Meeting the Lord Jesus Romans Series Part 1: Everyone Condemned New Life Assembly Romans 1:1-7 April 18, 2010 AM Main Sermon Idea: The Gospel points to the works and power of Jesus Christ our Lord! Introduction As we begin our series on Romans, I want to start where Paul started. Paul was unknown to the Roman city church. He had never been there before and did not found the church. But as the apostle to the Gentiles, he wanted to connect with them. In our section today, we meet Paul, the Roman saints and most importantly, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul loves to talk about Jesus. He gets all choked up about Jesus. And so should we. When we look for a job today or want to get to know someone, we usually introduce ourselves and try to squeeze every bit of value out of our first encounter. First impressions run deep. People who get a wrong impression of us will not support us. People who get a great impression of us will expect much of us. But when Paul introduces himself to a church that doesn t know him, he talks more about Jesus than himself! And he is totally hooked on the Gospel, the good news, about Jesus. Let s read Paul s first impressions sent to the Romans. Read Romans 1:1-7. I. The Gospel shows Jesus nature and works (1-4). A. Paul showed the power of his call. 1.Paul s identity is wrapped up in Christ. a. The very fact that he calls himself Paul speaks to the change in his life when he met Jesus. You see, before Paul was the apostle of the Church of Jesus to the Gentiles, he was a zealous Pharisee who went around murdering Christians. b. But it was at the moment that he, once named Saul, came to be known as Paul as he began to serve the Church and Christ in His will. c. Paul was born as both a Jewish and Roman citizen. That means that he had two names. It is most likely that Paul was his name in Gentile dealings but Saul was his name among the Jewish community. d. That name change can be traced through Acts. When he becomes a most ardent advocate for the Church, we never see his name as Saul again. Even Jewish Christians in the Church refer to him as Paul. 1
e. Illustration: In Jewish circles, a person s name represents their character, the kind of person they are. We see several name changes along with identity and character changes throughout the Bible. Most recent in our memory are Peter s and Paul s. Jesus changes Peter s name to Simon and Paul used to be Saul. f. The next way Paul describes himself is grossly underestimated in most translations. He next describes himself as a doulos of Jesus, a slave of Jesus. Many translations will have servant instead of slave. g. But the idea conveyed here is that of a slave who has no authority to question his Master. That is the identity that Paul wanted for himself. He wanted people to know that if Jesus said it, he would defend it to the day he died. h. Application: How do you want to be recognized in the world? Would people know just from hanging out with you that you re passionate about Jesus? That you re willing to do anything and everything that He commands? Are you willing to be a slave for God? In our individualistic and rights-oriented, need I say entitlement-oriented, society, being a slave is something we cringe at. But that is what we must become to be successful for God. 2.Paul s authority comes from Jesus. a. The next way Paul describes himself is that of an apostle who is called or sanctified for that office. The apostle was an office of the church. b. In Paul s day, apostle had a dual meaning. An apostle, which by the way is a Greek transliteration for Sent One, was first an office that was devoted to doing new works that had never been done before, like setting up churches in places churches didn t exist before. Today, we still have this aspect of the office in missionaries that go to tribes never reached before. c. The second meaning of an apostle was one who was specially sent from God with divine authority to pen Scripture and set Christian community standards. This is something preserved for us in God s Word. We do not have apostles who set these things today. d. The authority of Paul is not found in himself or even the fact that he is a Sent One. His authority comes from the One who sent him, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who called him, so his authority is only from Christ. e. Application: Every believer should look at their spiritual authority in this way. We are authoritative for Christ based on our relationship with Him, not on the fact that we are believers. We 2
