God, Savior, King.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] All right, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here. [0:06] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church, [0:08] and I’m glad to see that you’re here. [0:10] If you have your Bibles, open them to Romans, Chapter one.

[0:14] We will hopefully get through verse seven today. [0:18] Romans is the story of Christianity. [0:22] In this book, the life of faith is explained [0:26] to a group of young Christians in order [0:29] that they may understand and live out their faith in everyday life. [0:33] Paul writes this to a group that has just the gospel has just reached Rome

[0:38] and a few people have come to faith. [0:40] The church has built. [0:41] The spirit is rising. [0:42] The mission’s going forward. [0:44] And Paul writes this book to them. [0:46] This is really just a letter written to them for them to understand

[0:50] what it is that they’re basing their faith in, what it is that they’re going [0:54] to be living for. [0:55] He’s going to say that what you believe will necessarily translate [1:00] into the way that you live, but understand that it is always based [1:04] on what you believe. [1:05] And he gets to the heart of the matter in this book,

[1:08] understanding that God is doing a work inside of you. [1:11] This is not just something that is behavior modification. [1:15] This is not just a new way to act, a new law to obey. [1:19] But instead, God seeks to change your heart, [1:23] to change the essence of who you are in life. [1:28] And what’s fascinating about this book is he’s going to spend

[1:32] the majority of his time just teaching them. [1:37] The facts, teaching them what it is that God has done, [1:41] teaching them what it is that they are to believe before he ever moves on [1:46] to what they’re supposed to do in their everyday life. [1:50] And so what we see through that is that Paul’s goal is to take [1:54] the intellect and actually have it impact their very life.

[1:59] Instead of just agreeing that something is true and going about life as usual. [2:03] Paul’s goal is to teach what actually makes up the life that you live, [2:08] is what you believe in your very heart. [2:10] And what’s fascinating about the person that actually writes this book [2:13] is it comes from the most unlikely of people. [2:17] You see, Paul was a religious leader.

[2:19] Paul was a leader in Israel of the Jewish religion. [2:22] He actually made it his life’s ambition [2:26] to extinguish the flame of Christianity [2:29] that was spreading throughout that part of the world. [2:31] He made it his life’s mission to stop the spread of Christianity [2:35] from going into the hearts of people that would believe that Jesus is God,

[2:40] that Jesus did rise from the dead, that Jesus did come to save everyone. [2:44] And Paul went so far as to seek to kill believers in Jesus. [2:49] The Book of Acts actually records that when Christians began to be killed, [2:54] that Paul approved of it so much so that he actually formed a team around him [2:58] to go across the countryside and actually attempt to extinguish [3:02] the faith in Jesus by killing all that would try to spread faith in Jesus.

[3:09] But something very interesting happens in Paul’s life, [3:11] because what you see from very early on in the book of Romans [3:15] is that Paul has gone and completely transformed [3:19] to a polar opposite of what his mission in life was, [3:23] that Paul goes from trying to extinguish the spread of Christianity [3:27] to making it his mission to spread the faith of Christianity,

[3:31] from blaspheming the name of Jesus to actually believing that Jesus [3:35] is the one to whom all people must go to, to whom all people must have faith in [3:40] if they’re to have any hope of living. [3:43] And so when we see this letter that is Romans, [3:47] we’re actually seeing as the manifesto of a man whose entire life [3:51] has been changed by what he actually believes.

[3:57] And what we begin to see at the very beginning in the introduction [4:00] is an introduction to everything that Paul believes in his life. [4:04] So look in Romans, Chapter one, starting in verse one. [4:08] Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, [4:12] called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, [4:16] which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

[4:20] concerning his son, who was descended from David, [4:24] according to the flesh and was declared to be the son of God in power, [4:28] according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. [4:32] Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship [4:37] to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name [4:41] among all nations, including you who are called to belong

[4:45] to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God [4:49] and called to be saints. [4:51] Grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [4:56] So what we have there is Paul’s introduction [4:59] to the letter that he’s about to write. [5:02] And what Paul writes in these seven verses

[5:05] is actually some of the most theological language [5:07] that he’s going to use in the entire scripture, [5:10] because what he says here is what he’s building a foundation upon [5:14] for the rest of his book. [5:16] He begins by simply introducing himself, [5:19] but actually calling himself a servant of Jesus Christ.

