Using the Recovery Version to Present the Genuine Christian Faith Concerning Who is Jesus Christ
Who is Jesus Christ? Is He the eternal God? Is He a genuine man? These are questions that every person must answer for themselves.
But, without hearing God’s word, it would be difficult for any one of us to appreciate who Christ is in order to have the faith to believe in Him (Rom. 10:14-17).
So as believers in Christ, we need to learn how to clearly present the genuine Christian faith concerning who Christ is. We can do this by personally getting into God’s Word to equip ourselves with appropriate Scripture verses. Then, we’ll able to give an answer to others.
In this post, we’ll consider how to use some key verses from the Recovery Version with related footnotes, to address this major item of the Christian faith—Christ being both God and man. By learning to properly present God’s word concerning this point we’ll be able to help people to have faith in Him and thereby receive God’s salvation.
Who is Jesus? First, He is the eternal God.
Jesus said that He was the I AM—the ever-existing God.
The Lord Jesus Himself told His persecutors,
“…unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
What did the Lord Jesus mean by “I am” in this verse? He meant that He was Jehovah, the I am—the self-existing, ever-existing God. Footnote 1 on this verse in the Recovery Version points out,
“I am (vv. 28, 58) is the meaning of the name Jehovah (Exo. 3:14), and Jehovah is the name of God (Gen. 2:7), the One who is and who was and who is coming, the self-existing and ever-existing One (Rev. 1:4; Exo. 3:14-15). This name is used in speaking of God in His relationship with man. Hence, it indicates that the Lord is the ever-existing God who has a relationship with man. Any man who does not believe that the Lord is this very God will die in his sins.”
This means that if a person doesn’t believe that Jesus is the ever-existing God, he will die in his sins and perish. This is very serious! May we learn to present this truth that others may be saved.
Christ is the eternal Word who is the complete God
Later the apostle John, in confronting heresies concerning Christ’s deity, boldly proclaimed,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2)
Footnote 2 on verse 2 says,
In the beginning, that is, from eternity past, the Word was with God. Contrary to what is supposed by some, it is not that Christ was not with God and was not God from eternity past, and that at a certain time Christ became God and was with God. Christ’s deity is eternal and absolute. From eternity past to eternity future, He is with God and He is God…”
From the above verses we can see that Christ is the great I am, the self-existing, and ever-existing, Jehovah God. He did not become God at a later time, but was God from eternity past, His deity being eternal and absolute. Praise the Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ is the eternal God!
Who is Jesus? Second, He is a genuine, perfect, and sinless Man.
First, we’ve seen how the Bible reveals that Christ was the eternal God. Now, we need to see the other side of Christ’s person, His being a man. Christ was both the complete God and a genuine, perfect, and sinless man who is uniquely qualified to be the Mediator, the go-between, of God and men.
Christ as the eternal Word, became flesh.
The apostle John continued his mysterious presentation concerning Christ as the Word by saying,
“And the Word became flesh…” (John 1:14a)
Notes 1 and 2 on verse 14 say,
“ For the Word as God to become flesh is for God to have the human life and the human nature.” (note 1)
“Romans 8:3 indicates that although this flesh was the flesh of sin, it had only the likeness of the flesh of sin and did not have the sin of the flesh. It is the Word who became such flesh, and this Word was God, the complete Triune God (v. 1). That the Word became flesh means that the Triune God became a man of flesh in the likeness of a sinful man. By so doing God entered into sinful man and became one with sinful man. However, He had only the likeness of a sinful man and not the sin of a sinful man. Hence, He was a sinless God-man, the complete God and the perfect man, having two natures, the divine nature and the human nature…” (note 2)
Christ being the man who is the Mediator of God and men.
The complete revelation of the Bible presents a marvelous person who is both God and man. Since He is both God and man, He is uniquely qualified to be the Mediator of God and men.
In 1 Tim. 2:5, Paul said,
“For there is one God and one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Footnote 3 on this verse says,
The Lord Jesus was God from eternity (John 1:1). In time He became a man through incarnation (John 1:14). While He was living on earth as a man, He was also God (3:16). After His resurrection He is still man, as well as God (Acts 7:56; John 20:28). Hence, He is the only One qualified to be the Mediator, the go-between, of God and men.”
We need to present Christ, the unique God-man and Mediator, to people that they may be saved.
As believers in Christ, it’s really important for us to see clearly from God’s word that Christ is both the eternal, complete God and a genuine, perfect man. Since He is the eternal God, all that He does has eternal worth and effectiveness.
Because He is a genuine, perfect man, He can reach us, sympathize with us and could even die for us, shedding His sinless human blood for the forgiveness of our sins.
Being the only One who is both God and man, Christ is uniquely qualified to care for our case, to be the Mediator between us and God. Only such a God-man is able to save sinners like us.
May we believe into such a God-man and may we boldly proclaim Him so that others may be saved and enjoy all that He is.
“Lord Jesus, praise you that You are the eternal, complete God. Yet, you became flesh, in the likeness of our flesh of sin, yet without sin. Thank you for living a perfect human life and for shedding your human blood for our sins. Praise you that as such a God-man, You are now our go-between, the Mediator between us and God. We love You.”
