GOD'S GREAT NEWS for MAN'S GREAT PROBLEM - Romans 1-8

How the story began ...

As a father, there are few things I love to do more than telling stories to my children. And my children can attest to how much I get into it: there are hands flying, loud and soft sounds, different voices and accents, dramatic deaths, and so forth. So, let me tell you a story as we begin this morning. The story of the book of Romans began on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the Spirit of God came upon the twelve disciples, infusing the dynamism of deity into a dozen common men. Peter preached a brilliantly crafted message of conviction for the Jews: Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah, the Deliverer sent by God to save the world from its sin, and they had crucified Him. In the mesmerized crowd that day was a group of "visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (i.e. Gentiles who had converted to Judaism)," as we learn in Acts 2:10. It is also probable that a zealous young rabbi named Saul was in the crowd. He was a man who had studied under the most famous rabbi of his day, Gamaliel, the grandson of the still-famous rabbi Hillel. Saul most likely lived in Jerusalem at that time. As the Holy Spirit preached with perfect eloquence through the fisherman that day, 3,000 men responded to his call to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Among that 3,000 were some Romans. Without any confirmed apostolic aid, these Roman converts formed a vibrant church community in Rome. Over the next twenty-five years, the faith of this Roman church became world renowned. The seeds of the Christian gospel were first sown on the Day of Pentecost, and one of the brightest flowers had grown and flourished under the shadow of Imperial tyranny in the mighty city of Rome.

But if that young rabbi, Saul of Tarsus, was there on the Day of Pentecost, Peter's pleas must have infuriated him. It would have rung the bell of "heresy" in his well-trained ears. We know from Acts 7 that Saul was present when another mighty spokesman for the great news of Jesus Christ preached to the Jews. This time the message came from Stephen, who was stoned by the enraged Jews. Saul held the assassins' cloaks. Saul then formed a posse and hunted down these Christians, imprisoning and persecuting many of them. But one very bright morning, Jesus Christ came in His resurrected body and asked Saul a simple question on the Damascus road: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Saul said, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And Jesus then said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do."

On that day, Saul answered the call of God. He became a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. He became a called and sent messenger from God, set apart to herald the message of God's great news for man's great problem. Today we will study how Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, begins the book of Romans, a letter written years later to that vibrant and faithful church at Rome. Let's read what Paul said in Rom. 1:1-7, then we will try to uncover what was in Paul's mind while composing this letter.

As we read Rom. 1:1-7, the first question we need to ask is this: why was Paul writing this letter? Why is his theme to be the "gospel of God," as he so clearly states in verse one? To answer these questions, we must journey in our minds to the city of Corinth, in the winter of 57 AD.

Paul's Last Will and Testament

During the years 47-57 AD, Paul had been engaged in the grand work to which he had been called as the Apostle to the Gentiles: planting churches throughout most of the Gentile areas surrounding the Aegean sea, including Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia. He had planted and, by the power of God working through him, had left in mature hands the strong churches at Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Iconium. He had also written letters to tame the wild group at Corinth.

During the winter of 57 AD, Paul decided to stay in the city of Corinth with his friend and fellow worker Gaius. Paul's gaze was now turned toward the next object of his great missionary plan, the western province of Spain, and his desire to take the gospel to that far-away outpost of the Roman empire. However, the first strategic step in carrying the gospel to Spain was to establish a base of operations in the heart of the empire itself: in Rome, the great city of seven hills on the Tiber. During his winter stay in Corinth, Paul's sights were thus: he needed to return to Jerusalem with a major financial love-gift he had been amassing among the Gentile churches, then he planned to begin his long journey westward to Spain, hoping to stop and establish his base of operations in Rome.

