The book of Hebrews gives us a glimpse into Christ’s heavenly ministry. Hebrews 8:6 says, “But now He (Christ) has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”
What is Jesus mediating? The common Biblical belief is that Jesus is mediating between the Father and us. But this does not reflect the truth regarding the Father. In Genesis 3:8, who is it that ran upon hearing God in the garden? Remember, verse 8 comes after the fall story in verses 1-7. The ones running were Adam and Eve, his wife. God came in the cool of the evening as he always came. He came to them.
Since then, has God’s character changed that he no longer is as he was in the garden with our first parents? No, the Bible says, God is unchangeable. He is the same today as he was yesterday, and he will be tomorrow. So Jesus came to reveal to us the Father. And what was the result of Him showing us the Father? Jesus was nailed to the cross. They didn’t want to change their understanding of who God is.
The Bible is clear. The problem is not how God sees us but rather how we see God. So then, what role in heaven does Jesus play as our mediator? To “mediate” means to move. Since Jesus came to reveal who the Father is, they work together along with the Holy Spirit. Therefore they must be working together to cause something or someone to move.
This causes me to ask another question, this time concerning prayer. Does God only understand Heavenize as a language, not English, German, Spanish, or any other language spoken by humanity? Is Jesus standing before the Father interpreting our prayers so that God can understand? Jesus having attained this ability because He became one like us through birth. Is this what the Bible teaches? Is this our understanding?
Let’s look at it this way, Jesus meets with the Father, Jesus meets with the Holy Spirit. All three, in partnership together, work on us flawed, imperfect, misguided humans to change our understanding of who God the Father is.
So, this naturally causes another question to be asked. What causes our thinking to be transformed into what God desires. Isaiah chapter six gives us this transformative shift in understanding because the Holyness of God does not destroy Isaiah. Instead, something comes from God’s presence and is placed upon Isaiah’s mouth and transforms Him. So instead of Isaiah as a sinful man being destroyed, he is transformed. This transformation then allows Isaiah to do his ministry.
Later in the Bible, we see Jesus himself coming from the presence of God to touch the impurity of life here on earth. He touches the leprous, the crippled, the blind, the mute, the deaf, even the dead body, he touches, and the impurity of life’s infirmities is taken away. Instead of Jesus being polluted or contaminated, He remains pure, and the infirmities and impurity around Him are removed.
With Christ’s death upon the cross, the temple concept changed to wherever Jesus is, is the temple. Therefore when He resides in our heart through the power of the Holy Spirit, our heart becomes transformed. A temple of the living God.
Therefore, all of us as living temples of God have the transforming power of Christ living in us and through us. As we live our life, we have a transforming influence upon the communities in which we live. We are called to be the salt, a preserving agent to the world.
So, then prayer, how does prayer fit into this? When we see situations around us beyond our human ability to solve, we can direct our prayers to God. God will hear our prayers, and all of heaven will strive on our behalf to change the situation, change the condition around us. The more prayers raised in unison together, the more power heaven can exert on our behalf.
Therefore through prayer, we partner with God to effect change as Christ instituted change around Him when He was on earth. Through prayer, God can direct us to where we can be most helpful in His service.
Therefore through prayer and Christi’s mediation, we enter into partnership with heaven to effect change on the lives of those we touch.
The Bible In Your Hand 