I. HIS SOURCE—IN HIS DIVINITY
Christ, the Servant of Jehovah as a covenant to the people of Israel and a light to the nations has a source, an origin. This source is in His divinity, in His deity, in His being God. He was God from eternity past, He is still God today, and He will be God in the future, so He is the One who was, who is, and who shall be. This is Jehovah. Christ’s capital is His deity, His divinity, His being God. If one is going to do business, he needs the capital. Christ’s deity is the basic capital for Him to do business. Jesus, the Servant of Jehovah, is God, and He came from the source of God. His source is in His divinity. Some people may boast about their source, about where they are from, but actually our source as human beings means nothing. In ourselves we are nothing, and we may even say that our source is nothingness. However, the source of Christ being the Servant of God is God Himself.
A. Chosen by Jehovah
As the Servant of Jehovah, Christ was chosen by Jehovah (Isa. 42:1b; 49:7b). Our president has been selected and chosen by the people, but this cannot be compared to being selected and chosen by God.
B. Formed from the Womb by Jehovah
to Be His Servant
Christ was also formed from the womb by Jehovah to be His Servant (Isa. 49:5a). To form something requires the material, the elements. A stand on which to place things may be formed with two elements—steel and plastic. With what did Jehovah form Jesus? Isaiah 49:5 does not say that Jehovah created Jesus but that He formed Him. To create is to make something with nothing, but to form is to work with some elements. Genesis 2:7 says that God formed man’s body of the dust of the ground, and He formed a spirit within man with His breath (Zech. 12:1). The Hebrew word for breath in Genesis 2:7 is neshamah. This is the same Hebrew word for "spirit" in Proverbs 20:27, which says that the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. Thus, the breath of life is man’s spirit. This is how God formed man. The divine revelation shows that God formed Jesus to be His Servant in the womb with His divinity saturated and mingled together with His humanity. Thus, when He came out of the womb of His mother, He was a God-man.
C. Called in Righteousness by Jehovah
He was also called in righteousness by Jehovah (Isa. 42:6a). We need to consider what "in righteousness" means. This means that in every aspect, in every way, in every direction, and on every side, the calling of Jehovah rendered to Jesus was right. Every aspect was in righteousness.
For example, the trainees in the full-time training have all been accepted by the training in righteousness. Suppose that one of the trainees had only studied for two and a half years in college, but on his application form he said that he had completed four years. This would mean that his acceptance into the training was not righteous. The glasses I am wearing were purchased by me, so my having them is altogether in righteousness. If I had stolen them, I would have them in unrighteousness. God called Jesus altogether in righteousness. The Pharisees’ claim to be the servants of God was in unrighteousness. During Jeremiah’s time there were many false prophets. Jeremiah was one of the few genuine ones. All those false prophets were not prophets in righteousness, but Christ was called by God in righteousness.
(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 46, by Witness Lee)