This choice of Rome as his base for extending his outreach into the west was wise from several vantage points. First, although Paul had never personally been there, the church in Rome was an established church, having been founded just shortly after Peter's moving message at Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. The fact that this church was solid is also attested in Romans 1:8, where Paul thanks God for them because their "faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world." Second, Rome was the center of world communication at that time. All roads led to Rome. Establishing Rome as a ministry base would ensure a healthy flow of support of all types from the realms where Christianity was established east of Rome through Rome and into the west. Rome would thus serve as the conduit through which the new converts in Spain could gain the assistance they would need to be established as lasting communities of believers. Third, Paul wanted to ensure that this crucial hub of civilization had a sound understanding of the gospel, since its prominent cultural, geographical and geopolitical position would give it a place of natural influence. So, it was important that Paul instruct the Roman Christians himself, in order to "establish" them as he says in Romans 1:11. Writing to them and establishing a base in Rome was a way of ensuring that the Roman church was solid in its church life, ministry, and its understanding of the gospel.

However, Paul's spirit was burdened during those winter months in Corinth. Not only was he burdened for the unreached masses to the west, but he was aware of the grave personal dangers he faced by travelling to Jerusalem. Paul knew that in Jerusalem the zealous Jews who strongly opposed his message would gladly seize any opportunity to thwart him. He knew the Jewish zealot all too well. He knew he was walking right into the lion's den by going to Jerusalem, where prophets are often killed. Prison or even martyrdom almost certainly awaited him. At Corinth, Paul composed his last will and testament, his final words, hoping to deposit his treasured message with a group of faithful stewards in Rome. In this letter, Paul clearly stated the case for the gospel of God, in the event he was taken out of the game in Jerusalem.

Introduction: The Messenger and His Message - Romans 1:1

As we discussed last week, Paul's identity is rooted absolutely and only in Jesus Christ in verse one: he is a bond-slave of Jesus Christ, called and sent by Jesus Christ, commissioned to carry the message about Jesus Christ. Knowing Jesus Christ intimately, he knows himself. And in having his identity issues laid to rest in Christ, he is able to focus not on his own self, but on something far larger than himself. He is a leader in a cause larger than any one man, but all about One Man. Paul is devoted to proclaiming the gospel of God. In this first verse, Paul narrows his focus to this great cause, this one grand theme of both his mission and the letter he is composing: the gospel of God. But what is the gospel of God?

I want to look at this phrase very closely, since we're going to be spending the next year or so studying its classic presentation in Romans 1-8. Most of us see the term "gospel," and we immediately think back to the definition we learned as children about this word. We think, "Oh yes, I know what 'gospel' means: it means 'good news.'" And having learned this as children, we usually don't stop to consider it afresh as adults. But let's look at this as if we had never heard the term.

Most of the great terms in the New Testament had stirring meanings for both Gentiles and Jews. The same is true for euangelion, or "gospel." For the common Roman, this word was used of the announcements from or about the Emperor. Followers of the imperial religion considered the Emperor to be a god, so news from him or about him was like a divine oracle. For example, we have the following record of a proclamation made by the Greeks of Asia Minor about 9 BC, when they made Caesar Augustus' birthday on September 23 the beginning of the annual civil calendar. Their proclamation read, "... Whereas the birthday of the god [Augustus] was the beginning for the world of the glad tidings ("gospel") that have come to men through him ... Paulus Fabius Maximus, the proconsul of the province ... has devised a way of honouring Augustus hitherto unknown to the Greeks, which is, that the reckoning of time for the course of human life should begin with his birth." Thus, the birth of the Emperor was great news, glad tidings, around which their whole calendar would revolve.

