50 耶稣作中保——耶稣基督是神人间的中保Mediation - Jesus Christ isthe mediator between God and man
《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to
Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。
50 耶稣作中保——耶稣基督是神人间的中保
Mediation - Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man
因为只有一位神；在神和人中间只有一位中保，乃是降世为人的基督耶稣。（提前2:5）
耶稣基督的拯救职事，可以用[祂是在神和人之间的中保]（提前2:5）这一句话为总结。中保是中间人，将不交通的两方带在一起；这两方可能是疏离，彼此交战的。中保必须与双方都有关系，好与双方认同，维持双方的利益，并在善意的基础上，向一方代表另一方。如此看来，摩西就是神和以色列人之间的中保，当神赐下律法时，他又代表以色列人向神说话（出32:9-33:17）。
我们这堕落、悖逆族类的每一个成员，按本性都是[与神为仇]（罗8:7），并在神的震怒之下（亦即遭到惩罚性的弃绝，审判官用此以表达他对我们罪恶所发正面的愤怒，罗1:18；2:5-9；3:5-6）。让交战的双方和好是必要的，但是这只有在神的愤怒平息了、消除了，而促使人过反对神之生活的那种反神心态也改变了之后，才有可能发生。原是一位愤怒之审判官的神，在祂的怜悯中，差遣祂的儿子来到这个世界，带来神人之间所需要的和好。这不是因这位仁慈的儿子采取了行动，以安抚严厉的父神；而是父神自己采取主动。加尔文说：[当祂还恨我们的时候，祂却又不可思议的爱着我们。]祂赐下祂的儿子，为我们担负罪，这乃是神对我们的爱所结出的果子（约3:14-16；罗5:5-8；约一4:8-10）。在神儿子所有中保性的职事里，祂事事都行在父神的旨意中。
基督籍着替代，为我们受了刑罚，就一次永远并客观地为我们成就了和好。祂在十字架上站在我们的地位上，就像是我们一样，承受了我们该受的咒诅（加3:13）。籍着祂所牺牲的血，为我们成就了和睦（2:16；西1:20）。和睦在此的意思是结束敌对、除去罪疚、不再受到此外无可逃避的报复性的惩罚。换句话说，就是宽赦以往的一切，并永远接纳这个人的未来。凡信基督的人，都得以称义，并且得以与神和好（罗5:1，1）。这位中保目前的工作，就是透过传信息的人，劝那些祂曾为我们获取与神和好之恩典的人，真正地得着这恩典（约12:32；罗15:18；林后5:18-21；弗2:17）。
耶稣是[新约的中保]（来9:15；12:24）——亦即说，祂开创了我们与神之间的新关系，使我们感受到与神和好；这远远超过了旧约中为处理罪恶，所能做到最妥善、却又较没有果效的安排（来9:11-10:18）。
加尔文对基督教神学的一大贡献乃是 ，他发现到新约圣经的作者以先知、祭司、君王的三重职事，来诠释耶稣的中保职事。
基督这三方面的工作在希伯来书里都论及了：耶稣是弥赛亚君王，被高举到祂的宝座上（来1:3，13；4:16；2:9），也是大祭司，曾将自己献给神，好赎尽我们的罪恶（希2:17；4:14-5:10；7-10章）。此外，基督还是那使者（即[使徒]，蒙差派去宣告信息的人，来3:1）救恩的信息起先是透过祂亲自讲的，而信息的本身讲的就是祂自己（来2:3）。在使徒行传3:22节里，耶稣被称为先知，其原因和希伯来书称祂为使徒一样，即因祂对祂的百姓宣告神的话语，以此指教他们。
在旧约时代，先知、祭司和君王的中保职事是分开来由不同人担任；如今，这三种职分在耶稣一人身上会合了。这是祂的荣耀，由天父所赐予的，这样，祂才可以做全备的救主。神要我们信靠祂的人明白这一点，籍着顺服表明祂是我们的君王，籍着信靠祂表明祂是我们的祭司，并从祂这位先知教师有所学习，以显明我们是祂的百姓。如此地表明耶稣基督是我们的中心，才是真正基督教的验记。
MEDIATION
JESUS CHRIST IS THE MEDIATOR
BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
For
there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1
TIMOTHY 2:5
The
saving ministry of Jesus Christ is summed up in the statement that he is the
“mediator between God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5). A mediator is a go-between who
brings together parties who are not in communication and who may be alienated,
estranged, and at war with each other. The mediator must have links with both
sides in order to identify with and maintain the interests of both and
represent each to the other on a basis of good will. Thus Moses was mediator
between God and Israel (Gal. 3:19), speaking to Israel on God’s behalf when God
gave the law (Exod. 20:18-21) and speaking to God on Israel’s behalf when
Israel had sinned (Exod. 32:9-33:17).
