Title: The Promised Gospel
(Explanation of Romans 2)
The promised gospel
(Text: Romans 1:1-2)
Introduction: Paul is not saying here that the beginning of the gospel was never accomplished through the birth of Jesus Christ or his gospel ministry. This gospel is what God promised in advance through the prophets in the Bible concerning His Son.” Therefore, the study of Jesus Christ cannot ignore the Old Testament. A theologian who said that the Old Testament is explained by the New Testament and the New Testament is included in the Old Testament is a very good statement.
1. Paul's Apostleship
Paul makes strong claims about his apostleship in his epistles. At the outset of the book of Romans, Paul says, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, was called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” Of course, Paul is not claiming his apostleship here in the sense of being included among the 12 apostles. Paul had sufficient grounds and qualifications to claim that he was an apostle. Paul first saw the resurrected Jesus himself. As Paul testified of the many witnesses concerning the Lord's resurrection, he finally said, "Lastly, when he was not full, he appeared to me like an egg" (1 Corinthians 15:8). Second, Paul was chosen by Jesus for the sake of the gospel of the Lord.
To Ananias, who lived in the city of Damascus, the Lord said in a vision, “This man is my chosen vessel to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Not only that, but Paul received many exceedingly great revelations from the Lord and wrote them down (2 Corinthians 13:7).
2. The Promised Gospel
(1) The word “gospel” means good news or good news. The Greek word for the word gospel is euangelion. This word means good news, good news. What is the good news for those who are forever destroyed by sin? What would you say the good news is? It is the news of apology, the news of salvation, and the news of eternal life. This gospel is good news that must be spread widely. However, this message can only be delivered by those who have received the Holy Spirit. Before ascending to heaven, the Lord commanded his disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my servants in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
(2) Paul said that this gospel is the gospel of God. The word “gospel of God” means that this gospel was given by God. It says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” The gospel is from God by God. The gospel is God's covenant, but it is a covenant based on God's eternal promise. This covenant cannot be imitated, nor modified nor altered by anyone because its source is God.
(3) It was said that this gospel was a promise concerning ‘the Son’. The word “son” is interpreted as “with regard to the Son”, and the Son spoken of here is an expression that means only the only Son, the only Son of God, and the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Even angels are sometimes expressed as sons of God (Job 1:6). And even on this earth, God's people are called the sons of God (Genesis 6:2). But the word ‘his son’ refers only to his only begotten Son.
There can be no gospel without the Son. The Son is the essence of the gospel. The Son is the subject of the Gospel. God fulfilled the gospel through His Son. Therefore, life is judged by this Son, not anything else. “He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son does not have life” (1 John 5:12).
3. The Son Promised and Testified by the Prophets
By saying that the gospel was foretold in the Bible through the prophets, Paul made the Bible account for the witness of the very Son of God. The Bible we are talking about here is the Old Testament. We know that the gospel of God about Jesus Christ exists only in the New Testament, so it is easy to focus only on the New Testament. However, we need to know that the Son in the New Testament is the gospel about the Son of God in the Old Testament, which has already been testified by the prophets.
(1) The promise concerning this son begins with the offspring of the woman. The gospel of God begins with the fall due to human sin. When Adam sinned and died, God first revealed it in a promise concerning his Son. He said that the Messiah, who will be sent to our fallen lives in the future, is the descendant of women. He said, “I will make you hostile to the woman, and your descendants to her offspring and enemies, and her offspring shall bruise you in the head, and you shall bruise her in the heel” (Genesis 3:15). .
(2) This son appears in Abel's sacrifice. Abel is the first person to appear righteous by promise through his son. He was justified by slaughtering a lamb and offering a sacrifice with its blood and fat (Genesis 4:4).
(3) The covenant concerning this son is revealed in Abraham's calling. God called Abraham from Ur of Chaldea in order to have the promised Messiah be born through him. The seed of Abraham, who said, “And through your seed all peoples under the heavens will be blessed” refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Genesis 22:18).
(5) The copper serpent that Moses set on a pole in the wilderness was also a shadow of the promise concerning his son. Jesus testified of this fact to Nicodemus (Numbers 21:6--9, John 3:14).
(6) The prophet whom Moses testified to be a prophet like me is a promise concerning the Son of God. These words were the promises recorded in the book of the Law, and Israel waited for the Messiah by these words (Deuteronomy 18:15, John 1:21).
(7) There are countless promises about the Son in the Psalms. Psalm 2:2 = Anointed One, Psalm 2:12 = Kiss his Son, Psalm 16:10 = Resurrection of Christ, Psalm 22 = suffering of the Lord, Psalm 89:4 = Promise of the Son of David, Psalm 110:4 = High priest after the order of Melchizedek.
(8) There are many promises about the Son in the book of Isaiah. Isa 7:14 = Immanuel, Isa 9:6-7 = Giving us a son, Isa 11:1,2 = A sprout from the branch of Jesse. Isaiah 53:1-9 = prophecy of the sufferings of the Son, etc.
Conclusion: God made promises to us through His prophets, written in the Bible about His Son. We must study and study this Bible and have a lot of knowledge about the Son, so that we can stand firm in God's promises and have the assurance of salvation.