Romans chapter 1, try to look
at verses 3, 4, and 5, and maybe, maybe verse 6. Now last week
we learned some true facts about the Apostle Paul, how the Lord
blessed him. You remember he was before Saul
the Pharisee, and how the Lord blessed him. and called him,
justified him, called him by his grace, and put him in the
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says there in verse 1 that
he was called, called of God, put in the ministry, and then
he says, separated, separated to the gospel of God. This is the ancient gospel of
the glory of God. The gospel of God is older than
creation. It's the eternal gospel. The
gospel of God is the ancient gospel. The gospel of God is
older than Adam's sin against God, is it not? We find in the
revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ is a lamb slain before
or from the foundation of the world. And that means before
Adam fell, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety and mediator
and savior of his covenant people. Before there was a sinner, there
was a savior. the Lord Jesus Christ. Before
there was sin, salvation was established and purposed in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now when he says here it's the
gospel of God, that means it originates with Him. It's His
gospel. And the gospel of God is not
about you, not about me. The gospel of God is about the
Lord Jesus Christ and it's about His glory, His glory. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, we read
about the blessed gospel of the glory of God. The gospel of God
is all about the glory of God, the glory of God. When Moses
asked the Lord to show him his glory, you remember what he said?
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. That tells us something
of the glory of God. And this gospel of God is promised
promised of God, and it's written of in all Old Testament Scripture,
promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. To Him
give all the prophets witness, all the prophets beginning of
Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all the way through, all the prophets
have one message, that is the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
you are they which search the scriptures, but they are they
which testify of me. Scripture's all about the Lord
Jesus Christ, Old Testament and New. And I really make no difference. It's all the inspired, God-given
word of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the gospel of God, notice
verse three, Romans 1 verse three, is concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ
who is our Lord. Now, you know and understand
this, He is not Lord by something we do. Often times in religious
circles they say, well make Him your Lord. You can't do that.
God had made Him Lord. God had decreed Him to be Lord. He's Lord of the living and the
dead. concerning his son Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the Spirit of God, the Spirit of holiness, or the Holy Spirit
declares that He is God, and by the resurrection from the
dead. The Gospel of God, the Gospel
according, is the Gospel according to all Holy Scripture that tells
us about the person of Christ. Who is this one Jesus of Nazareth? Who is the Christ of God. It tells us about His person,
God Almighty come in the flesh. It tells us about His work. It
tells us not only who Christ is, but what the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished. Our blessed Savior did not make
an attempt to put away sin. He didn't come to try to save
some people. No, He actually accomplished
salvation and saved those people with His blood. The gospel of
God tells us about who He is, what He accomplished, and why.
Why He came. Turn to Romans chapter 3, look
at verse 26. To declare, I say at this time,
Romans 3, 26, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of them which believe Believe in the Lord Jesus. That's why he came that God can
remain just and holy and Save us not at the expense of his
holiness and the gospel of God That's according to Holy Scripture
tells us about who Christ is what Christ accomplished and
why? Tells us about where he is now
Where is the Lord Jesus Christ right now? I? Well, when he had
by himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high. Hebrews 1 verse 3. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
sum of the gospel, he is the substance of the gospel, and
he is the subject matter of the gospel. To depart from that,
is to depart from the gospel all together. It's all about
Christ. You remember from our study,
if you turn back to 1 John, 1 John chapter five, 1 John chapter
five, verse 11, this is a record that God hath given to us eternal
life and this life is in his son. You see, it's all about
Christ, the gospel of God. The ancient gospel is all about
the Lord Jesus Christ. This life is in his Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God,
he does not have salvation. He does not have forgiveness.
He doesn't have redemption. Now here's the key point about
his purpose or about his person and his purpose. found in verse
3 and verse 4 concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now first of all we know He's
the one Son of God, called His name Jesus, Savior. He is what
He's called. He shall save His people from
their sin. And He is the anointed of God,
anointed in all of His office, as prophet, priest, and king.
And He certainly is the Lord of all things. But we learn two
things about His person here in verse three and verse four. Notice it says there, which was
made of the seed of David. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, if
you trace back his human lineage, it goes all the way back to David,
all the way back to the tribe of Judah. He was made of the
seed of David. according to the flesh. We call
him the son of David or the greater David. Now don't turn to this
scripture, most of you are familiar with it, but remember when we
were studying through 1 and 2 Samuel, God made this promise to David.
This is found in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12. When thy days be
fulfilled, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. I will set up thy
seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels. David
had a special son and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. I will
set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels. I will establish his kingdom.
