In the previous chapter we saw that the young people need to purpose in their heart not to be defiled by the things of this age. They need to flee youthful lusts and pursue Christ with their companions, “those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). In this chapter we shall see what the Lord’s recovery is. The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of Christ and the church. Although these terms may be familiar to us, I would still encourage the young people to spend much time with their companions in groups of five to thoroughly research the truths concerning Christ and the church.
In Matthew 16 the Lord revealed Himself and the church to His disciples. Verses 15 through 18a say, “He says to them, But you, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him...I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” The Lord’s recovery is not a recovery of doctrines such as footwashing, head covering, proper baptisms, or the bread and wine at the Lord’s table. It is a recovery of “the Christ” and “the church.” The term recovery implies that something has been lost. If something has not been lost, there is no need of a recovery. The proper revelation of the Christ and the church has been lost. Many in Christianity do not have a proper understanding of who Christ is and of what the church is. Many only know and appreciate the Jesus who is their Savior, saving them from hell to heaven.
Matthew 16:16 speaks of “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” According to this verse, Christ has two main aspects. The first is His person and the second is His work, ministry, or commission. Therefore, He has two main titles. The Christ is His title according to His ministry. Christ is the anglicized form of the Greek Christos, meaning the anointed One. Daniel 9:26 says, “And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off” (ASV). “The anointed one” is a translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah, the equivalent of the Greek Christos. In God’s administration, whenever God commissions someone to fulfill His purpose, He anoints that one. When God established priests, kings, and prophets, they were anointed. Samuel anointed David to be king (1 Sam. 16:13), and Moses anointed Aaron and his sons to be the priests (Lev. 8:30). To be anointed is to be charged with a certain commission. In today’s terms, to be anointed is to be appointed. God appoints one to fulfill His commission by anointing him.
In typology the anointing oil or ointment signifies God the Spirit. God anoints people with Himself. When Jesus was baptized and came out of the water, the Holy Spirit came upon Him (Matt. 3:16). The Holy Spirit was the ointment, and the Spirit’s coming upon Him was the anointing. Therefore, in Luke 4:18 Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me.” On the day of Pentecost before the one hundred twenty proclaimed the gospel for the fulfillment of God’s commission, God poured out His ointment, His Spirit, upon them (Acts 2:1-4, 14-18), and they were all anointed.
Christ means the anointed One. God has anointed His Son. This anointing was accomplished both in eternity past before the foundation of the world and in time. In eternity past God anointed and commissioned His Son. God the Father was the Author, the Source, the Planner, the One who made a purpose. God’s purpose which He made in eternity past for eternity future, His eternal purpose, was to have a church to express the Triune God in a corporate way. When God made this purpose, He anointed His Son, charging Him with the commission to fulfill His eternal plan. This is indicated by His title, the Christ.
At the beginning of time, the Son of God as God’s anointed One, the Christ, came to create. The Son of God accomplished the creation because as God’s anointed He was charged by God to do this. John 1:1 and 3 say, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being which has come into being.” For the fulfillment of His purpose, God needs a universe with a heaven and an earth with 80 many items, especially man as a vessel to contain God. Christ came as God’s anointed One to call the things not being into being. Creation was the first item in God’s commission which He gave to His anointed One.
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