Jesus Christ came to the Jews to fulfill the promises made with Abraham and the Davidic covenant. He fulfilled everything needed for their salvation but He was rejected. Paul tried too persuade his Jewish brethren of the deity of Jesus but to the Scribes and Pharisees his words fell on hardened hearts.
Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
The holy One that they crucified was the Lord of glory. This Jesus now is at the right hand of the power of God and He sent the Spirit to reside in those who would choose to believe in Him.
Paul's mission became one to the Gentiles knowing that this was God’s will for his life.
The title of "Most High" (ʾelyôn in Hebrew) emphasizes God's supremacy in power and His preeminence. The title of " Lord" (ʾădônây in Hebrew) refers to His sovereignty, majesty and authority. These names of God explain the claim in Lamentations 3:37 that when He speaks, His words come to pass because He is the Most High Lord. We see this in the creation story (Genesis 1:3; Psalm 33:9) as well as in the judgment described in Lamentations.
Even in our fallen world, sin has a built-in cause-and-effect impact; there are consequences for our wrongdoing. What we sow, we will reap: If we sow evil, we will reap evil. He always renders divine judgment righteously to satisfy His justice. At the same time, compassion, mercy and goodness can't help but flow out of His justice. His sovereignty is perfect, and He makes no mistakes (Deuteronomy 32:4). His intentions are always for our good, regardless of our responses (Psalm 103:8; Psalm 118:6; Psalm 145:9). Ultimately, all things serve God's will and purposes.
There are no shortcuts to developing godly character like Jesus'; therefore, God wastes no opportunities to make us holy through the sanctification process of repentance and restoration. Sweet friend, there is no more trustworthy Judge who will love us as well and as fairly as God our Father, the Most High Lord. First 5
Richard Rohr’s reminder, “By God’s love, mercy, and grace, we are already the Body of Christ: the one universal body that has existed since the beginning of time... That little and clearly imperfect self just cannot believe it could be a child of God. I hope the gospel frees us to live inside of a life that is larger than the one our small selves have imagined.”
But oh no. When it comes to grace, we tell ourselves we need to tone it down, or find a way to rein it in.
Because there is a fine line between safe (certain) and stuck—which becomes paralysis. It happens when I focus only on the “right notes” or the “right answer” or the “right stuff”—the “right box” for life. You know, the temptation for control and order. And when I do, I miss hearing the music, which invites and allows me to find healing and value and home. And grace and transformation. Sabbath Moments
Romans 1:1–7
1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The New King James Version
Paul’s typical greeting throughout his letters summarizes his gospel message: God’s work through Christ (grace) brings people into a harmonious relationship with God and one another (peace). T
he Greek word charis (“grace”) is an alteration of the standard Greek term chairein (from chairō “to rejoice”), which was used as a greeting. The Greek word eirēnē (“peace”) corresponds to the Hebrew term shalom (“peace”), which carries the idea of wholeness.
The gospel begins with God’s work on people’s behalf and results in a transformation of their relationships with God and neighbor—from broken to whole. The word “our” indicates that Jews and Gentiles (non-Jewish people) are equal and united before God because of Christ. False teachers may have claimed that the Gentiles were not equal because they did not participate in circumcision or dietary restrictions, distinctly Jewish practices. Such teachings would have brought division to the Church. Faithlife Study Bible
Bondservant means “slave.” Paul is talking about a slavery undertaken voluntarily out of love unlike the forced slavery well known to many in the Roman Empire.
Paul emphasizes his personal subjection to Jesus Christ. By calling himself an apostle, Paul places himself on the level of the twelve apostles and claims authority from God for His work.
Humanly speaking, Jesus was a descendant of David. He was truly and completely human; but at the same time, He was God’s Son. The fact that Jesus was a descendant of David also links Him to the Davidic covenant. When Christ returns to reign over all, He will fulfill God’s promise to David to give him a dynasty that will last forever.
The word translated declared means “designated.” Jesus did not become Son of God by His resurrection. Instead, His resurrection proved that He was the Son of God.
The purpose of the apostles’ work was to persuade people to obey God’s command to trust Christ. The NKJV Study Bible
Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
Romans 16:26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—
Acts 6:7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
1 Corinthians 1:1–4 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:…
No comments:
Post a Comment