Brethren, let's turn in our Bibles
to Romans chapter 1. Now, in this series I don't intend
to stay in one passage for multiple
weeks at a time. But Romans 1 through 7 has so
much in it that we just can't skip over these things that are
said. And there's something very important
that I want to cover in verses 3 and 4. The Apostle Paul declares
that the gospel of God is, verse 3, concerning God's Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. He is the gospel. Christ is the
gospel. Now watch what he says here,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh
and declared the Son of God with power according to the spirit
of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Our subject is
the Son made, the Son declared. The Son made, the Son declared. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
the Son of Man, but He was always the Son of God. He was made the
Son of Man, but He was always the Son of God. You hear me speak
of Him as the God-Man, and that's what He is. He's God's Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord, who is both God and Man. The God-man. Now first, let's look at what
it means when it says the Son made. The Son made. It says the
Gospel of God is concerning His Son. The Son of God. Jesus Christ
our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh. Now here we're talking about
the Son of God coming down and taking human flesh, taking a
human nature like His brethren. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. Now my son often asks me, will
often ask me, and I've heard other young people make similar
statements that I'm confused on how you say that Christ appeared
in the Old Testament and showed himself in different ways in
the Old Testament and yet he wasn't born until all these years
later. How could that be? I want to be clear to show you
this. Only the Spirit of God can make
a sinner receive the things of God and believe God, but I want
to be as crystal clear in my preaching on it. Jesus Christ
our Lord is God. He is God. The Gospel is the
Gospel of God concerning His Son. That means from eternity
before He ever made the world, He is the second person of the
Trinity. We worship one God, but it's
one God in three persons, three distinct persons. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And He's always been
God the Son, the Son of God. But He could never redeem and
save fallen sinners. He could never lay down His life
and shed His blood and redeem fallen, depraved sinners unless
He became a man, unless He took flesh. And so therefore, the
Son of God became the Son of Man. Now as the Son of Man, He
was made. As the Son of Man, He was made. God prepared a body for His Son. a human body for his son. Christ
said, A body hast thou prepared me. Go to Matthew 1.20. You can hold your place in Matthew.
I'll come back here in just a moment. Matthew 1 and look at verse 20. The angel of the Lord appeared
unto Joseph. And notice what he said here.
He said, Thou son of David. We're talking about Christ being
made of the seed of David. He says, Thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. That's what God meant in Genesis
3.15 when He called Christ the seed of woman. He was the only
man conceived in the womb of a virgin who never knew a man. He says, and that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. Christ said, a body has thou
prepared me. and she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. Jesus means Savior. He shall
save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
that is Isaiah, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth a son. And they shall call His name
Immanuel, being interpreted God with us. And so Christ is the
Word. He is the eternal Son of God. And we read in John 1.14, The
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He was made flesh. Galatians 4.4 says, When the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son. the invisible,
holy Son of God, who is Spirit. He came forth and was made of
a woman, made under the law. Now, back in our text in Romans
1 verse 3 shows us that as the Son of Man, He was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh. We're talking about things
fleshly here. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. That means He was born of David's
house and David's lineage. He came through David. God promised
David, go over to 2 Samuel 7, Remember, he forbid David to
build him a house. And the picture of that is only
Christ could build God's true house, His spiritual house. David
was forbidden to build a physical temple, but the picture there
is only Christ could build the spiritual house of God. And so
God promised King David in 2 Samuel 7.12, He said, When thy days
be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. When
you're dead and been long gone, David, I will set up thy seed
after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will
establish His kingdom. Go to Psalm 132. I want you to
pay particular attention to the wording of this Psalm. Psalm 132. And look at verse
11. The Lord hath sworn in truth
unto David, he will not turn from it. Now watch this. Of the
fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. You get the
wording there? This is the God. the Son saying,
of the fruit of your body according to the flesh, I will come down
and take that body and I will sit upon your throne as the God-man. So the Holy Spirit, now go to
Acts 2, the Holy Spirit used the Apostle Peter to tell us
David was speaking about Christ. Acts 2. Verse 25, David speaketh concerning
him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on
my right hand that I should not be moved. He saw him by faith.