[5:23] And the term that he uses there is a term that’s the same term [5:26] that they would have used for slave. [5:29] So Paul’s saying, I was once this man that you all know, [5:33] went around killing those who believed in Jesus. [5:35] But now I believe so much in him [5:38] that the way I actually describe myself and the type of life

[5:42] that I’m seeking to live is that I am actually a slave [5:47] of Jesus Christ himself. [5:50] I make it my aim in life to serve him with everything that I have. [5:56] But then he begins to lay out three statements [6:01] about this Jesus that he says that he’s in slavery to. [6:06] He’s going to say that Jesus, number one,

[6:08] is God. And he says he starts very early. [6:12] He says, I’m called to be an apostle set apart for what? [6:16] Set apart for the gospel of God. [6:20] Romans is ultimately a book about God, [6:24] how he acted to bring salvation, how his justice is preserved, [6:28] how his purposes are worked out in history

[6:31] and how he can be served by his people. [6:35] And Paul begins by stating that what God is actually giving [6:39] to him and us is something that he calls the gospel. [6:43] And if you’ve been with us for a period of time, you you I should hope [6:46] know what that term means, if you haven’t been, then that term gospel [6:50] simply means good news.

[6:53] And so Paul says, I’m a slave of Jesus Christ. [6:56] I’ve been set apart for a specific work for him [7:00] because of the good news that God has delivered into my life. [7:07] And what is that good news? [7:09] Well, that good news is that Jesus is that God, [7:13] he says that God made promises beforehand through his prophets,

[7:19] excuse me, through his prophets and the Holy Scriptures concerning who? [7:23] Concerning his son. [7:25] So what he’s saying here, and you won’t see a much briefer [7:29] summary of the entire Old Testament than that statement right there, [7:33] because in that statement, Paul summarizes thirty nine books of the Bible. [7:39] So this is what the prophets have said about the sun.

[7:44] So if we’re to understand what the Book of Romans is going to be about, [7:48] it’s very important for us to grasp that part right there, [7:51] that the Book of Romans, just as what Paul is saying, all of the Old Testament, [7:55] and then by nature of what the Old Testament about all of the New Testament [7:59] is all about Jesus, [8:02] that everything that you will ever read anywhere is about Jesus.

[8:08] And this gets extremely difficult when we’re reading through parts of the Old [8:11] Testament that make absolutely no sense to us or make absolutely no excitement [8:16] enter to our lives. [8:18] It’s sometimes as if we’re just reading off a list after list after list. [8:22] And it looks like Microsoft Excel. [8:24] When most of us try to leave work to get away from such a list,

[8:27] we open our Bibles for some inspiration. [8:29] And what do we get? Another list. [8:32] And so when we’re going through this, what we have to comprehend [8:35] and we have to understand is that the scriptures are building towards something [8:41] and that everything that it does is either evidence of or a direction [8:44] towards Jesus himself.

[8:47] That is Paul’s ultimate statement here, that everything that God has ever said [8:51] through any prophet, any priest, any king is ultimately leading us to Jesus. [8:59] And he says that it’s concerning his son, [9:02] who’s descended from David, according to the flesh. [9:07] And so he makes a huge statement here about who Jesus is, [9:10] that he’s actually a descendant of David.

[9:12] And if you knew anything about religion, if you were an Israelite, [9:15] if you were in Judaism at that point, you knew that when he says [9:19] concerning David, that he’s calling Jesus something more [9:24] than just another man with a mission.

[9:27] So where do these claims that all of scripture lead to Jesus lead us to? [9:32] Where does it come from? [9:34] Well, he’s going to bank every part of what he believes about Jesus on one thing. [9:39] And that’s what we find in verse four says that he was declared to be God the son. [9:47] So he said two things there. [9:48] First, he makes a statement.

[9:50] He was a human. [9:52] He says that according to the flesh, he’s a descendant of David. [9:56] But then he makes another statement that is so wild [9:59] that he’s got to have some good ammunition to prove it. [10:02] He says that he was declared to be the son of God. [10:05] So he’s saying that Jesus was far more than just a man.

[10:10] Jesus was God himself. [10:12] And what could he bank that on? [10:15] Says he was declared to be the son of God in power, [10:18] according to the spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead. [10:23] Jesus Christ, our Lord. [10:26] He’s banking it solely on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

[10:34] And we have to say, if that statement is true, then Jesus is God. [10:40] No one else exhibiting any type of prominence, [10:44] exhibiting any type of fame, exhibiting any type of influence [10:48] could ever say I rose from the dead, [10:52] because so much has to be true if you say that you have to have power over death. [10:58] And what Paul is saying here is that Jesus, while he did die,

[11:03] he rose from the dead. [11:06] He is God. [11:07] He’s always been God. [11:09] And he’s always been meant to show that he was God by rising from the dead. [11:14] So where do we see that? [11:16] Well, Paul actually preaches a sermon about it in the Book of Acts.

