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Romans 1:3–4
… concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 1:3a).
Christianity is unique among the religions of the world, Dr. James M. Boice tells us in his commentary on Romans, because of the central importance of its founder, Jesus Christ. This is because what Jesus did is as important to Christianity as what He said. Therefore, the central Christian message, the Gospel, is not just about principles and doctrines; it is about Jesus Himself. It is “the gospel of God” (the Good News sent from God), which is “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,” as Paul declares in Romans 1:3.
Consider the incredible truths pressed into this seemingly mundane statement. Jesus is, first of all, the Son of God. As Boice points out for us, “Son of God” means nothing less than God Himself. Paul can say this because Jesus Himself said it (John 8:58). Second, Jesus is “Christ.” In other words, He is the long-prophesied, long-awaited Messiah, the one sent to redeem God’s people from sin. Third, He is “our Lord.” In the Greek Old Testament, the word kyrios (“Lord”) was used to translate God’s name, Yahweh. In the New Testament, however, the same word is used for Jesus, and it is the word Paul employs here. Thus, Paul is asserting again that Jesus is God. And these truths about Jesus are of the essence of the Gospel, he says.
But Paul has far more to say of Jesus. In verses 3b–4, he writes that Jesus “was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” There are two major assertions here. First, Jesus was fully human. He was physically descended from Israel’s greatest king, David, in whose line the Messiah was to come, according to Old Testament prophecy. But He also was the Son of God, as His resurrection from the dead declares. Commenting on the difficult wording of this section, Boice notes, “It is not merely a case of Paul’s declaring that the resurrection was a demonstration of the great power of God or even that the resurrection was a powerful demonstration of the validity of Christ’s claims.… It is a declaration that Jesus is the sovereign Son of God.”
These two assertions about Jesus combine for one earth-shattering truth: that He is the God-man, the uniquely qualified Mediator between God and man—the crux of the Gospel.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Adherents of other religions will sometimes grant that Jesus was a “great teacher.” But Christian apologists have noted that this is not a viable option, for He claimed much more for Himself—divinity. It is crucial that we not regard Him as less than He is, lest the Gospel crumble and collapse. How do you regard Jesus?
For Further Study
- Mark 2:5–12, 28
- John 10:30
- John 11:25
- John 14:6
- John 17:11