References and Further Reading:
- The Holy Bible Recovery Version with footnotes is published by Living Stream Ministry. All rights reserved.
- You can also get your free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version from Bibles for America.
- You can also present the Christian faith concerning “Who is Jesus?” by showing this short video.
- You may also enjoy this hymn on Christ as the Lord of all and this hymn on the Humanity of Christ
About Tom Smith
Hi. My name is Tom Smith. I'm the writer behind Holding to Truth in Love, and I love the Lord Jesus and His life-giving Word. Please feel free to send me an e-mail through the contact page if you have any questions. I hope you'd take a moment to subscribe to the Holding to Truth blog. Then you'll be sure not to miss a post. Thanks!
Hi.
It was interesting to read your articles. I can see that your are a professional in the subject.
I am a bit confused with one of the gospel verses, i hope you can shed some light. It is regarding the gospel according to Luke.16-1:13. I think there is some inner meaning in that gospel, which ordinary human being like me can’t understand.
Hope to hear from you soon.
God Bless you,
Regards,
Simon.
Simon, thanks for the comment. The parable in Luke 16 apparently is about an unrighteous steward but underneath it’s teaching us to be prudent stewards. The parables in Luke 15 spoke of a sinner’s salvation. Then the parable in Luke 16:1-13 speaks of a believers service to the Lord. First, the Lord saves us by His love and grace. Then He makes us His stewards to whom He commits His possessions.
We need to deal prudently with the Lord’s possession today, specifically with mammon or material possessions. By nature, mammon is unrighteous, but God wants us to faithfully use mammon–our money and material possessions, to bring people to God’s salvation. When we meet the Lord, such ones will be thankful to us, and the Lord will praise us for being prudent. If we live in this way we will be serving God and not mammon.
If you enjoyed what I just shared, I encourage you to read more online at: http://online.recoveryversion.org. Also for some excellent commentary on Luke 16:1-13, you may also want to check out the Life-Study of the Bible, at: http://www.ministrybooks.org.
Again, thanks for the comment and comeback often.
I am glad you mentioned the Recovery Version because it makes it so easy to present
the truth. And there is a deeper benefit; there is a statement which says that “the greatest blessing and joy in human life is to contact God and taste Him through the words of the Bible.” The RcV is truly a compendium of God’s recovery of the truth aiding us to enter into the intrinsic elements of life and light hidden under the surface of the printed pages. Further still, the more we are constituted with the truth (Jn. 17:17) the more God can open doors for us (Acts 14:27; Col. 4:3) to share His truth (1 Tim. 2:4).
I agree. The Recovery Version not only makes it simple to present deeper truths but it helps to “crack open the nut” of God’s word so that we can get to the meat, taste it and be nourished by it. The revelation of the truth leads us to to the enjoyment of the divine life. The Recovery Version ushers us into both. This it why it is so profitable to accompany our reading of the Recovery Version and its enlightening notes with much prayer. In this way we are not only touched but digest and assimilate the life element hidden in God’s Word. Yes, when we are constituted with the riches of the divine truth, the Lord can send us to others even as the Holy Spirit sent Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. God could send him because Philip was constituted with riches of Christ in Isaiah 53 and was one who was able to lead the Ethiopian into God’s salvation.
Brother Tom, I have to say, the Recovery Version of the Bible has opened my mind to what the Bible really says. Especially when it comes to the person of the Lord Jesus, there are questions like, Was He ONLY God, or was He ONLY man? Also, was there by mistake a “third being/product” being produced if God and man were mingled?
I am grateful to the Lord for the footnotes. Whenever I don’t understand or fully get something – which is often – I can read the footnotes and go through the cross-references to find similar portions in the Bible that speak of these things.
One thing about it though, the point of reading the Bible is to get to Christ, who is life. We shouldn’t miss Him, and we shouldn’t just get knowledge and understanding only. We need to search the Scriptures and come to Him that we may have life!
I agree. We need to stress this point. The purpose of the Recovery Version is not just to give us some orthodox Bible doctrines so we don’t fall into error or heresy. The wonderful thing about the Recovery Version Bible with the footnotes is that it invariably points us to the wonderful Christ revealed in the Bible so that we may see Him, treasure Him, gain Him, love Him, and live in a divinely romantic union with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). I also enjoy John 5:39-40. Our searching the Scriptures must always be matched with coming to Christ Himself that we may have life. God’s eternal intention is to bring us to the tree of life, which is Christ Himself (John 14:6 15:1), so that we may be filled with Him and thereby express God and represent Him (Gen. 1:26). Thanks for this important reminder.
Thank you for sharing this most important truth in such a concise and clear way.
Steve, Thanks for the encouraging comment. I hope that through posts like this one, more believers will be equipped and encouraged to use the Recovery Version with footnotes to present the genuine Christian faith. We not only need to hold the mystery of this faith ourselves, but we need to be able to give an answer to others for this hope in us, and to contend for this faith. I thank the Lord for giving us such a tool to present these precious divine truths to others!