[11:20] In Acts, Chapter 13, the apostle Paul says this, starting in verse 32, [11:24] middle of a sermon, he says, we bring you what we bring you? [11:27] The good news, the gospel, that what God promised to the fathers. [11:33] Anytime you see that statement promised and then fathers, [11:36] he’s talking about the Old Testament. [11:38] He’s talking about everything that was ever said in the Old Testament

[11:42] to any descendant from the nation of Israel. [11:45] And he says this, he’s fulfilled to us, their children, [11:49] by raising Jesus. [11:52] Boom, there it is, the resurrection of Jesus. [11:56] So he’s saying if Jesus rose from the dead, then he’s God. [12:00] And he’s the one that was always promised to come in the Old Testament.

[12:06] But then he actually quotes one of those promises. [12:10] He says in the second Psalm, as it is written, [12:13] you are my son today, I have begotten you. [12:19] And so he actually connects a psalm [12:22] that King David wrote to Jesus Christ himself. [12:26] So what does it say in Psalm two, seven?

[12:28] Well, it says that, but it says it through the words of David in Psalm two, seven. [12:32] I will tell you the decree. [12:33] The Lord said to me, you are my son. [12:36] Today I have begotten you. [12:38] So it’s interesting here is that first read, we would say, well, David, [12:41] it looks like to me, he’s writing about himself.

[12:44] If David was writing about himself, he was two things. [12:48] First, he was an absolute egomaniac [12:51] because he’s equating himself to God saying, God told me, you’re my son. [12:56] You’re my only begotten. [12:58] And the reason that would be such an amazing [13:00] decree to make even for a king is because of the terminology that he uses.

[13:05] Note that he uses the term begotten. [13:08] Now, if you spent a lot of time in Sunday school when you were growing up, [13:11] you know that in John three, 16, at least in the cage, AV, if you grew up like me, [13:15] it says that Jesus was the only begotten son of God. [13:19] But that word begotten in the original language held [13:22] so much more value than many of us actually think it does,

[13:25] because what it actually means is, is that when you are a begotten son [13:29] in human terms, it would mean that we share the same DNA, [13:33] that we are biologically connected, [13:37] that you have the same genetic code in your life that I have. [13:42] And in the term of the original language, it actually when you put it in God’s [13:47] standards, it means that you came from the very same

[13:51] essence that I came from, that you and I share a personality, [13:56] that you and I share a personhood, that when someone sees you, [14:01] they are actually seeing the very same person as me. [14:07] And there’s only one person throughout all of history that could make a claim [14:10] like that, where it could actually stick. [14:12] And that is Jesus. Why?

[14:15] Well, Paul will tell you the reason is, is not only did he say it, [14:18] but he did something to back it up. [14:20] He rose from the dead.

[14:27] Jesus is the son of God. [14:29] And if that is true, it changes absolutely everything in life. [14:36] But Paul was not the only person to make such a claim.

[14:40] Another apostle, his name is Matthew. [14:42] He writes at the very beginning of his gospel, Matthew, Chapter one, verse one, [14:46] he writes this, he says, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, [14:49] the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. [14:55] So he makes a few statements in this text that really don’t seem to make [14:58] any impact on us when we read it.

[14:59] It’s like, OK, well, I’m getting ready to go through another one of those Old [15:01] Testament lists. And it really does. [15:03] The first twenty three verses lead up to the birth of Jesus. [15:06] But in the original language, I find that this text is more helpful [15:10] when we understand the term that’s used. [15:12] The second time that it excuse me, the second time that he uses the term

[15:16] genealogy, it is the same word. [15:20] As Genesis. [15:21] And so I think Matthew is making a larger statement here [15:24] at the beginning of his book than I’m about to give you a list [15:27] of Jesus’s family tree to connect him to some pretty important people. [15:32] No, he’s actually seeking for you to have in your mind

[15:36] that the very first book of the Bible is about Jesus, [15:40] that this is the book of Genesis of Jesus Christ, [15:45] that he is the God that spoke the world into existence, [15:49] that when it says in Genesis one, one in the beginning, God, [15:53] it is about Jesus himself. [15:57] All of history has flowed from him.