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover
also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see
corruption. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with Thy countenance." Now listen to what Peter says, "'Men and
brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us
unto this day.'" That means his body is still in the ground,
it's still in the tomb. Therefore, being a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection
of Christ. When he said that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption, he
was speaking about Christ. And when He talked about this
one that would come from His loins and set on the throne of
David and be the true King of God's spiritual Israel and reign
forever, He was talking about Christ. So go to Matthew 1 again. Matthew 1.1. This is the genealogy of David. This is David's family tree. You know, you search out your
family tree and you make out your genealogy. Here's David's
genealogy. David and Abraham. It begins,
verse 1, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham. This is Christ's genealogy. And
it shows that he came from David. Go down to verse 6. Jesse begat
David the king. David the king begat Solomon
of her that had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begat Reboam. And then on it goes on down to
verse 16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband
of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. So the
Lord Jesus Christ was made of the seed of David according to
the flesh. That means in the flesh, as the
son of man, he was from the house and lineage of David. He was
the heir of David's throne. So, this kind of boggles the
imagination. He was David's son and David's
Lord. He was His Son and He was David's
Savior. Alright, now secondly, let's
go back to Romans 1 and let's see what it means when it talks
about He is the Son declared. Romans 1 verse 4, it says, And
He was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit
of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Now, we saw He
was made the Son of Man, but He was not made the Son of God. He was declared to be the Son
of God. That's so because He is and He
always was God. He always was. He was before
David. He had neither beginning nor
end as God the Son, as the Son of God. Remember, He declared
when He came and walked this earth, He declared that He is
God. He said, I and my Father are one. That's what He meant,
that He's God. And that's why we read in Isaiah,
it says, unto us a child is born. unto us a Son is given. That distinction is important.
As the Son of Man, He was born, He was made, but He was always
the second person in the Trinity. He's always been God, so He was
the Son of God given. That's how He could often appear
in the Old Testament, because He always was the Son of God.
Remember Christ said, before Abraham was, I am. And that word, I am, one of the
meanings of it is the existing one. He had no beginning and
no ending. He's God. He's the son of God.
Sometimes my son has asked me, well, where did God begin? God
had no beginning. We can't comprehend these things
because we're creatures of time. Everything has a beginning and
an ending with us. One day we're going to understand
eternity. God has no beginning or ending. He's eternal. So that's
why we read here, He was declared the Son of God. And it says He
was declared the Son of God with power. Now that means several
things. First of all, later Paul is going
to tell us over in Romans 1.16, he's going to say that, I'm sorry,
he tells us in 1 Corinthians 1, he tells us that the gospel
is the power of God. It's the power of God. No, I'm
sorry, Romans 1.16 he says it. It's the power of God. And looking
at Christ, we understand how it is the power of God. It's
because it's through the gospel that Christ Himself preaches
to us and He declares to us that He is the power of God. That's one way the gospel is
the power of God. Christ preaches to us through
it and He declares to us effectually in our heart He is the power
of God. That's why God said in days past
God spoke in all different kinds of ways to us. He said in Hebrews
1-2, But God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made
the worlds. He spoke to us when He walked
this earth. And what did He speak? He preached
the gospel. He preached Himself. He preached
that He is the power of God. And He still speaks to us. The
last days began. You'll hear people talk about
the last days and they make it to be sometime in the future
when the very last day is. But what God means is the last
days began when Christ came. When He came to this earth, that's
when the last days began. And since He came, it's Christ
who's speaking. and he's speaking through the
preaching of the gospel. He began by preaching the gospel
himself and he called out apostles and he still preached. He preached
through them after he went back to the throne and he calls out
preachers and sends them and it's still Christ preaching now.
And he's declared in the hearts of his people to be the son of
God in power as he speaks into the heart. He is the power of God. Jesus
came and He spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. That's why Isaiah said, Unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. The government of everything,
the government of everything that He is. The government in
the universe, the government in the earth, the government
in heaven, all the rule is by His power. The government is
upon His shoulder. He said, All things are delivered
unto me of my Father, and no man knows the Son but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father
save the Son. and He to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. Christ has power to reveal Himself
to whomsoever He will. He is the only one who has that
power. If you are going to know Him, it is going to be because
He is going to declare to you He is the God-man. He's going to do it with power.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.