The Lord Jesus Christ in the fulfillment of scripture is the
son of David. And he shall build a house for
my name. I will establish thy throne and
his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. He is the King of kings
and Lord of lords. Judah, as we know, was the kingly
tribe out of those 12 tribes, out of which the Messiah must
come. You remember Revelation 5, 5,
the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah was a kingly tribe. That
was David's tribe, wasn't it? You remember Jacob's blessing
on those twelve sons? In Genesis 49 verse 10, we read
this, "...Deceptors shall not depart from Judah." That's the
scepter of his rule, of his reign. "...nor the lawgiver from between
his feet until Shiloh come." Who's that? That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the Prince of Peace. "...unto
him shall the gathering of the people be." And in the fullness
of time, The Lord Jesus Christ came, born of a woman, born under
the law, made under the law to redeem them that were under the
curse of the law. So there we see His humanity.
The Lord Jesus Christ was a real man. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. But that's not his
full description. He was the Son of Man, but let
us never forget He is God the Son. Look at verse 4. Declared to be the Son of God. Now He wasn't made the Son of
God. He was made of the seed of David. But He declared and
decreed that He is Almighty God. Now if anybody ever asks you,
do you believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ? Say with
absolute certainty, yes, I believe that Jesus Christ is God our
Savior in all things. He's not made the Son of God.
Notice it says there He's declared to be the Son of God. And as
God the Son, He has all power. He has all power, all authority
in heaven and in earth. The Lord Jesus Christ must not
only be a real man apart from sin. Take your book of Romans
there and find Romans 8 verse 3. Romans 8 verse 3. He must be a real man apart from
sin, identified with our humanity, for what the law could not do,
Romans 8, 3. What the law could not do? Well, it couldn't put
away sin, it couldn't establish righteousness for us, it could
not save us or justify us in that it was weak through the
flesh. The problem is not with the law, the problem is with
us. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin or by sacrifice for sin condemns sin in the flesh
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.
who walk not after the flesh." That is, we do not seek salvation
by the deeds of the flesh, but by the power of God the Holy
Spirit. Although the Lord Jesus Christ
was a real man, He had no sin, knew no sin, and did no sin. He was made holy, harmless, you
remember such a high priest became us, Romans or Hebrews 7.26, such
a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sin, a real man, but let us never forget Almighty
God. The Word became flesh, He became
what He was not, but always remain what he is, eternal holy God. Now he must be as our mediator,
as our representative, as our intercessor, as our advocate,
he must be both man and God in one blessed person. one blessed
person. He is both totally and fully
man and totally and fully God. You know why that must be? Man
alone cannot satisfy the law of God and God alone cannot suffer
and die. But the God-man mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ, He did both for us. He honored the law of
God in every precept and even in the penalty of that law. He
redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for
us. The Lord Jesus Christ being both
totally and fully man and totally and fully God in one blessed
person accomplished our salvation. Now, knowing that, who He is
and what He did. We know that this one sin of
God has to fulfill all the purpose of God, has to accomplish all
the purpose of God, and we know from Scripture, it says in Isaiah
42, 4, that He cannot fail. and everything He undertook for
us. We have a Savior, a Redeemer,
who cannot fail, but is absolutely successful, that ever lives the
inner seed for us. There is one God and one Mediator,
and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. One God and one Mediator between
God and men, not mankind now, God and men, and that is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Fully man and fully God in one
blessed person. Two natures in one person. We
see His humanity and we see His deity in the blessed person of
our Savior. Now let's see if we can read
that again in Scripture. Find 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. What a marvel
is the incarnation of God in human flesh. 1 Timothy chapter
3 verse 16. First Timothy 3.16, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Remember our Lord said, you've
seen me, you've seen the Father. I'm my Father, we're one. We're
one. What's true of the Father is
true of the Son. the eternal God. God was manifest in the
flesh, justified or vindicated, declared to be so, we just read
it, by the Spirit of God. Scene of angels, the angels worshiped
Him. Scene of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles. What was the message unto the
Gentiles? God has sent a Savior. the Lord Jesus Christ. Believed
on in the world. What do we believe about Him?
He's God our Savior. He's the Lord our Righteousness.
And He's received up to glory. Why was He received up to glory?
Because He accomplished our salvation. When He by Himself purged our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
We see His real humanity and His absolute deity. One other scripture, let's find
Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. I love that
scripture in Acts chapter 20 where it says that God bought
the church with His own blood. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
Who is the One who died to put away our sin? He's God Almighty.
