Romans 1:1-7 –
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Yesterday we discussed what it meant for Paul to be a duolos, slave of Christ, as well as to have been kletos, divinely appointed by God for a purpose. Paul was a missionary, sent out by God to deliver the gospel message to the gentiles (non-jews). The word for gospel in greek is “euaggelion”, pronounced phoenetically yoo-ang-ghel-ee-on. Euaggelion meant good news. For the Romans, they would have been familiar with the word, most likely from pronouncements from Caesar for the birth of a son, etc. This message Paul was to deliver was indeed good news, a new gospel, the absolute best news ever heard.
My burden today is for you to understand to some degree why the gospel is good news. What is this euaggelion that has come from God? To understand the weight of the glory of God in salvation, in the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, you must first understand what the condition of man is apart from Jesus. If you come away from this message without a greater understanding of God’s justice in the damnation of sinners, I will be disappointed. If you come away from this message without a greater love for Christ, resting your hope in Him alone, I will be disappointed. Those things are linked; those who are forgiven much, love much. Here we go.
You are a sinner. From the moment of your birth, you have breathed enmity against God. You refused to acknowledge Him as God, you sought to pray to Him for selfish gain, you neglected your neighbor in need, you have lied, you have been disobedient to your parents, you have loved yourself more than the orphans and widows, you have read the revelation of God in His word begrudgingly, you have not delighted in God’s glory, you have burned with anger against your family, you have lusted after your fleshly desires, you have been lazy, you have not stewarded well the resources given to you by God, you have sought to enrich yourself at the expense of others, you have pursued your own will apart from God, you have been sexually immoral, you have allowed injustice to reign in the world around you, you do not give God glory for His provision in His creation, you profess His name only desiring escape from hell instead of reconciliation with God, and you have taken for granted the air you breathe; the food you eat; the shelter over your head, as if it were provided by your own hands.
A popular saying is that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner… the problem is that you won’t find that anywhere in the Bible. You are not a sinner because you sin, you sin because you are a sinner. It is who you are apart from God’s intervention, it is your very nature. It is true that God loves His son, Jesus Christ and all those who abide in Him. That said, what does the Bible say about God’s response to sinners?
Deuteronomy 27:15-19 – “And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice: “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ “‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ “‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.'”
There were hundreds of laws given from God to Israel, and then the worst news of all was delivered: Deuteronomy 28:15-20 – “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.”
Nahum 1:2-3 – “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
We are all guilty before the holiness of God. How then should we be punished? Well my sins haven’t been that bad, right? I mean, hitler was way worse than me, I am better than my neighbor, after all, I go to church and give money to the needy. It is just that the punishment for a crime should be in response to offense, right? After all, we wouldn’t say it was just to take someone’s life for a lie right? If a boy lies to his parents, they will likely scold him, and punish him in a small way. If a man lies to his boss, the man would likely be fired. If a man lies to a judge, then that man would be put in jail for perjury. What happens when a man dishonors God? Until now, the same sin has been met with an equitable punishment based upon the person offended. What happens when that offense is against an eternal, infinitely holy God? Is it not just that the punishment be eternal, infinite wrath? How many times have you offended your Creator God? God is just, and this is exactly what we see in the Bible.
John 3:36 – “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Ephesians 2:1-10 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works,so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
We all were born in our very nature children of wrath. You cannot “work” faith to believe, it is a gift of God, therefore plead with the Lord for His mercy through Jesus Christ to grant you faith. Many will read this and say, it isn’t fair that God doesn’t given all men the gift of faith to believe; oh what arrogance for a sinner to sit in judgment of the righteousness of God. What thing have you done that should merit God’s deliverance of you from His wrath? Many will make a false profession, feeling that God is “obligated” to save them if they say they believe, but their hearts remain bitter against God’s holiness. You are owed NOTHING, but the eternal, infinite wrath of God. Pray that the justice of God for your sin would be met fully in the blood of Jesus Christ, and in His name in His power, seek after His kingdom and righteousness.
Our assurance in Jesus is great, because He is true. He was foretold of by the prophets, and our hope is in Him alone.
Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:10-12 – “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.”
We have arrived. This is the good news of Jesus, the best news for us who are by nature children of wrath. The euaggelion of Jesus – God’s just wrath removed and our reconciliation to Him. My encouragement is to not treat this good news lightly, for the wrath of God abides today on many, even some who profess His name (Matt 7:21-22). The wrath of God is satisfied in the blood of Jesus; it is removed from all those who believe in Him. Those who abide in Jesus through the gift of faith are accounted righteous for His namesake. He bore the wrath of many, but not all. He bore the wrath of those who had been kletos – divinely appointed to be saints for His name. Many will discount that this means man does not have a choice, which I say is foolishness. God is sovereign, and He has brought His Word to you today – you have a choice. Pray the Lord’s mercy; believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved, or remain in your sin where the wrath of God remains. For those who understand the fear of the Lord, the gospel of Jesus is the greatest news ever told. We are hopeless, hope in Jesus. We are sinners, hope in the righteousness of Christ. We deserve wrath, trust God’s wrath was satisfied in the crushing of Jesus. We by nature were dead in our trespasses, but we have eternal life in Christ. This gospel message is unbelievable, God, grant us the faith to believe!
Following the Way 