And He's given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. important as the Son of God,
He had all power always. But now He has all authority
to execute judgment as the Son of Man, as the God-Man. So all power is His. He's declared
in the hearts of His people to be the Son of God with power,
and He's that power. And then the works He did when
He walked this earth, those works He finished, they declared He's
the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness. John
5.36, go there with me and look what our Savior said. John 5.36. John bear witness of him, but
he says this, John 5.36, I have greater witness than that of
John. For the works which the Father hath given me to finish,
the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father
hath sent me. They declare He's God. Only God
could do what He did when He walked this earth as a man. You understand that? They declare
He's the Son of God. In John 17, verse 1, He said,
He lifted up His eyes to heaven and He said, Father, the hour
has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee,
as Thou has given Him power over all flesh, that He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou has given Him. So these works
that He did when He walked this earth, the works He is doing
now, creating dead sinners anew, creating us anew in His righteousness
and His holiness, and at last He will raise our bodies in incorruptible
fashion like to His glorious body. All those physical healings
that He worked when He walked this earth, they were pictures
of that spiritual healing that He alone has the power to do.
And so all the works that he finished, the cross work that
he finished, where he went and declared God just and justifier
and satisfied God's justice and justified all his people from
our sins, redeemed us from the curse of the law, purged us of
our sins, those works he finished, declared with power, according
to the Spirit of holiness, he is the Son of God. He is the
Son of God. And then his resurrection declared
it. Our text says that He's declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. That means according to or by
the Spirit of holiness. He was justified when He was
raised from the dead. Scripture says this, Without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit. When the Spirit raised
Him, The Spirit justified Him in every claim He made when He
walked this earth. By His resurrection, the Holy
Spirit declared everything He said, He said justly. He justified in everything He
said. Everything He said was true about Himself. And He was
declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection in that He
Himself raised Himself. Go with me to John 10. You know, men want to boast about
their will and their works, and how they can make themselves
believe when they will, and they can persevere by their will,
and they can even make themselves holy by their will. What man
can raise himself from the dead? Well, just like no man can raise
himself from the dead, only the Son of God can work those other
works in us, too. And He raised Himself from the
dead. That declares He is the Son of God. John 10, 17. He said, Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down on myself. That declares He's the Son of
God. No man took His life. And He didn't take His own life
like men have to take their own life. He just simply released
His Spirit to the Father at His will. And then look at this,
I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
This commandment I've received of my Father. So all these things
is what He meant when He said He was declared the Son of God
with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. He was declared with power by
the Gospel. He was declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the Spirit of wholeness by all the works He finished.
He was declared the Son of God according to the Spirit of wholeness
by the resurrection of the dead. The Spirit of God justified Him
in all that He said and did and He justified Himself in that
He raised Himself from the dead. So, you understand He's the Son
made according to the flesh, but He's the Son given in that
He is the Son of God, always has been. Now, how or why was
it so important that He be both God and man? Why did He have
to be the God-man? Well, go with me to Hebrews 2.
That's pretty much what Hebrews 2 is declaring to us throughout.
Most of you probably were too young to remember. We went through
Hebrews when I first came here. I'd like to do it again sometime. But Hebrews 2, we will cover
a lot of Hebrews in Exodus when we get over to where we start
talking about the temple, the tabernacle, and the furnishings
of the tabernacle, and the sacrifices, and the priests. We'll reference
Hebrews a lot because that's what Hebrews is telling us. It's
preaching to us what all that meant. But look here in Hebrews
2 in verse 9. It says, we see Jesus who was
made a little lower than the angels, and here's why He had
to be made a man, for the suffering of death. We see Him crowned
with glory and honor. Here's why He was made the God-man,
that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man, that is, every man that God the Father gave to Him. For
it became Him, that's why, it became Him, for whom are all
things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory,
that is, in saving us, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings. To perfectly consecrate Him as
the great everlasting High Priest and Savior of His people, God
chose to do it through the cross, through suffering. Now look at
verse 11. Here's a reason. For both he
that sanctifyeth, that's Christ, and they who are sanctified are
all of one. They're all of one. He came and
became one with His people and made us one with Him. For which
cause? He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Saying, I'll declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise
unto thee. We saw that Thursday night, remember?
He said, I'll give you all the thanks, Father, in the great
congregation. And I'll praise you among much
people. And that's where it comes from.
