Romans 1:2
The Gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
Good news that was promised a while back.
When sharing the Gospel with an audience that contains Jews, where does one start?
Can the New Testament stand alone?
For Paul this Gospel was timeless. It was without a start.
Promises, Teachings, covenants, and prophesies.
There is a base, a foundation to which is built the Good News.
A covenant. From Gen 3:15 through Malachi 4:2
Quotes from the OT 61 times in Romans
Romans 1:3-4
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made 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:
A vital part of the Good News is the essence of who Jesus is.
- He was flesh, made in the Seed of David.
Was Jesus human?
Gnostics. All matter is evil, the body is a prison to be escaped from. People are divine elements that have fallen from the heavenly realm and lodged in a human body.
Jesus was human that captured a heavenly spirit and through knowledge of the heavenly was able to attained divinity and taught the disciples to do the same.
It is called radical dualism.
What is the significance of the humanity of Jesus?
Why is it important to include the humanity of Jesus by Paul?
Is it necessary to believe, to have faith in the absolute humanness of Jesus?
- What if he was just a man?
What if he was just great teacher?
What if he was just a great pious person?
What if he was a holy man with great charisma?
Can we separate the two natures of Jesus?
Can we understand the God Jesus by examining the Man Jesus?
Can we separate the three offices of Jesus?
Prophet – Someone speaking for God
Priest – Someone Providing the methods of grace.
King – Someone Leading others to God.
The mark of humanity is the birth of Jesus
The mark of Deity is the resurrection.
Jesus God with us
Jesus God Like us
Jesus God for us.
It is God’s effort to be a part of his creation.
We all want to touch the divine. But here God is touching the created.
I have never given birth.
I will never know the pain. For that matter I don’t want to know
I don’t want the experience of Childbirth.
How am I to know, How am it to experience, How am I to understand
God is omniscient up to a point of experience
Science has examined the human physical nature
But not one of them can know what is inside of me but ME.
- Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake.
So here is God, Jesus, the empathetic deity.
What’s in it for us?
We receive Grace. “CHARIS”.
More than a greeting. A wish for another’s blessing.
More than a wish for luck.
More than I wish you well.
A greeting was an exchange of value. One would give a greeting, and another would receive. A greeting was given to one who was respected by the giver. One would typically not give a greeting to one who they felt did not deserve it. There is a perception of respect. It would not be given casually.
He is expressing a foundational truth of the faith: that God so loves those whom He has created, that He gives lavishly to them when they do not deserve it.
God’s grace, growing out of God’s love, is the foundational act of God on the behalf of those whom He created.
On my vacation week end my little grand daughter discovered the miracle of a echo. We even named our weekend “Hello” because he shouted it probably 200 times. We often say hello to someone expecting an echo. For Paul it was much more than that it was meant as a gift with no expectations of return.
Apostle.
Are we all apostiles. According to Paul we are.