Romans 1:1-7
Getting on the same page as God about: Who We Are
Read Romans 1:1-7
Introduction
A. During a foot ball game you will occasionally see a Quarterback through a pass that is just so far off you wonder what he was thinking
B. Then you see the quarterback and the receiver pointing in different directions saying stuff like I was running this way and the quarterback saying you should have ran this way
C. Eventually you will here the commentator say something like “those two were not on the same page”
D. To which you respond with the very sympatric “Duh” like I couldn’t tell
E. Here is the sad part, many times we are the receivers and God is the quarterback, and we run to the wrong spot
F. Unlike football In this case the quarterback in never wrong, we are on the wrong page
G. That is what the book of Romans does
H. It gets up on the right page with God
I. Romans is one of the most often studied books in the Bible
J. Paul write some of the most essential concepts for being on the same page as God
K. One of the interesting things about this book is that it was written to people who Paul had never meant
L. He longed to go to Rome but had not been able to make it there yet.
M. See Rome was the most powerful city in the most powerful empire.
N. Paul figured out that if he could spread the Gospel in that city, that it would be easy to then circulate throughout the world
O. Paul also wrote this to begin a relationship with the Church at Rome
P. This way he would have greater access and greater credentials
Q. What is interesting to note about this book compared to all the others that Paul wrote is the more general nature
R. All the other letters had to do with specific things that were occurring. This one, being that Paul had never been there, was more general
S. Today we are going to look at getting on the same page as God about who we are.
T. Are we just puppets?
U. Are we to do whatever we want to do?
V. Are we just salves?
W. Are we Kings?
X. We need to make sure we are on the same page as God in this area
Y. So today we are going to look at
a. Our Position
b. Our Purpose
c. Our Passion
I. Our Position (1)
A. Explanation
1. Paul starts out this great letter with Paul a servant of Christ Jesus
2. That is very interesting, there is two meaning behind the word servant which are both very vital in our understanding
3. First Paul favorite expression to call Jesus is Lord
4. The word servant is one that implies the Lord, Jesus in this case, has complete control over the person, Christ is the master or the owner
5. So when Paul is using the word servant he is saying that God is in complete control of his life
6. The second meaning is in the Old Testament it is the word that was used to describe great men of God.
a) Moses was the servant of the Lord (Joshua 1:2)
7. This was the proudest title of the a Prophet
8. By calling himself an Apostle, it is stating who he is working for, telling us who his boss is
a) If these were Pails thoughts and dreams rather then apostle he would have called himself the CEO of Paul Outreach Inc. But these were indeed not his thoughts, not his ways, not his leading, but Gods
9. You all so notice in this verse that he was set apart for the Gospel
10. He refers to this setting apart twice in his life. Once was before he was born he knew God has plans for him (Read Gal. 1:15)
11. The second time was by man as the church leaders anointed him and Barnabas as missionaries Acts 13:2
B. Application
1. So what can we learn as far as who we are from Paul telling us who he is
2. There is a very tricky balance to maintain here
3. Being a servant, when we thing of servant, we get the whole hired help idea in our head
4. We need to keep that thought and we also need to add to that thought of the Old Testament prophets
5. It is an honor to be God’s servant. Now let me warn you, not to let that get to your head and you stop being a servant.
6. Our apostleship, our servant hood, our being set apart, all come from God
7. We are Gods. He owns us
8. But we should be honor and privileged to be owned by God
C. Illustration
1. When I am thinking about how to explain this I think of Billy Graham. Without question one of if not the most successful preachers of all times. He has preached in front of crowds of ½ million people. Yet I still will never forget that picture of him witnessing to three kids.
2. He did not let his success, his fame, his position if you will, go to his head
3. He faithful continued to do what god called him to do without ever getting a big head about
4. That is the type of attitude we need
5. We are special to be in God’s Family, yet we need to be servants
II. Our Purpose (2-4)
A. Explanation
1. Verse 2-4 is one of the best declaration of the Gospel you will ever hear
2. First of all we have to remember what the word Gospel means, it simply means the good news
3. So in presenting the good news Paul tells us a number of things
4. First of all this Jesus Character who Paul serves is not a person who just appeared on the scene
5. It is not a person who just happened to be pretty cool
6. It is a person who gospel promised
7. Paul knowing his audience, knowing that they knew the OT. Makes mention to the line of David. That was a very important point
8. What separates Christianity from all other religions in the resurrection from the dead
9. See all other religions their “big cheese” “Savior” “founders” or what ever you want to call it, has a grave
10. But not Christianity, it has a risen savior
11. You heard that phrase many times before lets say it a different way, Christ does not have a grave! He came back from the dead, folks he is alive!
