We are now in Romans. I love this letter!
We just got finished reading how the the church got it’s start and also how Paul got his start evangelizing to the Gentiles. With that in mind, we are reading a letter that Paul wrote before he was arrested in Jerusalem, and held by Felix for two years in Caesarea. Paul hadn’t been to Rome yet, but he apparently got some news about them that he felt he needed to address since he was an apostle to the Gentiles (as he calls himself in 11:13).
So, I was barely getting started in the letter, when I paused on the words Paul used in the very first sentence!
“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who 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.” (1:1-4)
The part that caught my attention was, “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”
The proof that Jesus is the Son of God is that he resurrected himself from the dead! That is THE key!! Learn that! Know that! Stick to that! If anyone asks you who Jesus is or why you believe Jesus is the Son of God….go to that point! Jesus said he was the Christ and he proved it (declared it) by rising from the dead.
I just took a class on Islam. I learned that Muslims go to great lengths to deny this fact! (Because they know that this is a very important fact!) They will say that Jesus did not die on the cross, he actually swooned. Or, they may say it was actually Judas who was killed on the cross, or it was someone that looked a lot like Jesus so everyone was tricked into thinking it was Jesus. Muslims know that it is this point that proves Jesus is who he said he was, so they need to deny this one particular point.
I think Christians can forget how simple it is to defend their faith in Jesus as being the Son of God. Paul was so good at defending the faith, he was able to squeezed this point quickly and easily into the very first line of the introduction to his letter! It is simple, to the point, and essential for the defense of the faith to stick with this basic point. Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God by raising from the dead!
It is also one of the easiest points to defend. Historically speaking it is a fact among anyone who calls themselves a historian, that a real, historical figure named Jesus was killed on a cross and placed in a tomb. Other historical sources outside the Bible attest to this event. It is also a known fact that the body was never located after the reports that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. If you want good talking points to back up these historical facts, I highly recommend Cold Case Christianity by JW Wallace. It is easy reading with great material to use when defending uour faith.
I like the saying, “Keep the main thing the main thing”. Paul kept ti the main thing and was sure to say it quickly in his letter. And what is the main thing? Jesus declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead!
Woohoo!!! 🙌🏻
Jesus is the Son of God!