1 Timothy 2:5, 6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.
As we come into Chapter 2 Paul talks to Timothy about worship and male and female roles, urging the men to take the lead in praying for all and telling the women to dress modestly and to do good. Paul sees the differences between men and women as fundamental in the light of creation and the fall and so their roles are bound to be different in the churches. In the midst of all this Paul makes a reference to the fact that God wants all sorts of people to be saved. He then says (in verses 5 and 6) that there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. So, first there is only one God, that is fundamental, but, secondly, there is only one way to God. This is because there is only one mediator who can be the go between who unites God and men. That one mediator is, of course, the one he here calls the man Christ Jesus. Though he is God yet he is also man. He is one of us. Referring especially to the cross, Paul emphasises how he came and gave himself as a ransom. By coming to this earth and dying as he did, he paid the price to set free all people. By this term Paul means all sorts of people. It is to declare this very truth that the Paul who once was a Christ-denier and a Jew was nevertheless appointed by God as a herald and apostle of the gospel, especially to the Gentiles. Here he is reminding Timothy of these fundamental truths – one God, one way to God, the death of Christ as a ransom for all who trust in him. These are truths that we must keep always at the centre of our thinking and that preachers must preach without stint.
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