[15:59] All of history flows towards him. [16:01] All of history flows through him because he is the God [16:05] that spoke everything into existence. [16:09] Jesus is God, according to the apostles. [16:14] And all of them lead that belief towards one thing. [16:20] That is that he rose from the dead.

[16:26] So Paul makes this bold statement. [16:29] But if we’re really tracking with Paul, the obvious question [16:32] that we’re going to need to ask right here is, OK, [16:35] so let’s say that God became a human being. [16:39] He was according to the flesh, but then he was declared to be the son of God [16:42] because he rose from the dead.

[16:44] OK, so I’m with you. [16:45] But the big question is, is why would God do that? [16:50] Why would it be necessary? [16:53] Why in the world, if you’re God, you’re all powerful, [16:57] you have power over death, you have power over life, [17:00] you have power over everything because you created everything that is.

[17:03] Why would you lower yourself to become one of us?

[17:08] The answer for that is really what I find in the life of Paul. [17:13] And that Paul is someone so acquainted [17:16] with why Jesus did this, that he’s the perfect person to write this book. [17:22] You know, if it’s one thing that history shows us, the philosopher GK [17:26] Chesterton tells us that if it’s one thing that you can build [17:29] thousands of years of evidence on about human beings,

[17:33] that is that we are sinful creatures. [17:37] I mean, we do things to hurt other people. [17:40] Other people do things to hurt us. [17:43] Just when we think life is going pretty well, [17:45] something happens to come in and it totally unsettles me. [17:49] And why is that? Well, we have a word for it.

[17:51] It’s because of sin. [17:53] And it’s so huge that even when you get enough of us together [17:57] to form a country, we will ultimately at some point see a need to go to war [18:02] with another country because they sinned against us or we sinned against them. [18:07] Or we’re just so mean that we want to take over all of them. [18:11] We as human beings.

[18:14] We’re a rough bunch.

[18:18] To make a statement that Jesus is declared to be the son of God in power [18:23] is the largest claim that anyone can make.

[18:29] But when you begin to look at the history of who we are, [18:33] I think you can begin to understand why Jesus would become a human being [18:38] because history, at least throughout the Old Testament, is marked by God [18:43] moving and working in the lives of people who are disobedient to him [18:48] over and over, and it is full of stories of people [18:51] who seem to have a default mode in their lives that feel and cause pain.

[18:58] And all the while, God just keeps moving. [19:01] All the while, God just keeps redeeming people back towards himself, [19:05] drawing them back in. [19:06] But we always have this little inclination in our lives [19:09] that just in the moment that we think that we’re close to God, [19:12] something comes in that says, why don’t you just go a little further away from God?

[19:19] And we bite that apple over and over and over again. [19:26] And so what Paul is going to tell us here in this text [19:29] is that the purpose for which Jesus came [19:32] was a purpose to finally and forever save each and every one of us [19:39] and that all of those promises of the Old Testament combined to one great mission [19:44] that God has and God completed through Jesus.

[19:48] And that is that Jesus would be the savior. [19:52] So not only is Jesus God. [19:54] But he uses that fact to show himself as Jesus, the savior. [20:01] It says in verse three that he’s descended from David, [20:05] according to the flesh, declared to be the son of God in power, [20:08] according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

[20:12] Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we’ve received grace. [20:19] So he makes this statement that we’ve received something from Jesus [20:24] and that something that we’ve received from Jesus is grace. [20:28] But if we look back into everything that God ever promised, [20:31] we see that grace is something that he’s always said that we would need. [20:35] Grace is something and it’s a gift that he always said someone would come to give us

[20:40] and we would never be able to fix this world ourselves. [20:44] Look, in Isaiah, Chapter 53. [20:48] Isaiah writes this chapter stating that someday [20:51] God would send someone to do these things, and it says that he was pierced [20:56] for our transgressions. [20:58] He was crushed for our iniquities.

[21:00] Upon him was the chastisement that brought peace with his wounds. [21:05] We are healed. [21:07] All we like sheep have gone astray. [21:09] We have turned everyone to his own way, [21:12] and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [21:17] Then down in verse nine, he says this,

[21:19] and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, [21:24] although he had done no violence. [21:26] There was no deceit in his mouth.