But in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, there is a far more stirring picture of this great news. Isaiah the poet-prophet envisioned a city at war in Is. 52:7, when he wrote, "how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news." The term for "good news" there is euangelion, "gospel." The scene Isaiah draws is this: Jerusalem as a city in the mountains is a city at war. Their army is fighting a foreign invader on a field of battle outside the city beyond the mountains. The city dwellers are milling around the central plaza of the city, waiting for any news from the battlefield. The climate on the plaza is stifling: an anxious crowd breathlessly waiting, knowing that the fate of their beloved city is out of their hands, being decided by their sons and fathers with their swords and shields. Will they win, securing safety and prosperity for the city ... or will the conqueror come to rape and pillage? Will they get to stay in their homes, or should they flee far away? Watchmen have been positioned on the watchtowers, to ascertain any movement in the direction of the battle, and deliver their news to the crowd waiting on pins and needles below. The watchman cranes his neck and shelters his eyes. Suddenly, he sees a lonely figure running on the mountain paths, obviously delivering news from the battlefield. The messenger stops, and gives the sign of victory. The watchman wheels around and delivers the same sign to the people waiting in the plaza below, and the pandemonium of celebration breaks out!!! They have won the victory!!! The messenger has brought great news of a victory won, igniting joy among the people.

Perhaps Paul chose this word because of the angelic messenger who visited the shepherds in the hills above Bethlehem, who said, "... Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy ..." about the birth of Christ in the township below, far better than the birth of any emperor. Paul saw the coming of Christ as the greatest news of victory the world would ever hear, because He brought victory over sin and death by His death and resurrection.

This is why I translate this term as more than just "good news." IT IS GREAT NEWS!!! It is the greatest news you will ever hear in your life; it is the greatest news any human can ever hear.

The way we talk about "good news" today drives me to want to unshackle this term, redefining it as GREAT NEWS. We say things like, "Is there any good news in that paper today?" as if news of a new factory for Greenville is on the same level as the news about Jesus Christ's victory over sin and death on the cross and through the resurrection. There is good news, and then there is great news. Let all other news in the world be considered good, but let this news alone stand as the greatest news the world will ever hear. That is why you and I need to understand it afresh, and communicate it freely to our neighbors. It is great news indeed.

But Paul tells us it is "great news OF GOD." Theologians often refer to Romans as Paul's great letter, his highest achievement, his magnum opus. We often refer to Paul's message, his presentation of the gospel. But it is not Paul's great news, though he proclaims it: it is news datelined from the throne of God. It is God's personal message of victory to a people embroiled in a bitter war against the pain, the sin, the helplessness, the bleakness of life on this planet. The message of great news is from God ... it is not the literary or logical masterpiece of Paul. THIS WORD IS FROM GOD!! Paul is but the messenger sent by God, giving us the victory sign that we might celebrate the news and share it far and wide.

This resonates with me, because life is so hard. Anyone who says that life on this globe is not painful and hard is living in a dream world divorced from reality. Life is a battle: a battle for financial survival, a battle against loneliness, a battle against sickness, a battle against our shortcomings and our past, a battle against being swallowed up by our work or the false values of this world, a battle against bad priorities and selfish choices that break down our relationships, a battle against our wagging tongues that constantly get us in trouble, a battle against the aging process that steals our vitality and good health, a battle against this, a battle against that. But God says our lives are no longer defined by the battle; we have news of a great and eternal victory. More than that, we can personally know the mighty Victor. He knows our battles, each and every one. He is our indwelling Victor. He can define our lives, He can root our identity, He can invest in us His victory so that the battle is not all there is. He can nestle us in His victory when we are tempted to wrestle against all our enemies. One of the biggest steps toward Christian maturity comes when we quit focusing on the battle, and begin fellowshiping in a deep way with the Victor, regardless of how fiercely the battle is raging. Being able to focus on the Victor and not the battle is indeed great news!

