Fallen man, because of sin, has been banished from the presence of God. God will neither speak to man, nor allow man to speak to him. God will neither approach man, nor allow man to approach him. Sin has separated man from God. By reason of sin, there is a great gulf fixed between God and man, which neither God nor man can cross.
The holy Lord God, in and of himself, in his essential Being as God, because he is righteous, just and true, can never span that great gulf and come down to sinful man. Neither can he bring sinful man up to himself. And sinful man, because of his sin, can never span that great gulf and arise to God. Neither can we bring God down to us.
Depraved, helpless and condemned, all men and women by nature are banished from God in this world, and must be banished from God forever in the world to come, unless a holy man can be found who is equal to God himself and able "able to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
A DAYSMAN NEEDEDUnless there is a daysman found who can stand between the holy Lord God and sinful man, we are all without hope. Unless there is a Mediator found who can lay his hand upon the holy God and upon guilty sinners to bring God and man together, we all must be forever banished from the presence of God in hell. Unless there is a priest found who can fully satisfy the justice of God by making an effectual atonement for sin, sinful man must forever die.
A RANSOM FOUNDBlessed be God, such a Priest has been found! He is Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God. "Wherefore (because he laid hold on the seed of Abraham to save them) in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a man so that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest such as we need, to reconcile us to God and enable us to overcome temptation. Now, the Lord God can be gracious and declares, concerning all his elect, "Deliver them from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom." In Christ, the God of glory reveals himself as "a just God and a Savior."