receive our authority from the ultimate Authority, Jesus. That authority only works on demons, healing, and ministry when we are connected to Jesus in relationship. We must know Jesus more deeply than we know anyone or anything else to see His power work through us. f. When we see the final description of Paul in verse one, we will notice that he is not just given the title of apostle for fun. He has a purpose, a divine call, an appointment to serve in that fashion. g. Illustration: Every single believer is a servant, a minister, a priest of God. The question is in which area of servanthood that you end up serving. I have been called as pastor to serve the Church as a leader and spiritual catalyst. I m a servant, who serves in this way. h. In the same way, Paul was a servant who had the specific authority of God to be a sent one who set up new churches and had a hand in the matters of divine judgment and understanding to write Scripture for the Church. B. The Gospel is a trustworthy source about Jesus. 1.The prophets verify the gospel s validity. a. Paul is not just all about being a slave of Jesus and a sent one to do His bidding, but he also holds very dear the Gospel, that is the good news, about Jesus. b. He can t even go a single sentence without mentioning and expanding our understanding of the Gospel. In fact, after mentioning that he is appointed for the sake of the Gospel, he immediately chases the rabbit trail of what the Gospel is all about. c. Next Paul answers the question of why the Gospel is authoritative for us when it speaks about Jesus. The Gospel has its origins in the prophets who spoke God s words long ago. d. The Gospel gains its relevance and authenticity from the Scriptures themselves and the prophets who spoke them into existence. The Gospel is not some new thing that is random in any case. It comes directly from the mouth of God through the prophets and has a long tradition of interpretation. And Jesus is the end of that interpretation. 2.The Gospel validates Jesus claims. a. We note in this systematic treatise on Paul s theological views that he describes Jesus as coming from the seed of David. This is a direct reference to 2 Samuel 7:12-16. b. Jesus fulfills God s covenant there to have an eternal descendant of David on the throne of Israel. And the Gospel is that Jesus is that 3
eternal King, who has come to reign in authority the way God desires the world to be ruled. c. Next, we note that Jesus is God s Son. The word Son here does not mean that God begot him like a human father begets a human son, but that Jesus shared God s divinity. That which God is made of is also what Jesus is made of. d. Paul says that Jesus was descended from David in the flesh. This means that when Jesus was physically born, His birth fulfilled all the prophecies about being in the direct line of David s ancestors. e. In contrast to His physical or earthly heritage, Jesus was also not just the son of David but the Son of God by His spiritual heritage, which was given to Him by the Holy Spirit through resurrection. f. The resurrection of Jesus proved His divine nature. Jesus was given the power to be raised from the dead. No human can accomplish resurrection from the dead. But because Jesus was raised, He obviously showed a power that belongs to God, a supernatural power. g. Application: The Gospel tells us that Jesus has God s authority to make a change in our lives through His sacrifice! It is a valid sacrifice. That is the good news! Jesus came and fulfilled all the promises God had given to humanity. You can know God s salvation because Jesus divinity makes your salvation possible! h. One other thing I want to mention is something we should never forget. The way Paul introduces Jesus after the lead up of his being a physical descendant of David and the Son of God from the spiritual side is just preamble. He then almost bursts forth Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus is the hero of the Gospel. He is the reason there is good news about God s relationship with you and me and all of humanity! II. Jesus shows His power through His people (5-7). A. Jesus empowered His people to serve Him everywhere. 1.Jesus has the goal of obedience among His people. a. Jesus gave Paul and the other Christian leaders the gifts of grace and apostleship. Grace and apostleship were to be used together. It s not as if they were to play the authority card whenever they wanted. b. Illustration: Good Cop Bad Cop. Authority with God does not work the same way it does with us. How many movies have you seen where the good cop comes in and gives the prisoner coffee and is really nice to him, and then he leaves and the bad cop comes 4
it and is rough with the prisoner? Or maybe they send the mean cop in first, and then the nice one. But in the Church, these methods are foreign. Authority works with grace and love, not with harsh words and actions. c. Apostleship was required when the Church was being initiated. Without apostles who personally knew Jesus, people would not know everything they needed to know to grow in the faith. d. The Church would have been a mess if the apostles did not have authority to deal with issues and situations that arose. Today, apostles do not have that kind of authority. The Church did not have all of the New Testament in one place as we do today, so they needed direct links to Jesus to know what to do. e. But not only was apostleship a gift from Jesus. Grace was absolutely necessary for us to become obdedient to Christ. An apostle can demand that you do something all he wants, but if there s no grace, coercion won t compel anyone to obey Christ. f. Jesus understood that someone will only be compelled to obey the Spirit when they want to obey the Spirit, and people are much more open to grace rather than demands. g. Application: How do you help others to obey and know Christ? Do you use coercion? Do you tell them what to do instead of letting God show them His grace? How did you respond to grace vs. demands? The demands of Christ can only be obeyed in us when we know that it is His grace leading us! Jesus demands things of us, but He does them through grace. 