I have to share something that happened in my life when I first began translating and studying the book of Romans. I had grown up in a Christian home ever since I was six years old. My parents were Bible Study Fellowship dicussion and teaching leaders, I had heard tapes and sermons by Major Ian Thomas, I had sat many a time in front of the TV to watch Billy Graham deliver those piercingly sincere gospel messages, I had read and been trained in sharing my faith with the little yellow booklet entitled The Four Spiritual Laws, so by the time I had grown up I thought I understood the gospel. The gospel had ceased to be fresh to me; in truth, in my heart it was no longer great news, no longer good news ... it was just old news. But when I started studying Romans to see what Paul meant by this gospel of God, I was completely astonished at everything I did not know. We have canned the gospel and boiled it down in our culture to the point that it has lost its logical power. Its unique answer to man's great problem of sin has been shrunk into four laws in a little tiny booklet. But it is far grander than any of us can even begin to imagine. I pray God to open all our hearts to its rhetorical forcefulness, to its life-changing power, to the urgency of telling our dying friends about this greatest of news.

So, here we have the messenger, Paul, and his message, God's great news. Now let's look at God's unique preparation for that great news in verse 2.

Preparation for the Great News: Historical Foundations in the Prophets - Rom. 1:2

When Paul first thinks of the great news, he immediately thinks of its undeniable historical and prophetic underpinnings. The first thing Paul says about the gospel is that it was "promised beforehand." The main emphasis here is that this great news does not appear in the world suddenly with no context; on the contrary, unlike any religious word in the history of man, it is a word expanding and fulfilling God's earlier promises contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. A year ago I spent an entire year studying through the Hebrew Scriptures, book-by-book, week-in and week-out. By the end, I realized that the Hebrew Scriptures can be described in this way: it is a book of promises. There are no answers in the Hebrew Scriptures: only promises regarding a coming answer. In Jesus Christ we see the living answer, the Promised One who fulfilled the promises starting in Gen. 3:15 and traversing the entire Hebrew Scriptures to the last verses of Malachi 4.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of this historical context for the great news. The fact that Jesus' life, death and resurrection were foretold in detail sets the great news from God totally apart from any other religion. In no other religion is History itself called forward as a key witness verifying the truth of the religion through its written documents. But with the great news of Jesus, it was all foretold by GOD HIMSELF, as Paul here tells us. Thus, this is no man-made designer religion ... it is truth from God, rooted firmly and certainly in well-documented history, culminating in Jesus Christ!!

Did any prophet foretell the rise of Mohammed? Did any sage foretell the birth, death and resurrection of Joseph Smith? Was there any preconception of the Buddha? Of course not. The prophetic foundations underlying the Christian message set it absolutely apart from other world religions. History has borne eloquent witness to the veracity of the prophecies about Jesus Christ.

The argument from OT prophecy was stressed by the Holy Spirit from the very inception of the Church at Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:24-36, 3:19-26, 7:2-53, etc.). Paul, following the lead of the Spirit in men such as Peter and Stephen, lays great stress on fulfilled prophecy as the undeniable foundation under the great news. Throughout the book of Acts, this argument from the fulfilled OT Scriptures is the primary evangelistic strategy put forward in winning over Jews. Paul has been profoundly moved that the great promises of the Hebrew Scriptures have been fulfilled in history in Christ. Are we as compelled about this as Paul was? Are we as excited about Jesus Christ as the hub of history as Paul is here in these verses? Something about Paul's heart and focus here moves me deeply, and challenges any lukewarmness in me.

So, we have Paul as the messenger, and his theme is God's great news, and we know this great news is well-founded on historically fulfilled prophecy in Jesus Christ, but what is this great news about Christ?

Personification of the Great News: The Man-God Jesus Christ - Rom. 1:3, 4

In verses 3,4, Paul tells us this great news is not a postcard from God, it is not a Western Union telegram, it is not a CNN news brief, it is a unique Person. Following the flow of Paul's thought here from verse 1 to 3, "God's great news [is] ... concerning His Son." But is it news about His Son? Not really. In truth, His Son embodies the great news. His Son IS the great news. This is the exciting news Paul can't wait to tell us. It has only taken him three verses to get to the subject of subjects for Paul: Jesus Christ.

