Romans 1:1-7
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God — the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you’ve ever tried to read through the entire Bible – and I hope you have – you know the Old Testament is a challenge. Quite frankly, it’s a pretty strange and frightening place!
The Old Testament is filled with floods and arks and blood and wars and kings who cut off other king’s thumbs and big toes (I’m not kidding: read about Adoni-Bezek in Judges 1:4-7). It’s easy to just write off the Old Testament as ponderous and difficult to understand and jump straight to the New Testament.
But the Old Testament is important and even necessary for our understanding of the Gospel.
What does Paul mean by the “Gospel promised beforehand…”? He means that the gospel has always been there, that it has always been central to the story of God.
In the Book of Genesis, following the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, God says to the serpent,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel…”
Many scholars believe this is an early allusion to the coming of the Christ in the New Testament.
Then there is the story of Noah and the ark, as God brings judgment on the world because of sin, but also provides salvation – a powerful image of the gospel.
To Abraham God says:
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you… and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:2-3
In the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites are told to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts so that the Angel of Death will pass over their homes as judgment is brought on the Egyptians. This is a foreshadowing of the deliverance that is found in the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
In the Book of Job:
I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Job 19:25
In the prophet Isaiah we read:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
All of these are clear references to the coming of Jesus Christ and therefore are witnesses to the gospel. Why is it so important for us to know that the gospel was promised beforehand; that the gospel has always been the center of the story of God and his people?
It’s critical that we understand the gospel as being the center of the story from the beginning because one of the objections to Christianity is that the story of Christ’s resurrection was “made up” by a band of fanatical followers. But when we understand that the good news of God’s salvation was promised right from the beginning; when we see that God has always pursued his people with fierce and relentless love; we see that the story of Christ is not a fantasy, but the final and full expression of the good news of God’s grace.
Take some time to thank God for his word; and ask him to help you understand all of his word more deeply through the clarifying lens of the gospel.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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