God's Good News to the Nations (Romans 1:1-7)

Where: College Baptist Church

When: January 6, 2002

Why: To introduce a series of sermons on the book of Romans; to demonstrate that the definition and proclamation of the gospel of Christ is the central focal point of the book; to begin lay the foundation of a gospel-spreading vision for CBC.

Text: Romans 1:1-7

Scripture reading

Romans 1:1-7. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for 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 human nature was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. ⁶ And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction

Indisputably, Romans is one of the most significant, influential, and powerful books ever written. The message of the book of Romans is the written driving force behind some of the most significant changed lives of history. Kent Hughes notes, "St. Augustine, the most brilliant theologian of the early centuries, came to conviction of sin and salvation after reading some verses from the thirteenth chapter. Martin Luther recovered the doctrine of salvation by faith from his study of Romans 1:17 and went on to lead the Protestant Reformation. While listening to the reading of Luther's preface to the book of Romans, John Wesley felt his heart 'strangely warmed' in conversion and became the catalyst of the great evangelical revival of the eighteenth century. John Bunyan was so inspired as he studied the great themes of Romans in the Bedford jail that he wrote the immortal Pilgrim's Progress. In our own century, while we may not always agree with his theology, Karl Barth's arguments from the book of Romans devastated liberal Christianity" (Hughes).

Transition

Romans is about the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. It is God's good news for all mankind. It is good news that saves, transforms, directs, and defines the purpose of the lives of all who place their faith in Jesus Christ to the glory of God.

In the book of Romans the gospel is defined and applied. That is very important because there is a great deal of misunderstanding in our world today about what the gospel really is and what it really means to be a Christian. We are beginning a series on Romans to discover these truths and to live them.

This morning we find our joy-Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people-in God's glory revealed in 1:1-7. In these short, precious verses the heart of the book of Romans is revealed. It is God's good news to us, so we will organize our thoughts with a God-centered perspective: (1) God's servant, (2) God's promised good news, (3) God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, (4) God's good news to the nations, (5) God's call.

God's servant

Letters in Paul's time typically began with a word of greeting, identifying the author of the letter, to whom the letter was written, and perhaps a bit about why the letter was being written.

It is significant how Paul identifies himself. He is a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle (1:1). He could have started by listing all of his more renowned qualifications: imminent scholar and theologian, Pharisee of Pharisees, inspiring leader-both before Christ and after Christ, world recognized and respected church planter, Roman citizen. He could have said those things and more, but the thing that meant the most to him was that he was a servant of Jesus Christ.

For the Romans this term was pretty lowly. For the Jews it was a role of great honor when attached to God. Paul understood the effect of his words. There were probably Jews and Gentiles among the believers in Rome. He knew the dissonance it caused for his listeners in Rome. And he knew how it would resonate with the Jewish brethren. But he gloried in being a servant of God. There is no one better to serve, to whom to give one's life. In 1 Corinthians 4:1, he even used a term that depicted the lowest of society-a Roman galley slave.

Dear Christian, we must remember that to be a servant of God, identifies us closely with Jesus Christ and the good news connected with Him. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)-that's the gospel. Paul exhorts us in Philippians 2:5ff. to have the attitude of Jesus Christ who took on the form of a servant.

There is no higher calling than to serve the Most High God and seek to glorify Him by accomplishing His purposes in the world. As we open the book of Romans, we are challenged to be the servant of Christ, to exert ourselves to understand His agenda, His desires, His purposes in the world. We are His servants.

Paul also identified himself as an apostle, called . . . and set apart for the gospel of God. Generally speaking an apostle is someone who is sent. In that broad sense there some who say that there are others who have played an apostolic role in the church, being sent out to advance the cause of Christ, especially in areas where the gospel has not yet been proclaimed. In the context of the New Testament it was also a leadership role, an office, initiated by Christ. The apostles were ones that were called out by Christ to lead His church. There were thirteen of them. Twelve initially chosen by Jesus, Mattias, who replaced Judas (Acts 1), and Paul. These people were all individuals who had seen Jesus and had been called by Him to apostolic leadership. As an apostle, he had authority. His teaching had credibility. This was something worth reading.

Paul could say that he was an apostle because he had met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul testified to King Agrippa, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. ¹⁶ 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me' (Acts 26:16-18) And Paul repeats here in Romans 1:1 that he has been set apart for something called the "gospel of God"-the good news of God, God's good news. He was appointed as a servant and witness of this good news.

God's promised good news

But this good news isn't new news. It is God's promised good news. 1:2. . . .² the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. . .

God's good news that Paul begins to talk about is the focal point of human history. From the time that Adam and Eve lost their fellowship with God through their disobedience and sin, God had promised that one would defeat Satan and sin (Genesis 3:15).

The promise of God's good news was reiterated to Abraham when he was told that all nations of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). It was a covenant restated to Isaac and Jacob, the descendants of Abraham.

An Anointed One, a Messiah, was promised who would save God's people. The family in which He was born and the place He would be born was predicted. He would be in the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse, a descendant of King David. He would be born of a virgin. He would be an innocent sacrificial, lamb offering, dying as a substitute for our sin and the death that should have been ours (as we read earlier from the prophet Isaiah).