But what kind of unique person is this Jesus Christ, this Son? In verses 3 and 4, God tells us something that makes His Son unique and uniquely scandalous to the world: He is an earthly King according to His humanity from David's line, and He is a heavenly King as the Son of God and thus is deity. Humanity and deity, in one. He is further distinguished from all other men as the Son of God in three distinct ways: 1) in power, 2) according to the Spirit of holiness, and 3) by resurrection from death.

First, then, we see that His Son "was born of a seed of David according to the flesh." This simply means that as a man, he was physically born of a seed of David. Joseph was legally the heir of David, and Mary was physically an heir of David if you look at Luke's important genealogy. Jesus was born the King of the Jews, the inheritor of the promises to David made back in II Sam. 7. But in verse 4, Jesus was also declared the Son of God. Thus, He uniquely in all of history could legitimately lay claim to full humanity and full deity at the same time. This title "Son of God," would have pitted Jesus against the Roman Emperor, who was considered a god. Simply put, Paul is identifying Jesus here as a physical and earthly King, as well as a heavenly and spiritual King. Paul tells us here that Jesus Christ is the uniquely reigning God-Man, the King of Kings.

This is Paul's simple statement about the Incarnation. Like the term "gospel," it is so easy to hear about Jesus being both God and Man and to dismiss it because it is old news to us. The incarnation was a dry theological concept to me until I read G. K. Chesterton's book The Everlasting Man. C. S. Lewis thought that book was the best apologetic for the Christian faith written in the English language. Let me tell you what that book revealed to me: that the fact of Christ as Creator becoming Man is one of the two most startling facts in history. There is nothing else like it; it is entirely unique; it is supernatural yet completely natural.

Chesterton wrote in his conclusion to that book, "Right in the middle of all these things stands up an enormous exception ... It is nothing less than the loud assertion that this mysterious maker of the world has visited his world in person. It declares that really and even recently, or right in the middle of historic times, there did walk into the world this original invisible being; about whom the thinkers make theories and the mythologists had down myths; the Man Who Made the World. That such a higher personality exists behind all things had indeed always been implied by the best thinkers, as well as by all the most beautiful legends. But nothing of this sort had ever been implied in any of them. It is simply false to say that the other sages and heroes had claimed to be the mysterious master and maker, of whom the world had dreamed and disputed. Not one of them had ever claimed to be anything of the sort. The most that any religious prophet had said was that he was the true servant of such a being. The most that any primitive myth had ever suggested was that the Creator was present at the Creation. But that the Creator was present ... in the daily life of the Roman Empire -- that is something utterly unlike anything else in nature. It is the one great startling statement that man has made since he spoke his first articulate word, instead of barking like a dog ... it makes nothing but dust and nonsense of comparative religion."

The incarnation is the second most startling event in history; the resurrection is the most startling. That this maker of the world visited His world in person is a mystery; that He should choose to come back to it after it had killed Him is an even greater mystery. But such was His love: in love He came in the first place, and in unconditional love He returned in resurrection power and glory. His love would not be denied, not by sin, not by death.

Having stated that Jesus was the unique God-Man in history, Paul tells of three things that set Jesus entirely apart. Jesus was utterly unique in personal power, in personal holiness through the Spirit of holiness, and in His victory over death at the resurrection. First let's consider Jesus' power. He possessed the power of the Creator over both the physical and spiritual kingdoms. He routinely healed any disease imaginable (power over sin and sicknesses stemming from a fallen world), He cast out demons (to display His spiritual authority and power), He calmed the storm (demonstrating His power over nature), and He even raised at least three people from the dead (power over even death)!! No wonder Jesus appealed to His works of power as the definitive answer to John the Baptist's doubts in Matt. 11.

Second, Jesus' life bespoke a holiness far beyond the grasp of other men. His holiness came from the Spirit of holiness, a Hebraic expression meaning the Holy Spirit. Jesus was totally submitted to the Spirit of God; in Him was the Spirit without measure. He was a man entirely filled and controlled by the Spirit, a man made completely "whole." He was the only man who was man as God had intended man to be. There was in Him a fulness, a completeness of deity brought by the indwelling of the Spirit and His utter communion with the Spirit in all activities and thoughts. D. L Moody was reported to have said, "The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him..." Moody was wrong: the world had seen Jesus Christ, the only man in history absolutely consecrated to God in complete holiness. No wonder that Man changed the world.

