March 15
“(God) promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,” Romans 1:2-4.
The good news of the Gospel which Paul was proclaiming was not something new and previously unheard-of. The promise of God to send a Savior into the world was proclaimed by the prophets and the poetical writers in the Old Testament Scriptures.
In the introductory words of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul proclaims the major truth of our Christian faith: The Savior in whom we believe and trust is the Son of Man and the Son of God. It is very important to emphasize this for the people of our day.
Many religious teachers and people in general will agree that Jesus lived on this earth and truly was a man. They will agree that He was a good man, and did a lot of good things. However, they will not agree that He was holy and without sin. And they object all the more to the teaching that Jesus is the Son of God.
Paul reminds his readers that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and also a true man, a descendant of King David. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a descendant of David. Paul says that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God . . . by the resurrection from the dead.” If Jesus had been only a true man, His body would still be buried somewhere outside of the city of Jerusalem. The resurrection of Jesus declares to the whole world that He is the Son of God. He conquered death.
Paul also emphasized the importance of Jesus’ resurrection in his Epistle to the Corinthians. He mentions a number of people, over 500 at one time, who saw Jesus alive after the resurrection. Then the apostle goes on to say, “If Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up – if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead,” 1 Corinthians 15:12-20.
Both in the Epistle to the Romans and the Epistle to the Corinthians, we see how important the resurrection of Jesus is for our Christian faith. We believe in a Savior who, as a true Man, suffered and died to redeem us, and who, as the Son of God, rose from the grave to conquer sin, death, and the devil for us! We have a risen Redeemer and an ever-living Lord!
“I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever-living Head.
He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives:
‘I know that my Redeemer lives!'” Amen.