ONE GOD AND ONE CHRIST JESUS

1 Tim 2:5-8 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

We learn from the lesson text, and the few verses preceding it, that there is one God, and it is His will, or desire, that all men ...be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. From the beginning of time, to the present, and throughout eternity, to know the truths found in the will of God, and to obey them, is God's plan of eternal salvation. It is His appointed way, and there is no other way available to mankind by which mankind can be saved. Christians are to recognize the importance of this and constantly pray for governmental leaders, that they will exercise their authority, in order to provide a social atmosphere, that will allow a quiet and peaceable life, in which the gospel message of salvation, through Jesus Christ, will flourish.

The fact that there are different nationalities and races of people having different social and political levels, does not require different creators and various gods to worship. Luke, in his inspired message, gives us this assurance, when he wrote that God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us: for in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring (Acts 17:26-28).

Not only is there one God, but also one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. Jesus gave us this testimony of Himself, and confessed His Heavenly Father to be the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent (John 17:3). In like manner, Paul wrote that there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him (1 Cor. 8:6). To the church of Christ at Ephesus, Paul assured them, as well as all Christians everywhere, that there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Eph. 4:4-6).

It was Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all. The testimony of the apostles, that Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross of Calvary as a ransom - an atonement for the sins of the world, was in its infancy, and unknown to most of the world at the time of this writing. But Paul assured Timothy, a preacher of the gospel of Christ, that it would be known to the world in due time. The following quotation from God's word tells us that Jesus Christ is the one, and only, mediator through whom God offers all men and women, of the world, the hope of eternal salvation, as well as access by prayer to our Heavenly Father. The inspired writer of the Hebrew letter said, wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them (Heb. 7:25).

At this time in biblical history, the mystery of eternal salvation was being made known to the world, both to the Jew and the Gentile. It was for this purpose that Paul said I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. It was on the road to Damascus that Paul was traveling to persecute the very church of Christ to which Jesus ordained, or appointed Paul, to serve. Immediately after he was baptized into the body of Christ, Paul gladly, and with a zealous spirit, discharged and fulfilled these duties and responsibilities of an apostle of Christ, a preacher of the gospel for which Jesus died. At the bidding of Jesus Christ, Paul becamea teacher,havinga special calling, to take the message of eternal salvation to the Gentiles.He was to take this message toall nations in faith and verity, that is, fervently confirming the inspired word of God, as being pure and true. For the fulfillment of this cause, Paul asks the prayers of all Christians everywhere, whether they were offered in the privacy of their homes or in public worship services. They should do so by lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting, demonstrating aneagerdevotion to serve the one God and one Christ Jesus that brought salvation to all people of the world.