No wonder the angels cried out, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. God's promised good news was being fulfilled. This was no accident, no mistake, no arbitrary burp on the timeline of history. It was good news! It was God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord

1:3, 4. . . .³ regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Central to God's good news is who Jesus Christ is and what He did. In a nutshell, Paul establishes the critical truth that Jesus Christ, God's Son, was fully man and fully God. It is departure from this truth that causes many of the errors and misunderstanding of the gospel.

God's Son's humanness is revealed in his genealogy. He really was born a human in a human family tree. And it was as prophesied. Of a virgin. Jesse's household. David's royal family line. As to his human nature was a descendant of David.

And through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. His holiness. His purity. His sinlessness. These things reveal that He is also God. He is who He said He was-the I AM. And that was declared with power through His resurrection from the dead. No mere human, even a perfect one-which there never has been or could be-would not have the ability to come back from the dead. The resurrection declared with power the reality. It didn't make Him the Son of God. It was a cosmic explanation point on the reality that was. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, fully human, fully divine.

And He is Jesus Christ our Lord. He is sovereign. He is the One we serve. We follow. We obey. We love.

God's good news to the nations

1:5. ⁵ Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

Paul makes it clear that the call on his life has to do with this good news. Paul says he has received God's grace and the role of apostle to call people from all the Gentiles-all people, all nations-to the obedience of faith (rendered in the NIV as "obedience that comes from faith"). This is through Christ, that is, by His presence and power in Paul's life. And it is for His name's sake, that is, in accordance with His purpose, cause, and for His glory.

As Paul introduces the direction of Romans, there are two things that we want to note. One is that the good news is for all people. God is calling people from among all the Gentiles. It is God's good news to the nations, and for the nations. Paul's mission-and as we shall surmise in a few moments, our mission as well-is to take the good news to the nations.

The second thing we want to note is that receiving and believing God's good news results in the obedience of faith. Many who claim Christ have lost sight of the inseparable relationship between faith and obedience. If we have faith, then we are also obedient to the person and cause in whom our faith is placed. Some say that this really means "obedience to the faith"-the broader sense of the Christian faith. In either case, our lives must reflect the faith we say we have. To have a faith which is not generally evident in an obedient life that is growing in submission to the Lordship of Christ is to not have faith. In this book, Paul will develop the truth we briefly reflected on last week in Habakkuk 2:4: The righteous will live by faith. Paul will establish that it is not only faith that saves us from sin-salvation-but it is faith by which we live-sanctification.

God's call

1:6. ⁶ And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you also. And you also. Yes, you Romans. Yes, you Michiganders. You are among those called to belong to Jesus Christ. We belong to Him. He is our Lord. We are His servants. And since this is true and our faith is placed in Him, we long to do what He wants. We want to be a part of His agenda, His desires, His purposes in the world.

Romans is a magnificent, clear, and defining explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that He has commanded us to take to the world. Like Paul, we do this through Him and for His name sake. It is by His presence and power, to His glory, in accordance with His purposes.

"The mission of College Baptist Church is to live for the praise of the glory of God by Delighting in His true majesty through worship, by Deepening our understanding and affection for His full counsel through biblical education, spiritual fellowship, and daily obedience, and by Declaring His glory to all neighbors and nations through active service and personal involvement in Jesus' Great Commission."

We agree this is a good, biblical mission statement. As Christians who attend College Baptist Church, who are God's servants living under His lordship, called to belong to Jesus Christ, we want to effectively declare His glory. We want to do this through our worship, through our individual spiritual growth and in declaration to all our neighbors and nations through active service and personal involvement in Jesus' Great Commission.

We are beginning this study of Romans as one piece of the equipping armor that will enable us to accomplish this mission. This book unfolds the good news that saves, transforms, directs, and defines the purpose of our lives. Though we will be studying Romans this year, we will also study the book of Jonah and other themes and current topics that the Lord may put on our table.

It is my vision that everyone who attends this congregation will feel comfortable with and confident in sharing this good news with other people God is calling to Himself. In addition to this series on Romans, I will begin to offer a user-friendly Sunday School class called "Sharing and Caring." The purpose of the class will be to help us see that we have what it takes to share Christ with others. We want to consider our fears and concerns, cultivate a sensitivity to those whom the Lord is calling to Himself, develop strategies to share the good news with them, and become confident in Scripture passages that herald God's good news. The class will be discussion-oriented, hands-on, with reading and memorization assignments.

The Sunday School class with last for eight weeks. It is my anticipation and prayer that everyone who attends CBC will avail of the opportunity to attend this class. It will be open to eight students at a time. The first cycle will begin on February 3. There is a sign up in the narthex if you want to be a member of the first cycle. You may want to have an opportunity to discuss this more with me. I'll be presenting a vision for the implementation of the church Mission Statement at the business meeting on January 20. That would be a great time for questions and answers. But I also welcome individual discussion and questions at any time.

Conclusion

God's good news to the nations! Aren't you glad that you heard the good news? That it was for you?

⁶ And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

And you also. Called. To belong to Jesus Christ. What a vision! What a difference He makes!

As through Abraham the nations are blessed, let's be a blessing to the our world. Let's take God's good news to the nations!

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