Third, Jesus was raised from the dead. He came once to live in the world and to suffer and die for it. But in the resurrection He came back to love the very ones who killed Him, to infill the very ones who deserted Him, to forgive the very one who denied Him. The resurrection from the dead sets Jesus apart forever: He is king over death, He holds the keys to the grave, He personifies hope, and His love and life never fail. No wonder Paul had given his life to such a Lord, and no wonder Paul was so thrilled about sharing this great news about the greatest Man and God ever to live.

Paul's passion for Jesus Christ brims over magnificently in these verses. Having his identity rooted firmly in Christ, he is free to focus exclusively on Jesus Christ, proclaiming in short form the great news about Him in vs. 2-4. Paul very wisely wants us to set our focus on Jesus Christ from the very beginning. He is the subject of subjects, the only one worth preaching about. Paul cannot wait to let the message unfold logically, although that will come in Rom. 1:18-8:39; he wants to tell us the basic truths about Jesus Christ from the very beginning. I remember hearing Ian Thomas talk about his preaching. He said, "I will preach Christ to you; nothing else." I remember going to listen to Michael Card in concert, and he said, "I write music about Jesus Christ, because he is the only one really worth writing about." Paul is so excited about Jesus Christ in these verses, and he paints a mighty portrait of Christ here. Are we as excited and enraptured by Christ as Paul is here?

In the end, the gospel is all about focusing on Jesus Christ and proclaiming Him. Back in 1850, a young college student was searching for some meaning in his life. He had been looking for a church in Colchester, England for six months until he was forced by a heavy snow storm on Jan. 6 to stop in the Artillery Street Primitive Methodist Church. He had avoided that church previously because he had heard that those people sang so loud they gave you a headache. But he couldn't get to any other church. So, he came in and sat sheepishly in the back. Soon a tall, thin man stood up and said, "Looks as if our minister was held up by the weather ... reckon you'll have to put up with me. Now I'll take a text like all preachers do. 'Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth' (Is. 45:22)." Sitting there in the pew, the young college student grimaced ... the man couldn't even pronounce what he was saying properly! The preacher continued, "The text says 'Look.' Now lookin' don't take a deal of pains. It ain't liftin' your foot or finger; it is just 'Look!' Now some of ye are lookin' to yourselves, but it's no use lookin' there. Ye may say, 'Wait for the Spirit's workin.' But I say, look to Christ." This simple phrase riveted the attention of the student. Why hadn't he thought of this before? The preacher then spotted the student's pained face. He said, "Young man, you look miserable. Look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look!" That young man did look to Jesus Christ for salvation that day. His name was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of the great preachers of the modern era. What that country preacher said that snowy morning is what Paul has been saying in these opening verses: look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! (Taken from How Great Christians Met Christ, pg. 82-84).

Purpose of the Great News: Fostering Obedience, Honoring the Name - Rom. 1:5

Now, in verse 5, we get to see the twin purposes behind God's great news that Paul was preaching. Part of the purpose of preaching God's great news to the Gentiles is that they might demonstrate obedience springing from faith. But the main purpose behind the preaching of the great news is to give honor and glory to the name of Jesus Christ.

First, Paul says that through Jesus Christ "we received grace and apostleship for obedience springing from faith among all the Gentiles." The "we" here I believe is a closely defined set of apostles set apart by God to carry the message of the great news. This group is distinguished from Paul's readers, since he refers to them specifically as "you" in the very next verse. But this corps of apostles was gifted uniquely by God with His grace and the spiritual gift/office of apostleship by which they could properly establish what the great news was for the entire Church age.

