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 human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some will listen and some will not. Some will hear and some will not. Some will heed and some will not. The gospel is for whosoever will. Whosoever will believe on his name will be saved. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) From beginning to end, the Bible is about salvation, about a deliverance from death to eternal life, a gift God has promised us through Jesus Christ, his son. The Children of Israel, of Jacob's loins, were led into slavery. Pharaoh, the king of that age, ruled them with an iron hand. They became his slaves, caught under his complete control. Yet through one miracle after another, God delivered them from the hands of the Pharaoh. God's chosen, the Children of Israel, were led out of the land of captivity by Moses. Moses, raised in the household of Pharaoh, a prince of this world, rejected his position in the secular land of Egypt, and fled to the wilderness. There, God talked to him from a burning bush. He told him that he must go back to the land of Egypt and lead his ethnic brothers and sisters out of the hands of Pharaoh. By performing many miracles, Moses persuaded Pharaoh to let the people go. The last miracle God allowed that put the cap on the people's deliverance was the killing of the firstborn in Egypt. All households that did not have sacrificial blood over their doorposts were visited by the death angel. He killed the firstborn male, destroying the legitimate heir who would inherit the wealth of the household. Such an action broke down the natural order of things, collapsing the dreams of the family, for the choice one of the family, the firstborn, was killed. The biblical account says, At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. (Exodus 12:29-30) But the blood of the lamb over the doorposts bought freedom for the people of Israel by releasing them from the hands of Pharaoh. They were no longer under the authority of the world but under God's rule.
We Christians are now the chosen ones. Once under the bondage of the devil, he owned the rights to our souls. He alone was our father, for we served him and lived out our lives in captivity, serving sin every day of our lives. We know because the Bible is clear that the wages of sin is death, but thankfully, the verse does not stop there: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. God had a freedom plan for his people. A descendant of David, born of a virgin, announced by angels: along came Jesus, called of God, filled with the Spirit, doing only the will of his Father. He came to a lost world, announcing freedom for whosoever will. He performed many miracles, just as Moses performed miraculous deeds. He performed so many miracles that the Bible says no man from the beginning of time had done the miracles He performed. The people saw this light, but could not understand the purpose of his ministry. Some thought, He was going to set up an earthly kingdom. They cried Hosanna when He entered Jerusalem riding on a humble colt. They thought He might throw off the yoke of the Romans. But He came not to set them free from the earthly authority of man. No, He came to set them free from the ruler of this world, the devil. He came to place his blood over the door of each household who would believe in him. He was ready to have mankind throw off the yoke of finiteness, to enter an eternal rest in his household, as the Children of God, not Children of Jacob or Israel. The blood was spilt on the hill of Calvary. That blood rolled down the wooden cross, but whoever accepts the shed blood of Christ by faith will escape the world of bondage. They will inherit the name of the chosen, Children of God. We who have taken Christ's work instead of our works, his salvation power in place of our weakness, will inherit a holiness that brings us to the Father. Christ's holiness is evident because He was resurrected, winning the victory over death and the grave. He did not face the consequence of sin, which is death. No, He is alive, He was elevated to heaven. We who are alive IN CHRIST have that same power of eternal life in us presently, at this time, as you are reading this breakfast. What a great joy must come to your heart when you realize the truth of that message. As we read in the Word: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
Yes, from the beginning of the Bible, the theme has been the same: to save eternally the human race that was made in God's image. The angel that announced Christ's birth to the shepherds said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11) All are chosen if they place their faith in the Holy One of Israel. Abraham was given the promise of being the father of many nations. By his willingness to believe God, to have faith in God's promise, he became the father of all who would believe as he did: believe in God's words and works, rather than believe in his own ideas and works. Abraham became the father of those who live by faith. We, in our day, live IN CHRIST by faith. We are lights for God in the darkness. To them (the saints) God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) We have not seen the full reality of our faith yet, but someday we will see the truth of our faith. We will be changed. Yes, Paul wrote we would be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:52) We do not know in what reality or form, but we do know Jesus, after his resurrection, asked to eat fish. If He were an amorphous ghost, the disciples would have seen this masticated fish floating around in the air. No, Jesus was not in ghost form. I believe that story is in the Bible for us to realize our eternal form will be something different from willowy forms floating around in the ether. No, we will have a form, a recognizable form, probably not having to eat fish to sustain our lives. But, whatever, we are the chosen, chosen to sit in God's throne room in the presence of our Lord. We are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. This world is not our home. Egypt is not our home. The devil is not our father. Because of the mercy and grace of God, we are now the Children of God through faith in the Son of God and his works. What a plan! The angels could not envision the plan of salvation. But this plan was in the heart of God from the beginning of time. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
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