Click here for the Romans 1:2-4 PODCAST
1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God. 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ~ Romans 1:1-4
Today, we continue our study of Romans 1. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans from the city of Corinth. He wrote this letter in order to provide for his readers the theology needed to live the life God has called us to, best.
In the truest sense of the word, Christianity is not a religion because religion is man trying to earn God's favor which is an impossibility. This is why the Lord Jesus had to come to earth and live a perfect life and die a perfect death. In going to the cross, the Lord Jesus had to take the punishment from God for that which had separated us from God. We were unable to endure the wrath of God due to our sinfulness.
So, Christianity is a personal relationship with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why He went to the cross, to open the access point to God to sinful man. This relationship requires of us nothing to get us into heaven in the future, but, it requires a lot of us now in order to get heaven into us now.
In v.2 of today's passage we read, "the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures."
The Lord Jesus Christ was many years before promised to us; He came as predicted by God in the Old Testament. In fact, there are at least 324 different prophecies in the Old Testament that He fulfilled. And, the likelihood that He would fulfill those many prophecies is way beyond human comprehension!
In v.3 of today's passage we read, "regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David."
The Lord Jesus was a descendant of Israel's King David which emphasizes the humanity of the Lord Jesus. As the Son of God, He was conceived in the virgin's womb by the Holy Spirit. This was how He could share the nature of God with that of man.
God had to come as a man in order to die on the behalf of sinful man. When we break the laws of society in which we live, we lose the right to move about freely in that society, among the people who abide by its laws. The Lord Jesus was arrested and made to pay for our crimes in order to “pay our debt to God.”
The Lord Jesus came to earth because we could not pay our debt to God. When we broke God’s laws, we lost the right to associate freely with Him. God is perfect in every way, and our sinfulness has separated us from Him. This debt had to be paid in full. According to 1 Kings 20:42, in order to set us free who were supposed to die, somebody had to take our punishment. That someone was and is the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.4 of today's passage we read, "and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Lord Jesus Christ came by "the Spirit of holiness" which means when He came to this earth He came as a whole person, He came to demonstrate what it looks like to be holy or whole. The glory of the good news is that God's goal for us is to make us whole, so that we can handle life with all of its pressures and troubles.
At the root of our problem is our sin which undermined our perfection or wholeness. This loss of our wholeness is what made us selfish. It is our lack of wholeness that made us inadequate to do and to be according to God's perfection. This lack is in its essence, covetousness.
This is also why the Lord Jesus came "in power by his resurrection from the dead." The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest evidence that He is the Messiah and this is where our faith ultimately rests its hope. We can have confidence that God has told us the truth by the unshakable fact that He raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Through His resurrection, Christ conquered the penalty and power of our sin and covetousness. As a result of believing in Him, we do not have to obey sin. He through His death, burial and resurrection overcame death on the behalf of anyone who will simply believe on Him and His life-giving work on the cross.