God Almighty. And yet, He's the Son of Man
and the Son of God. Hebrews 2, look at verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took
part of the same. And the reason being that through
death, He might destroy him that had power of death. What is the
power of death? Sin introduced by the devil. He delivered them. He destroyed
him and delivered them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels. But it took on him the seed of
Abraham, that special promised seed. Wherefore, in all things,
it behooved him to be made like unto his brother, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, in that
he himself suffered being tempted, he's able to save those that
are tempted." Now, back to the text. declared to be the Son
of God with power, who says so. God the Holy Spirit identifies
him as such. God says, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. And the Scripture declares that
he had the Spirit of God without measure. Now on the back of the
bulletin, don't turn and look at it now, but there's an article
that I wrote probably ten years ago from Romans 9 verse 5 where
it says, Who are the fathers of whom as concerning the flesh
Christ came, who is over all God blessed forever who is the
Lord Jesus Christ he's over all and he's God blessed for ever
now look at the last part of verse 4 declared so by God Almighty
declared so to be our Redeemer our Savior by God the Holy Spirit
and then it says by the resurrection from the dead. Now how important
is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? The Lord Jesus
Christ is also declared to be all in salvation, having all
power in salvation by being raised again from the dead. Now, what
does his resurrection tell us about the salvation that is in
him? It means that he was successful
in putting away our sin. Turn to Roman chapter four, look
at verse 25 or 24. His resurrection plainly declares
that His substitutionary death or sin was absolutely necessary
and absolutely successful. Romans chapter 4, look at verse
24. But for us also to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead, He died a real death, according to Scripture,
because of our sin being laid upon Him," I watch it, verse
25, "...who is delivered for our offenses and raised again,"
raised again, and I like to put this word in, raised again because
He justified us, raised again for our justification. "...His bodily resurrection boldly
declares that all that He said was true, And all that he did
was received of the Father. He told those Jews, he said,
you destroy this body and I'll raise it up again in three days.
What if he didn't come out of the tomb on that third morning?
Well, what would that mean? That would mean that he was an
imposter. The resurrection declared that
all He said was true and all that He did was received of the
Father. Remember He said in Revelation
1.18, I am He that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of hell and death. He said, because
I live, you shall live also. How important is His resurrection
from the dead? If He be not raised up, turn
to 1 Corinthians 15. If He be not raised up, we have
no forgiveness of sin. We have no salvation. In 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 12. Now, if Christ be
preached that He rose from the dead, and that's what we preach,
How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen? And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith, that's also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God, because we have testified, testified of God that it was,
that it was, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up,
if so, be that the dead rise not." Now, if the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins, then they also
which are fallen asleep are perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we're of all men most miserable. But now is
Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruit of them
that slept For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all died, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive in him." Now I want to
point something out to you. I know you know this because
we've studied through the book of Acts a couple times. But turn
to Acts chapter 2. If you will closely examine the
preaching of the gospel, through the book of Acts. You'll find
that the early church, every time that the Lord opened the
door for them to preach the gospel, they declared the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2, look at verse
22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God, among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves Also know
him being delivered by the determinate counsel for knowledge of God,
you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. There's his death. His death
was real. His death was according to the
determinate counsel of God. Verse 24, whom God raised up,
having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that
he should beholden of it. Now, why wasn't it possible?
Death had no claim on Him because He put away our sin. He put away
our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Now, if you find chapter 3, the book of Acts chapter
3, look at verse 13. Acts 3.13, the God of Abraham,
and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified
His Son, Jesus, whom you delivered up, denied Him in the presence
of Pilate, when He was determined to let Him go, but you denied
the Holy One, who is He? He's the Holy One. He's the just
one. And you desired a murderer to
be granted unto you. You remember they said, give
us Barabbas. And you killed the prince of life, whom God raised
from the dead, whereof we are witnesses of these things. Now, one other reference, if
you find the book of Acts chapter five, verse 29, Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than
men. Acts 5 verse 30, the God of our
fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree.
Him has God exalted with his right hand to be Prince and Savior
for to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sin, whereof
we are witnesses of these things as also the Holy Ghost whom God
hath given to us, given to them that obey Him." You see, all
through the preaching of the early church, they preached the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John 1, they were
eyewitnesses of His resurrection glory, were they not? In 1 John
1, verse 1, "...that which is from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, our hands have handled of the Word of life." Word of
life! "...for the life was manifested,
and we've seen Him." and bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that you may have fellowship with us and
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. They were eyewitnesses of His
resurrection glory. Now, back to the text. Chapter
1. You see how all this flows together. Concerning the gospel of God,
concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the
seed of David, according to the flesh, God had prepared Him a
body from the seed and humanity of David, tribe of Judah, Son
of David, declared to be the Son of God, with power, how much
power does he have? Power over all flesh that he
should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given
to him and it's according to the Spirit of God. God the Holy
Spirit declares that the Lord Jesus Christ is all in salvation
and also by the resurrection of the dead. Now we'll pick up
there next week with verse 5, by whom we have received grace. Grace comes from God Almighty,
the God who has... He's called the God of all grace,
the God of all power, and apostleship to the obedience of faith among
all nations, among whom you're also the called of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Okay, we'll pick up there next
time with verse 5. May the Lord bless His truth
and bless His Word.