[21:32] So the whole world seems to be falling apart around everyone. [21:36] Nothing but pain is being caused. [21:38] Nothing but pain is then being inflicted on each other. [21:42] And then God says, there is coming a day where I’m going to send someone [21:48] and he is going to pay the penalty for all the wrongs that have been done by you. [21:55] All of the wrongs that have been done towards you and all of the wrongs

[21:59] that have ever been done towards anyone in this world. [22:03] He’s going to be pierced by sin. [22:06] He’s going to be crushed by sin. [22:10] And on top of him, there will be a chastisement laid that will bring you peace.

[22:20] There’s two things that we’re all seeking in life. [22:23] We want to find peace. [22:26] We want to find healing.

[22:29] Because there’s always these moments in our lives where it’s like, OK, [22:33] I’ve gotten everything and I’m content.

[22:38] Or better word, I’m finally at peace. [22:42] But then doesn’t it seem that no sooner than you find yourself in that moment of peace, [22:48] someone does something to take it all away. [22:51] And that someone is sometimes you. [22:55] Doesn’t it sometimes seem that as soon as you find the healing of the baggage, [23:00] that someone’s caused pain or you’ve caused yourself, that we feel healed,

[23:05] another problem comes or another reminder comes to show us or to try to accuse us [23:11] to say, you haven’t been healed.

[23:16] And Isaiah writes, there was coming a day when someone would come.

[23:21] He’d pay the price for all the wrong. [23:25] He would bring a piece that you struggle to keep, that you struggle to find. [23:31] He’ll bring a healing that every one of you actually need from all of the pain [23:36] because of your disobedience or someone else’s disobedience. [23:39] And he uses two words as to why we can’t find it. [23:43] He says, transgressions and iniquity.

[23:47] Well, those two words actually mean is that if there is a God and this God actually [23:52] created everything that is and actually created us, then this God had a vision [23:58] for the way that we would live. [24:01] This God had an ideal for the things that we would do, the life that we would live, [24:06] the path that we would walk. [24:08] He even has things that he wants us to do and things that he doesn’t want us to do.

[24:12] And what he’s actually saying in here is that every problem that any of us ever [24:16] have in life are coming to us because no one has lived up to that standard.

[24:24] Because when we do find ourselves living up to the standard very quickly, we find [24:28] that we haven’t met the perfect standard we thought.

[24:34] It says.

[24:37] In verse six, that the Lord has laid on him [24:41] the iniquity of us all.

[24:44] So much so down in verse nine. [24:47] It would pierce him, it would crush him, the chastisement would overcome him, that [24:53] he would pay the ultimate price that we all fear each and every day. [25:01] That’s the grave. [25:03] That would crush him to the point of death with the wicked. [25:09] You know, there’s something that each and every one of us are facing that we don’t

[25:13] want to face, but I don’t know when it’s going to happen. [25:15] I don’t know when it’s going to happen for you. [25:17] I don’t know when it’s going to happen for me. [25:19] I hope it’s sooner for you. [25:20] But it’s we’re going to die.

[25:24] And every one of us is going to. [25:26] And we know that. [25:28] And when something happens in our lives that makes us think I’m a bit of a hypochondriac. [25:34] So whenever I get sick, I’m there it is. [25:37] This is the big one.

[25:41] And we’re all acquainted with that and we all fear it because we know that that at [25:47] least marks the end of us. [25:50] But worse yet, we don’t know for sure what’s on the other side of that.

[25:57] The only hope that we could possibly have, because we see it happen in everyone’s life [26:03] that we know.

[26:07] Is that if there’s life on the other side of that, but for that to happen, somebody’s [26:12] got to have power over death.

[26:17] Says about that man. [26:20] That would come and be pierced, crushed, chastised, wounded.

[26:26] Says so poor. [26:29] That he wouldn’t even have his own grave, he’d have to borrow one from a rich man. [26:33] But then he makes two statements that are amazing, he says that.

[26:37] He done no violence.

[26:42] It’s the opposite of violence, peace. [26:45] What do I need? Peace. [26:49] God says the one that’s coming, he has no violence, he has peace. [26:57] He says there was no deceit in his mouth. [27:04] In other words, everything that he said.

[27:09] It was true.

[27:13] It reminds me. [27:15] Something that Jesus said, that’s given me a great deal of peace in the last few weeks. [27:21] It’s in John, Chapter 11, when some friends of his were mourning the death of a loved [27:25] one. Jesus comes to them and he said to her, Martha, the sister of the one who died, [27:33] said, I’m the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me, though he die.