B. Application
1. Ok Dan you proved that the Gospel is presented in these three verses, but what does that have to do with me?
2. It gives us purpose
3. It gives us meaning, it gives us direction
4. Without Christ coming here to this earth and dying for us on that Cross, there would be no hope
5. We would all certainly die
6. Many people will tell you if you die you die, but that is not that case
7. If you die without knowing Christ you are sent to eternal separation from Christ
8. You will not get to see your maker the one who created you forever.
9. But the good news is that Christ did come, Christ did die, and Christ most assonantly defeated death
10. That is the Gospel, That is the Good news
C. Illustration
1. I want to run the network news reports. There are many times when you turn on the news and this person died, this person was shot, this person loss their jobs, the economy is going down, we have war all across the land. Those things are true and they do happen, but I would like to add something after every story
2. It would be something like this “But in good news, we have a God who loves us”
3. “But in good news, we have a way to Heaven”
4. But in good news, we can find meaning and purpose because of what Jesus did”
5. Wouldn’t that make the news better?
III. Our Passion (5-7)
A. Explanation
1. Notice how in verse 5 Paul is talking about receiving grace and apostleship
2. These are two important concepts
3. First of all Grace is receiving something that you do not deserve.
4. Paul realizes what he has done in his life, how he has not lived up to God’s standards and how God is willing to forgive him. That is grace!
5. He did not deserve any of that
6. I did not go fully into the world apostleship when we were discussing verse one, let me go into further detail
7. Being apostle assigns you a task
8. Something that you should be working to accomplish
9. Pails particular task was to call people from among the Gentiles to the obedience that come from the faith
10. That was Pails duty
11. Now there is something interesting about that, Paul used to be a paradise
12. Well Phrases deliberately separated themselves from the gentiles
13. The would not even allow them selves to brush up against at gentile walking down the street
14. So for Paul to come full circle is amazing
B. Application
1. Why did he do this?
2. His passion
3. He recognized what God did for him
4. He recognized God grace
5. He realized God called him to be apostle
6. He realized God gave him a task
7. God does the same for us
8. He gives us grace and gives us a task
9. Do you have enough passion to fulfill the task?
C. Illustration
1. I have a dream of running a Marathon. I have one goal. Finish. It is my passion to do this. I do not want to run 26 miles and quit, I want to run the full 26.2 miles. I want to finish
2. Here is the thing, do I have enough passion to train and get in shape before I run the marathon?
3. Yeah it sounds good to say I have passion about running the Marathon but do I?
4. It sounds good when we say we have a passion to reach the loss for Christ
5. When we have a passion to tell people of the good news
6. But do we really?
7. Or are we just like me wanting to run the Marathon?
8. Paul had passion to reach the Gentiles, did he do it, yes!
9. What about you, do you have passion to do the task that the Grace of God called you to?
Conclusion
A. If we want to be on the same page of God we have to
B. Recognize our position, as both a privilege and be a servant
C. We have to understand that the Gospel is our purpose
D. And have a passion to share the Gospel
E. If we can get those three items in proper prospect we will be on the same page as God
F. What about you?
a. Do you understand the whole honor well still being a servant, or have you been stressing one side over the other?
b. Have you not figured out what the purpose of life is for?
c. Or do you realize you just don’t have enough passion to do your assign task
G. If this is you I want you to do two things. First find someone here who is willing to be Elisha, a friend that will not leave you, talk to them about it.
H. 2nd I want you to talk to God about it, tell Him the situation and ask Him for help. He will give you the help you need
I. If you want to come up to the front please do, and if you are Elisha and you see someone up front, Join them
J. Are you on the same page with God about who you are?