2.Jesus wants to reach the whole world through us. a. The Gospel was never meant to be a doctrine we mentally ascend to. It s more like a roadmap for how we live our lives. If what the Gospel says is true, then we should live differently. b. The Gospel declares that Jesus beat death and that He calls us to obedience. So then, we must be obedient to His word and command. c. The Gospel compels us to live our lives in accordance with the obedience Christ commands and also the power that the resurrection provides! d. This is to happen wherever we are in the world or among the nations. Jesus did not call us just to be pristine examples of Christ. He called us so that we could win the nations to Him. e. Application: Jesus end game is not my personal salvation, but the salvation of me and all those around me. I m an agent of Christ s 5
redemption for those around me. He s left it to me to tell others. This is the same for all of us. The Gospel relies on each of us obeying Christ and spreading that Gospel of freedom to everyone around us. He put us here to bear witness to Him. B. Jesus calls every one of us into His service. 1.We are called out from the world to serve. a. Three times we see the word called in this opening section of Romans. That word is an important word, showing that every believer has a mission from Jesus. b. Paul was called for the purpose, chosen, to be an apostle, to serve in a leadership role and authoritative rule. Each believer in verse six is called out from the world into obedience and grace by Jesus. c. Finally, the Romans will be the called saints. Every believer is called to be set apart, to live a holy life before God and people. The word called means that we have been chosen to do these things. d. Our calling is a call to service in this world. It happens after we become Christians, after we place our trust in Christ. Then Jesus chooses us to be His witnesses and holy ones. e. Application: When you come to know Christ, your life does not become a spectator sport. You become a participant in God s will. You become someone who is separate, but not isolated. Someone who is holy, not profane. Someone who is actively obedient, not a rebel. Your calling is first to be the very best at these things that you can be. Then Jesus calls you to get more involved. The longer you become a Christian, the more you should be involved in the faith community. 2.God loves us and gives us His gifts. a. God s first two gifts in verse seven are that he loves us and calls us holy. We tend to underestimate God s love for us. He sent His Son to die in our place. He doesn t just like you. He loves you with an undying love, a faithful love. b. The story of the cross has been repeated as a love story over and over again. The idea of sacrifice has no other reference point. The cross is the greatest and deepest act of love humanity will ever know. c. But it s not just that we have the blessing of being loved by God. God also gives us the gift of calling us saints, or holy ones. Do you realize that God thinks of you like He thinks of Jesus, holy and blameless? 6
d. You are His set apart ones. Every single one of us is unique and different. God made us that way on purpose, and yet in churches we try to look like someone else. God made you unique and holy to be a new and different flavor! e. The final two gifts are grace and peace. Grace is that favor that God lavishes upon us, a commitment to treat us the very best way possible, to see the best side of us. He is gracious every moment of every day. We are usually harder on ourselves than God is on us! f. Finally, peace is a gift that is most precious from Jesus. The wholeness and wellbeing that Jesus wants for you comes in every aspect of your life, from the physical healing to emotional release and deliverance to spiritual fervor. Jesus wants you to reach your destiny unhindered and enjoy the journey with Him! Conclusion Just in Paul s introduction, we have learned so much about ourselves as believers. We are called, chosen by God, for the great works of obedience and extending His grace to the world. We are given peace and beloved by God! Jesus is our Lord and example, the one who showed us the resurrection power in which we can operate when we are obedient to Him. We have learned of our identity in Him, not all the same, but every one of us unique and holy unto the Lord. Let s take some time at the altar to think on who we are in Christ, to dwell on His blessings in our lives as mentioned by Paul, and to pray that He would do even greater works in us and through us as we walk this journey of life! 7