This special grace and the unique spiritual gift/office of apostleship was to produce an obedience springing from faith among the Gentiles. Paul says here that the specific nature of his commission from God is to bring the Gentiles to faith, and from that faith to obedience to God. This means a living and breathing faith that affects one's personal and moral choices, bringing those choices into obedience to the nudging of God's Spirit and His revealed word concerning the life of the Christian.

Now, this makes sense in light of what we have all heard. We preach the gospel and give to missions programs so that the lost around the world will be saved by faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. This makes sense to us. But the main purpose behind preaching or sharing the gospel has been lost to us. We are to preach and share this great news "on behalf of His name." If you are like me, you have no category for this. What does it mean that we preach or share "on behalf of His name"?

Paul holds his commission to be sacred because it is a commission to bear the name of Jesus Christ admirably and righteously as His representative to the Gentiles. This commission lay at the heart of Paul's great intensity. Ezekiel 36:22 says that God's salvation through the death of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit was "for My holy name," and not for Israel's sake. What a curious concept for us!

"The Name," both in the OT and the NT, stands for God as revealed for man's acknowledgment. This was a powerful concept for the Jews, who revered God so greatly that they referred to Him simply as "The Name" (hashem). Clearly this is a point of profound intersection for Paul as a Jew and now as the Name-bearer of Jesus Christ. Paul's extensive use of the name for Jesus Christ in this passage, up to four times in seven verses, bears witness to His desire to be aligned with and give homage to that great name. The fact that Jesus' name includes the very personal first name "Jesus" also marks the development of Christianity relative to Judaism: God goes from being the revered and somewhat distant Hashem to being Jesus Christ, Man-God incarnate and personal/relational God.

I was struck this week in reading a TIME magazine article about Billy Graham and Franklin Graham, Billy's oldest son and successor in the ministry. The article was entitled "The Prodigal Son," and it chronicled Franklin's sometime painful journey from rebellious son to a rebel with a cause: the gospel of God. But in that article, the author made a very clear assessment of evangelicalism in America today. He traced Billy Graham's influence over the past fifty years, such that today almost half of all Americans hold to these basic evangelical tenets of faith: "that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, and that the Bible is inerrant, or utterly truthful." Billy Graham kept the great news about Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord at the forefront of the evangelical agenda in this country, at arena crusades around the country and the world. But recently, the name of Christ has emerged in a different arena. The author says, "The [evangelical] movement's energy, once generated by the fervor of Christian witness, appears now to flow more from the red-hot political engagement of such Christian Right warriors as ..." From the arena revival to the political arena. This trend concerns me.

In our country today, the name of Christ has been appended to political slogans -- Christian Right, Christian Coalition, etc. When most people think of the name "Christian" they think about politics and family values, not about our compassionate Christ who came to save them from their sin. We have borne aloft the name of Christ as a political banner, but not as the healing balm of the nation as Moses did when he lifted the bronze serpent for the dying to look at in faith and thereby live. Now political imvolvement within a republic is wonderful; but when our primary Christian activity is political rather than sharing the gospel or spreading the compassionate love of God in Christ, then we are out of balance. The question is this for each of us: how do I bear the name of Jesus Christ within this community? When people look at me and listen to me, do they see and hear Christ in me? Do I lift up Christ through my life and words, that people might look to Jesus Christ and be saved?

Paul's Audience: Romans Set Apart for the Sake of the Great News - Rom. 1:6, 7

Let's look briefly at Paul's audience, the Roman Christians who comprised the church at Rome. There are three characteristics of the Roman Christians Paul cites here. First, they were "called ones of Jesus Christ," meaning they belonged to Jesus Christ because Jesus had called them and now owned them as Lord just as He owned Paul. Like Paul, these Roman Christians were both bond-slaves and Name-bearers, as are we today if we are Christians.

