The Person of Christ Series
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
The correspondence between the Incarnate Living Word, Jesus, and the inspired written Word, the Bible, is noteworthy. Both are faithful and true. Toward the conclusion of Revelation a voice from heaven was heard to instruct John to write down what he saw and heard, saying to the beloved disciple, “For these words are true and faithful” (Rev. 21:5). Likewise, as the Bible ends it bears witness twice to Christ as a person who is faithful and true.
In Revelation 3, Christ’s self-introduction in the letter to the Laodicean Church began with the words, “These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness” (v. 14). Later in Chapter 19, the testimony given concerning the glorified Christ is, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True” (v. 11).
Christ demonstrated Himself to be a faithful witness to His Father’s word and will, as well as being faithful to His own mission for coming in human flesh. In declaring divine judgment upon religious unbelievers, Christ explained His authority for such a proclamation, saying, “For I have not spoken on My own authority, but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49).
God’s words
Later He spoke to the disciples concerning the Father’s word, assuring them with the claim, “The word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:24). In His notable prayer in John 17, Jesus confessed to the Father concerning His disciples, “I have given to them the words which You have given Me” (v. 8).
Christ was not only faithful to the Father’s words but also to His will. He declared, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). With accuracy, He testified in John 8:29, “He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
In application to Christ, Hebrews 10:5–7 quotes from Psalm 40: “Behold, I have come — in the volume of the book it is written of Me — to do Your will, O God.”
Undeterred mission
He also remained true to the purpose for which He came. No person or power turned Him aside from fulfilling His mission. Christ put that mission in the simplest of terms, saying, “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
Hebrews 2:17 casts His faithfulness to His purpose in more theological terms, saying, “In all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
In one of His most noteworthy claims, Christ declared, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). Not only did He speak the truth when He was faithful to the Father’s words, Christ was the very embodiment of truth. As He was the Way to the Father and the Life of the Father having come in flesh, He was in His very person the Truth about the Father. From His nature as truth, Christ both lived the truth and spoke the truth. A perfect correspondence existed between His life and His words.
As Christ’s followers, we are at our best in faithfulness and truth when our lives and our words correspond.
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