[27:41] Yet shall he live.

[27:47] And there was no deceit.

[27:51] Found in his mouth.

[27:55] You see, Jesus is who he says he is.

[28:01] Jesus did what he said he was going to do. [28:05] Jesus lived up to every standard God ever set.

[28:13] Because he was God.

[28:17] But more than that, he brought me everything I ever needed, because Jesus is. [28:24] Savior.

[28:26] And Jesus makes a promise that every single one of us need, because every single one of us will [28:31] someday face death.

[28:34] And it’s only if Jesus is the one that Matthew 50, excuse me, that Isaiah 53 promised would come [28:40] that any of us have any hope.

[28:44] And that is that he has the power over death, the very thing that the apostle Paul says, the truth [28:53] of whether he is God or not hinges on. [28:57] So Jesus rose from the dead. [28:59] But here’s the funny thing about where Paul writes this. [29:01] The Book of Romans is written about 57 A.D. [29:05] That’s about 25 years after Jesus died on the cross.

[29:10] So we’re not dealing with this great removal of time. [29:14] We’re still in basically the same generation as when Jesus died on the cross. [29:19] So there are people that are going to read this and they’re going to say, well, I remember when [29:24] Jesus died, but you’re saying that he lived. [29:28] We can look in the recent news and see here’s the day. [29:32] Here’s the time Jesus died.

[29:35] Professional executioners. [29:36] He’s gone. [29:37] How can you say this about this man, Jesus, to which Paul responds in Isaiah, chapter [29:42] excuse me, in First Corinthians, chapter 15. [29:45] And he says that I can take you to five hundred different people that a few days [29:51] after Jesus died on the cross, they saw him up.

[29:56] They saw him walking around and they actually heard the sound of his voice. [30:01] And I don’t know about you, but when you have five hundred witnesses, it’s not very hard [30:07] to convict someone.

[30:10] And so Paul isn’t writing to a group of people who are ignorant of the things that he’s [30:15] talking about. [30:16] He’s talking to a group of people who live in the very empire that crucified Jesus on [30:21] the cross professionally. [30:23] Paul’s writing to them. [30:24] He says, oh, you can talk to the people that same Jesus.

[30:29] He may have died, but yet he lives. [30:34] And all of history is banked on that. [30:39] And if he lives in the gift that Jesus has, that every one of us needs is the ability [30:45] to go from death to life.

[30:53] Jesus can save us from everything that we fear the most because he’s God. [31:03] And he’s Savior. [31:05] But Paul’s not done.

[31:08] In verse five.

[31:12] He ends verse four by saying, Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace [31:18] and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all [31:25] the nations, including you, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. [31:30] So he makes this amazing statement right here about the grace of God and what is grace? [31:36] Grace is a gift that you do not deserve. [31:41] It’s that whole idea from Isaiah 53.

[31:44] You’ve transgressed. [31:46] You’ve done iniquity. [31:47] You’ve done sin. [31:49] He’s going to pay the price. [31:51] He’s going to be crushed. [31:53] He’s going to be pierced.

[31:55] He’s going to be wounded. [31:56] And you’re going to be healed. [31:58] That’s grace. [32:01] And Paul says, we receive it. [32:04] We don’t do anything for it. [32:05] We don’t live up to any standard.

[32:07] We don’t do any amount of obedience. [32:09] We do nothing. [32:11] And he just gives. [32:13] There’s no greater love than that. [32:15] There’s no greater gift than that. [32:17] There’s no greater calling than that on your life.

[32:20] There’s no greater thing that you will ever realize other than I have sinned against the one who [32:28] created everything. [32:29] I’ve caused pain. [32:31] I’ve afflicted pain. [32:32] I’ve felt pain. [32:34] And the God of the universe loves me to the extent where he stoops down, lives a perfect

[32:40] life and then dies for me so that I won’t have to.

[32:47] And then he gets up.

[32:51] So that I can get up.

[32:54] He has life after death so that I can have life after death. [32:59] And then Paul says.

[33:04] And he does all of that. [33:06] And if he did it all, it makes a third statement about.

[33:11] But this kind of God with that kind of power, we need to recognize that Jesus is king.

[33:22] That grace is not something that you receive as a beautiful gift, and then you set on the [33:29] counter for a time when you need it.

