The eleventh point concerning the humanity of Jesus is that it is necessary for the Lord’s recovery. We must realize that the letters written by Paul to Timothy and Titus were written for recovery, because at that time degradation had already occurred in the church life. History tells us that the Roman Empire began to decline at exactly the same time as the church, during the last part of the first century. By reading 2 Timothy 3, we see the situation that existed at the end of the first century. Paul said that in the last days perilous times would come, and it was not long before this prophecy was fulfilled. History tells us that by the end of the first century, there was much corruption and ruin in the society of the Roman Empire.
We are in exactly the same kind of situation today as was the early church. At that time the church was degraded and society was ruined, and it is clear that it is the same today. Therefore, we must all realize that we are in a situation that requires the Lord’s humanity for His recovery. There must be a group of people to stand against the tide of this age. But what is the way for us to stand? Is it by divine power? It is rather difficult to find much in these three books about divine power. These books are from Paul’s later ministry which has very much to do with the humanity of Jesus.
We have previously mentioned from these books that the humanity of Jesus is necessary for the church service, which involves the co-workers, elders, deacons, and deaconesses. All the verses related to these serving ones mention something concerning the human virtues of the proper humanity. Paul did not tell Timothy to be an example in power, but in love, in word, and in the way he conducted himself. This is all a matter of humanity. All the qualifications for the church service are human virtues. The same principle applies to the Christian walk. To deal with the older brothers and sisters as well as the young brothers and sisters requires the uplifted humanity of Jesus.
It is abundantly clear from these three books that we need a strong, adequate, and proper humanity in order to have the Lord’s recovery in such a degraded time. We do not need divine power as much as we need the humanity of Jesus to stand up in such a degraded age. This is the standing power of the acacia wood. If we follow the course of today’s age, we are like the jellyfish, without any backbone. Whatever way the tide goes, the jellyfish follow. We do need a strong backbone to stand against the current of today’s age for the Lord’s recovery, and this backbone can issue only from the humanity of Jesus. The background of these three books (the degradation of the church and the corruption of society) is exactly like today’s situation. Therefore, these three books should really be applied to us today.
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