I'll declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the
church while I sing praise unto thee. And again, I'll put my
trust in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. Now verse 14, for as much
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, so that through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil,
and deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. He took flesh like his brethren
so he could deliver us. He could die and he could deliver
us from the devil's power. The only power the devil had
was sin. He could accuse us of sin and he could come and accuse
us in our conscience and make us try then to do all these self-righteous
works to try to free ourselves from that guilty conscience of
sin. Christ came to free us from that by putting away our sin. So the devil's got nothing to
accuse us before God or to accuse us before our conscience. And
he says this, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels,
Just think of the grace of God in that. He didn't come in a
form of an angel or take the form of an angel. There were
angels who fell. But God didn't choose to redeem
any of those angels. But when His people fell, God
sent forth His Son and He took on Him the seed of Abraham because
His children were flesh and blood. wherefore in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren. Number one, that he
might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He
came to reconcile all his people to the Father, to bring us back
into friendship with the Father. And then number two, for in that
he himself had suffered being tempted, He is able to secure
them that are tempted. He is able to comfort us because
He has been where we are. He walked where we walked, been
tempted and tried and suffered in all points like we are. Look
at Hebrews 5.1. This is so plain it doesn't need
comment really. Just read it and it tells you
why He was made flesh. Hebrews 5.1, Every high priest
taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,
and who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that
are out of the way, for that he himself also is compassed
with infirmity. See, that's why Christ came.
He had to be taken from among men to be our high priest. He
had to come to offer the gifts and sacrifices necessary to make
His people perfect with God. And for that He was surrounded
Himself with all the infirmities we are surrounded with, He is
able to have compassion on us. And when we were ignorant and
out of the way, He could have compassion on us. And now that
we are called, we are often still so ignorant and so out of the
way and he can still have compassion on us. And bring us back to him. Verse 3, And by reason hereof,
he ought, this is talking about a man who is a priest, he ought
for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. And he says,
And no man takes this honor unto himself, but he that is called
of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made a high priest. Isn't that an indictment against
men who claim that they made themselves children of God, they
made themselves sheep and they made themselves priests by their
will and their decision for Christ? Christ didn't do that. God made
Him a high priest. And no man makes himself a priest
unto God. We have to be made a priest through
the blood of Christ and through the power of regeneration by
our Lord. Look at this. But here's how he was made a
priest. Milib verse 5, But he that said unto him, Thou art
my son, today have I begotten thee. As he said also in another
place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
He wanted to make sure there when he said to us, Thou art
my son, today I have begotten thee. That's what he said to
him when he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
But as the son of God, He was a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is a mysterious man
in the scripture. He had neither beginning nor
ending. And some think he is Christ. Probably that's who he
is. He is Christ. But Christ is made
a high priest with no beginning, no end after the order of Melchizedek
in that he's the Son of God. Now here, watch this. We're talking
about him being consecrated, being perfect, being our perfect
captain. Here's verse 7, who in the days
of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplication with
strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, he was heard in that he feared, he reverenced his
father. Though he were a son, though
he were the son of God, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered, he became a man. And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them, that obey Him. You know how you obey Him? You
believe on Him. Cast all your care into His hand.
Trust Him to do everything necessary to present you spotless and without
fault to the Father. See, He's done everything in
perfection to make His people perfect. And now He calls us
to rest in Him and trust Him to bring us to the Father. That's
why He's the He is made after the seed of David according to
the flesh and declared the Son of God with power according to
the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. He
had to be the God-man. And now He is alive and He is
reigning and He is ruling at the right hand of God calling
out His people and revealing all this about Himself in the
hearts of His people so that we are brought to cast our care
on Him. Does that help you understand
a little bit how he could appear in the Old Testament in those
days and yet not be born two years later as a man. He's always
been God. But he took a body that God prepared
for him. So he's the God-man. You see
the picture of the mediator in that? God came down, joined himself
with humanity so that he could take God and sinful men that
God chose and make us one in Christ by His work. He's the
days man. He can reach up and grab hold
of God and grab hold of His people and bring us together in one
and mediate and bring us together in harmony. That's why He became
the God-man. Alright, let's stand together. Father, thank You for Your Gospel,
thank you for sending your Son. Thank you for teaching us in
ways we can understand things that are so far beyond us. Help us to receive this in heart
and in spirit by your grace. We cannot do it any other way.
Lord, we pray for our sick brethren. You know what it is to be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities and we ask, Father, You would
comfort them and that You would either heal them temporarily
in this world or heal them altogether in Your presence. Whatever is
Your will, Lord, make us to bow and trust You. Help us now, Lord,
to worship You. Help us now. We thank You for
this place, for this people. Thank You. We have everything
from Your hand and we're thankful. Forgive us our sins. Forgive
us for not being more thankful or thankful as we all And Lord,
receive us, we ask you, in the perfect righteousness and holiness
of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. It's in His name we pray. Amen.