[33:34] That grace is not this gift that’s wrapped up for you, and then you put it there and you say, [33:39] I’m going to go about life as usual, but I’m so thankful that for the moment that I’m going to [33:44] need it, I can just turn there for when I’m on my deathbed and I’m overcome with fear, it’ll be [33:50] there on the counter. [33:51] I’ll send someone for it. [33:52] I’ll go get it myself.

[33:54] But I’m thankful that I have grace. [33:55] And Paul says absolutely not.

[34:00] But that is not faith. [34:03] That if that is what you have, then you’ve never believed, you’ve never experienced his power. [34:11] Because when you experience his power, you experience the source of his power, and that’s [34:14] the spirit of holiness, he says in verse four and five.

[34:19] But note what he says, as grace brings.

[34:23] He says, we’ve received grace and apostleship to bring about obedience of faith.

[34:36] When you have.

[34:40] A king.

[34:42] That’s more powerful than anyone you’ve ever seen. [34:47] More loving than you thought was ever capable. [34:51] Then that is a king you submit your entire life to.

[35:00] Paul says. [35:02] It’s a king, you your faith will bring obedience towards, but he says one more thing.

[35:10] Says the kingdom that Jesus has knows absolutely no borders. [35:13] And Paul says.

[35:16] That his king. [35:18] His name. [35:20] Are to be among all nations.

[35:26] You see, Jesus is the Lord of the nations, because we’ve already said everything that [35:31] was promised by God and everything that Jesus ever claimed to be is true. [35:35] And if he’s God, then this sets up a new understanding that Jesus saves us and he keeps [35:42] us. There is no mentality in following Jesus where he saves you and then you walk about [35:50] as usual in life every day. [35:53] The scriptures in the book of John, Chapter 10, actually say that when Jesus saves us,

[35:57] God keeps us in his hand and no one can pluck you out of the hand of God, that God rules, [36:04] that God reigns in your life forever. [36:08] And he saves us to give us a new life and a new mission.

[36:14] See, the whole theme of what Paul is saying here flows from that idea that everything [36:18] that’s ever been said in the Bible is absolutely true about Jesus.

[36:25] But note a few things that were said about Jesus in the Old Testament.

[36:30] The book of Jeremiah, God says through the prophet, behold, the days are coming, declares [36:37] the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king [36:42] and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. [36:48] Paul connects Jesus to King David, the reason being that in Israel there was no greater [36:56] king they looked back towards other than King David. David was the best. [37:01] David was the one they cherished the most. The stories about David were amazing.

[37:08] And so every descendant that David ever had, the way that kingdoms work is, is that when [37:13] you’re the descendant of the greatest king, well, your reign is called his reign. [37:18] So Solomon’s reign, the reign of King David. Everyone after that, the reign of King David. [37:23] And Jeremiah actually pins this in a moment where there is no hope in Israel, where everything [37:29] is terrible, where everyone’s being bad. And Jeremiah has the audacity to begin to write [37:36] about the reign of King David when the reality is King David’s been dead for a long time and

[37:41] his reign has been missed forever. But he says that God was going to raise up what? [37:47] A righteous branch to deal wisely, to execute justice, to execute righteousness. [37:54] And the prophet Ezekiel in another time wrote this. He said, my servant David shall be king [38:01] over them. David’s been dead for a long time and they shall all have one shepherd. [38:08] They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land [38:14] that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and

[38:26] for ever. So the righteous justice and wisdom that this king said is he’s going to have in [38:31] the book of Jeremiah, Ezekiel actually says that it’s going to pour out of him and over into his [38:38] subjects to where they will obey the king. They will follow the king. What does Paul say about [38:46] Jesus there at the beginning of Romans? He says that when you receive the grace of God, obedience [38:53] of faith will flow out of your life. So who is Jeremiah and Ezekiel saying will be king forever? [39:03] Jesus. And his rule is to be over absolutely all. But you see the obedience that Paul calls us to

[39:15] here isn’t the type of obedience that I think we’re most familiar with when it comes to the Bible. [39:21] Because for the most part we look at obedience and we see this list, you know, maybe the Ten [39:25] Commandments or whatever it is and you’re like, okay, I do that. Well, I don’t do this. Well, [39:29] I should do this. Well, morality is good. So I need to do that. That’s not what Paul’s talking [39:34] about. Is it involved? Absolutely. But he’s talking about royal obedience. You see in a real kingdom [39:43] when you obeyed the orders of the king, everything that you did was in the name of the king.

