“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.”
When Paul began his letter to the Christians in Rome, he apparently felt it was necessary to establish some basic truths before getting into the main body of his letter.
During the time this was written, (probably about 56-58 A.D.), there was a group called the “Gnostics”. They believed that if there really was a God, He was not a person, but kind of a cosmic “intelligence”, who could not be known personally. They also believed that Jesus was never really a man, but just a spiritual manifestation of this cosmic intelligence; that He did not really die, but just “appeared” to die on the cross, as some kind of symbolic example for us.
The reason it is important for you to know this, is because there are many people even today who adhere to this belief. They call themselves “New Agers”. If you were to go to a large book store like Barnes Noble, you’d see an entire section devoted to books on the “New Age”. These folks commune with “spirit guides”, which are actually demons disguising themselves as something good and pure, and deceiving these New Agers. They will also tell you that they know Jesus.. in fact, that they know “lots of Jesus’”. Because to them, there are many spiritual “masters”, and Jesus was just one of the many masters who can be contacted through their New Age meditation practices.
But Paul, in these verses, and several other of his letters, makes it very clear that there is no equal to Jesus, and that the only way to know Him is through faith in His shed blood to pay for our sins. Spirits do not shed blood, and only God could pay for the sins of a sinful mankind.
See verses three and four? In verse three he says that Jesus was born as a descendant of King David (which was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy), and in verse 4 he says that He was also declared to be the Son of God by the power of the resurrection from the dead.
This means that to show His approval of Christ’s absolute obedience in the flesh, the Father raised Him bodily from the grave. And the Bible also tells us that His raising from the dead is like a promise that if we believe in Him, we also will rise.
Do you believe Jesus was God, who became man while still being fully God? Do you believe He died as a man to pay for your sins; but that as God, death couldn’t keep Him? Then friend, God promises that just as He rose bodily from the grave in glory and power, you will too.
And God always keeps His promises. He does not change and He cannot fail.
Philippians 2:5-11 Colossians 1:13-20 John 1”1-14