Every
member of our fallen and rebellious race is by nature “hostile to God” (Rom.
8:7) and stands under God’s wrath (i.e., the punitive rejection whereby as
Judge he expresses active anger at our sins, Rom. 1:18; 2:5-9; 3:5-6).
Reconciliation of the warring parties is needed, but this can occur only if
God’s wrath is somehow absorbed and quenched and man’s anti-God heart, which
motivates his anti-God life, is somehow changed. In mercy, God the angry Judge
sent his Son into the world to bring about the needed reconciliation. It was
not that the kindly Son acted to placate his harsh Father; the initiative was
the Father’s own. In Calvin’s words, “in an inconceivable way he loved us even
when he hated us,” and his gift to us of the Son as our sin bearer was the
fruit of that love (John 3:14-16; Rom. 5:5-8; 1 John 4:8-10). In all his
mediatorial ministry the Son was doing his Father’s will.
Objectively
and once for all, Christ achieved reconciliation for us through penal
substitution. On the cross he took our place, carried our identity as it were,
bore the curse due to us (Gal. 3:13), and by his sacrificial blood-shedding
made peace for us (Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20). Peace here means an end to hostility,
guilt, and exposure to the retributive punishment that was otherwise unavoidable—in
other words, pardon for all the past and permanent personal acceptance for the
future. Those who have received reconciliation through faith in Christ are
justified and have peace with God (Rom. 5:1, 10). The mediator’s present work,
which he carries forward through human messengers, is to persuade those for
whom he achieved reconciliation actually to receive it (John 12:32; Rom. 15:18;
2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:17).
Jesus
is “the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb. 9:15; 12:24)—that is, the initiator
of a new relationship of conscious peace with God, going beyond what the less
effective Old Testament arrangements for dealing with the guilt of sin could
ever secure (Heb. 9:11-10:18).
One
of Calvin’s great contributions to Christian understanding was his observation
that the New Testament writers expound Jesus’ mediatorial ministry in terms of
the threefold office (“office” means set task, or defined role) of prophet,
priest, and king.
The
three aspects of Christ’s work are found together in the letter to the Hebrews,
where Jesus is both the messianic king, exalted to his throne (1:3, 13; 4:16;
2:9), and also the great High Priest (2:17; 4:14-5:10; chs. 7-10), who offered
himself to God as a sacrifice for our sins. In addition, Christ is the messenger
(“apostle,” the one sent to announce, 3:1) through whom the message of which he
is himself the substance was first spoken (2:3). In Acts 3:22 Jesus is called a
prophet for the same reason that Hebrews calls him an apostle, namely, because
he instructed people by declaring to them the Word of God.
While
in the Old Testament the mediating roles of prophet, priest, and king were
fulfilled by separate individuals, all three offices now coalesce in the one
person of Jesus. It is his glory, given him by the Father, to be in this way
the all-sufficient Savior. We who believe are called to understand this and to
show ourselves his people by obeying him as our king, trusting him as our
priest, and learning from him as our prophet and teacher. To center on Jesus Christ
in this way is the hallmark of authentic Christianity.