[39:51] It’s the obedience that he’s talking about in Romans chapter one is royal obedience. And royal [39:57] obedience means that everything that you do points back to the king. This is what he means [40:05] in verses five and six when he says for the sake of his name. See Paul’s mission in life was to [40:14] fan the flame of the spread of Jesus’s reign all over the world. It isn’t limited to one people, [40:25] but rather it must go out to all people. See, if you trust Jesus,

[40:36] the only option is what Paul’s laying out here for us.

[40:41] The question that you’ve got to ask in your life is, is Jesus ruling and reigning over your life? [40:51] And if so, how?

[40:56] You see, if Jesus is God, if Jesus is Savior, and if Jesus is King,

[41:07] then we become servants of King Jesus. Just like Paul tells us to right here. [41:16] Everything in my life then must be taken captive by him and for him.

[41:25] Because if he’s all those things to me, if I trust him, then I live to make him known in every [41:35] single step of my life. I live in the name of King Jesus. I live for the fame of King Jesus. [41:46] I live to make him known over all the world because the claim that his very life on this earth [41:54] makes is that God is not some far off disconnected deity.

[42:00] Instead, Jesus shows that God is imminent, that he is here and he is personal in every one of our [42:09] lives because he seeks to rule and reign over every one of our lives.

[42:15] And when we look at the life of Paul, we look to create change. How can someone go from persecuting [42:24] Christians to being a Christian, go from stopping Christians to heralding the name of Jesus to all [42:30] of the world? You must realize that we need that type of change. That type of change only comes [42:43] from Jesus. He’s the only hope that we can have in this life and in the next. [42:51] You have to understand that God, Savior, King, that he came because of you. [43:07] And he came for you.

[43:14] And our response is to trust, receive and submit

[43:26] because he gives a gift greater than my life will ever find anywhere else. [43:36] And his rule is better than any other rule I could ever live under, even my own.

[43:47] And when I have that, my life’s mission

[43:53] will be to spread his name and spread his fame to absolutely everyone.

[44:05] As the band comes up, you know, every week we reflect

[44:15] on what’s called the Lord’s Supper.

[44:19] Right before Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he had a meal with his disciples [44:28] and explained to them what this meal actually means.

[44:34] So the bread represents his broken body. The body of Jesus was broken. It was whipped. It was hung.

[44:45] Nails pierced his hands, his feet, spear pierced his side, crown of thorns on his head. [44:52] And his body was broken. He was crushed. He was pierced. He was wounded.

[44:59] And the bread represents the fact that all of that was done for your sin and for mine.

[45:05] But the cup, the cup represents something different. The cup represents that when all [45:10] that happened to Jesus, he bled. What that represented was the life of Jesus leaving his mortal body.

[45:20] But what it also meant was is that life could actually leave God and enter into us. [45:28] And so when the bread says this is the payment for your sins, the cup says this is the new life [45:34] that you can have. And when we take it and when we eat it and when we drink it, what it actually [45:41] represents in a metaphorical way is the life of Jesus entering into our lives. And that God, Savior [45:50] and King desires to be with you, to be for you, and to work through you forever.

[46:00] And when we eat and when we drink, we proclaim to every person around us, yes, I believe.

[46:13] Maybe there are some of you in here this morning. Maybe you’ve never trusted in Jesus. Maybe you’ve [46:18] never believed. Maybe you’ve been in here this morning and you’ve said, I thought I did, but [46:23] I didn’t believe in that Jesus. That Jesus is so much greater than the Jesus I’ve always heard of.

[46:29] This morning, my request to you isn’t that you just come down here and you eat and drink and then [46:35] walk away. My request to you is that this meal means something. So instead of just partaking [46:44] in it, I’m going to ask that if you’ve never trusted in Jesus, I’ll be right over there, [46:49] that you walk over there. There’ll be some in the foyer that you walk out there [46:54] and you talk to someone about that. So we can help you trust in Jesus. We can help you [47:01] believe. But if you’re in here this morning and you’ve trusted in Jesus and you believe,

[47:08] then in a few moments, there’s going to be six stations around this room that are open to you. [47:12] They’re always open when you trust. And when you come and when you partake, [47:18] I want you to understand that you’re proclaiming that Jesus is God, Jesus is Savior and Jesus is [47:23] King. You’re also proclaiming that when you walk out those doors today, that everything that you do [47:32] will be in the name of the King. When you’re ready, come.