The second characteristic of these Roman Christians is that they are "beloved of God" from verse 7. This does not mean that God didn't love anyone else in Rome, only that these specific individuals to whom Paul was writing were beloved of God indeed. This is who they were from God's perspective ... and it is also who we are if we are Christians.

The third characteristic of these Roman Christians is that they are "called holy ones." This is a verbal adjective meaning they are called holy ones, called by God, holy ones made holy by His calling. The term translated here as "saints" is a poor translation, especially in light of the Catholic church and the "saints" they canonize. It literally means "holy ones." Thus, not only are they beloved of God (which we today like to emphasize), but they are also called holy ones (which we today like to forget).

This is a radical difference from our current-day theology. We love the fact that we are beloved, and that is how we market the gospel. But, in the same breath, Paul tells us immediately of God's claim on the moral, ethical side of our lives. We are beloved, and we are Name-bearers, and we are solemnly called by God to be holy ones in word and deed, in external work and internal thought. Thus, from God's standpoint here in Romans, being a Christian means being beloved ... and being holy.

Finally, Paul gives his salutations: "grace to you all." Fortunately this comes here, since it is by grace alone that we have received His love, and by grace alone that we can fulfill His call to holiness. This is Paul's primary greeting: grace to you all. But Paul also adds "and peace from God our Father." To Paul, this is perhaps the most glorious result of the great news and grace having worked in someone's life unto salvation: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God ..." Rom. 5:1. Paul is directing this letter to those whose lives are already typified by the changing power of the gospel, who already live in theire new identity in Christ spoken of in Rom. 5-8.

In the last phrase of this one long, empassioned sentence in Greek is the apt ending "and the Lord Jesus Christ." This marvelously brings to conclusion the first phrase of this passage: "Paul a bond-slave ... and the Lord/Owner Jesus Christ." But the order, with the Lord Jesus Christ listed after God the Father is very significant, making God the Father the head over all and Christ the Lord head over us.

Conclusion -- Setting our Tune to Jesus Christ

This passage has spoken deeply to me this week. Paul begins the book of Romans with one long, empassioned sentence. All of verses one through seven is one sentence in Greek. It keeps going because of Paul's passion for his message; his passion for his Jesus Christ. He mentions the name of Jesus Christ four times in this passage. Paul seeks to be a pure and honorable Name-bearer of Jesus Christ. From the very beginning of this book, Paul's focus is riveted on Jesus Christ.

Charles Spurgeon had been looking for a church for six months. He was lost on a snowy morning. But then he looked to Jesus Christ in a simple way, and was saved.

As we at Metropolitan start a new era, let us begin by following Paul's wonderful example in this passage. Paul starts Romans by riveting our gaze where it must be: on the face of Jesus Christ. Let us start our years together with the same vision: the face of our Christ. There are so many distractions to focus on, but we must not allow the enemy to distract us. Let us focus on Jesus Christ, and what He is doing in our midst, that we might be fully available to Him to work through us and give us His vision for each other and for where He is taking this church. He is Lord of this church; our gaze must be riveted to Him.

Let me close with a simple story. Billy Graham used to tell of an old sheepherder working in a very remote part of the West several decades ago. This man lived very simply with his dogs, and his flock, and he lived in a ramshackle cabin. His delight and joy in life was the violin he liked to play. But over time, his violin became hopelessly out of tune. And out in the middle of nowhere, he had no way of tuning his instrument. Finally, he saw another person out on the range, and he gave them a desperate note he had written to the radio station he often listened to. In the note, he pleaded with the station to strike the tone of "A" at a certain hour on a certain day. The manager of the station decided to accomodate the old fiddler, and at the prescribed time, they played the true tone of "A" over the radio waves. The delighted sheepherder heard the extended note, and from that was able to tune his violin. His cabin was filled once more with the sweet sounds of his music.

May Jesus Christ be our "A," the one note to which all our lives are tuned, and may the music that is our lives be sweet in His ears, in the ears of our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, and in the ears of a listening world seeking the right note to tune their lives to.

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