. Moses then descended from the Mount and gave the law to the nation of Israel. We know that Israel failed to keep the law and this failure on Israel’s part meant that no peace was reached between God and Israel. Yet the law was never given to produce peace, but to convict Israel of their sins and to show them their need of a Savior. The fact is the law not only reveals Israel’s sin; it exposes the sin of all mankind. Romans 3:19-20 declares, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that EVERY MOUTH MAY BE STOPPED, AND ALL THE WORLD AMY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

We will now look at 1st Timothy 2:3-5: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” We just saw that the purpose of the law was to convict men of their sins and to make them feel their need of a Savior. In these verses we see that Jesus Christ is that Savior! And He is called the “Mediator between God and men” because He gave His life on the cross for ALL MEN. On that cross He stood “between God and man” and by His death He “made peace through the blood of the cross” (see Colossians 1:20). This means He did what the law could never do, for all the law could do was show the sinner his sins, but on the cross the Lord Jesus suffered and died for those sins and by the shedding of His blood He has reconciled believing sinners to God. Thus He is the only “true Mediator,” for He alone could represent both God and Man and produce the needed peace to reconcile man back to God.

This “good news” of Jesus Christ as the “Mediator between God and men” is called the “new covenant.” The law was a covenant which failed because of Israel’s sin, but it has been replaced by the covenant of grace. This is brought out clearly in Hebrews 9:14-15: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant.” Again, what the law could never do (i.e. produce peace with God), the Lord Jesus has done through His death. Has the reader trusted in Him as your Savior? If you have, then you can claim the promise of Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (253.3) (DO)