Romans chapter 1, verses 1 to 17.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh,
and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness,
by his resurrection from the dead.
Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship
to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Firstly, I thank God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son,
that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers,
asking that somehow by God's will I may know, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you,
but thus far have been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you,
as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
I am under obligation, both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish,
so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.
As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.
Well, the question I want to put in your mind this morning to get your thinking juices going
is a very simple one, and we'll end with it as well.
What is God like?
Now, that question is a question that every person asks and answers at some point in their lifetime.
Every person.
Of course, some decide, haven't asked the question and answer it by deciding that God doesn't even exist.
So, there comes a conclusion, our vast universe,
life itself, from the biggest point down to the most detailed experience of our own personal existence,
is simply the product of natural forces.
And yet, I found it really interesting that people who decide that
often still speak of spiritual experience.
When they engage with nature, for instance.
And so, simply deciding God doesn't exist doesn't seem to close out their craving for something spiritual.
Most, of course, decide that God is real.
And I think people decide that it's because people need a beating heart,
something real, something personal at the center of our universe.
And these people, generally, are openly religious people.
Some, of course, then, there's subdivisions in there.
Some are driven by their own sort of warm, fuzzy feelings.
And so, they decide that God is like an indulgent grandfather,
or a best buddy type figure.
He's the one who always thinks you're special.
It doesn't matter what you do.
He's the one who will always accept you,
and just be happy to hang out with you.
No rules, no demands.
Just spoils you, just like that indulgent grandfather.
Even though he might be thinking about different things inside.
Others are driven by a deep-seated fear.
Fear of death.
A fear of standing before God's justice.
Fear of being rejected by God.
The God they believe in is somewhere out there.
And oftentimes, they decide that God is something akin to a cruel tyrant.
Often, these same people are desperate.
They please God through their religious actions.
And yet, for all their religious actions,
they don't seem to be able to discover a sense of peace,
or a sense of being accepted,
and the joy that that might bring them.
But let's make it more personal.
Most in this room,
if not all in this room,
I'm only excluding the very, very young here,
most in this room, that is from toddlers up,
are already forming,
or have already formed,
your view of God.
Then the question becomes,
on what basis have you decided your view of God?
And with what degree of certainty
do you hold your view of God?
Do you have any sense of embarrassment
in speaking of God
to those you rub shoulders with on a daily basis?
Paul declares,
he's not ashamed of the gospel.
He's not ashamed of God
as displayed in the gospel.
Now, I assume,
and it is an assumption,
but I assume that since Paul leads with that,
then it is fairly likely
that some Christians in the church at Rome
were indeed ashamed of God
or ashamed of the gospel.
Perhaps that's you too.
In some hidden part of your brain,
you're not even game to give voice to.
Well, friends,
I want to say to you this morning
that studying Paul's letter
to the Christians at Rome,
I believe,
will radically change your life,
whether you're a Christian or not,
at this moment.
Why?
Why am I so confident in that?
Because the letter
to the Christians at Rome
is all about God's gospel,
and God's gospel
is all about showing us God,
what he's like.
And you can't really discover
what God is like
without being profoundly impacted
and changed by that.
In his introduction,
Paul,
which we're looking at this morning,
the first 17 verses,
in his introduction,
Paul gives a beautiful summary
of what God has done
and how it so perfectly suits
what we need.
everything by nature
of the introduction,
everything will be dealt with
in depth
in the subsequent chapters.
The intro is just
to whet our appetite,
as it were,
just to make us drool
over what's coming
when we see something
and what God's like,
what God has done,
what God is doing
in our lives,
that which we sort of summarize
as the gospel of Jesus.
And I want to use
three headings to unpack it
and then come back
to a more personal thing.
So the first one is
that the gospel
is God's initiative.
Paul's introduction
begins and ends
with an emphasis
on the gospel of God.
Verse 2,
the focus is on
what God has announced,
what God has done
for his people.
The gospel,
in Paul's mind,
is entirely
God's doing.
Verse 17,
as we understand
what God has done
in his gospel,
we also learn heaps
about what God is like.
The gospel reveals
God's righteousness
or God's character.
But what does that mean?
What does it mean
to talk about
the righteousness of God?
Well,
it means lots of things,
but in part,
it refers to his character.
God always does
things properly.
God always acts
with integrity.
He maintains
perfect justice,
yet manages to show
mercy and generosity
to his guilty,
rebellious people.
God,
in his righteousness,
doesn't fudge
or cover over sin.
He confronts it
and deals with it
and the guilt
of his people.
And in part,
God's righteousness
refers to his actions.
In the gospel,
we see God acting.
Acting to do what?
acting to deal
with the basic dilemma
of human life.
That is,
we are sinful,
dirty people
and God,
being clean and holy,
cannot relate to us,
will not relate to us
in that condition.
So,
the righteousness of God
is God's action
to make dirty,
undeserving people
clean and acceptable to him.
God's action
is about God
doing for us
that which we could
never ever
do for ourselves.
Meet God's standard
of obedience
and justice
and truth.
That's not the most
amazing thing,
that's amazing as it is.
The most amazing thing
about that
is that it's all
available to anybody
who wants it
through faith.
Verse 17,
by faith
from first to last.
Hard to know exactly
what that means
but it seems to mean
that from the start
to the finish,
it's just about faith.
God has done
what he has done.
We receive
what God has done
through faith.
And what is faith?
Well, faith
is taking God
at his word.
It's not simple.
It's believing
what God has said.
The gospel of Jesus
is God's declaration
that in recognizing
our need to be rescued
or saved
from the consequences
of our rebellion
or sin
and simply trusting Jesus
to be our righteousness,
to be the means
by which we will be
acceptable to God
and loved by God,
we find therefore
forgiveness
and restoration
to relationship
with God.
In a very real sense,
God does all
the heavy lifting
and then says,
it's all yours
if only you will believe,
if only you will take me
at my word
that I've done this for you.
Something you can never
do for yourself.
Friends,
the gospel shows us
what God is like,
but in more detail,
the gospel shows us
how much God
loves his
fallen,
distorted,
grotesque image bearers,
grotesque because of sin,
how much he wants
to relate to them,
how much he wants
to restore them
to be that
which he created them
to be.
He's announced
this way of restoring
full relationship
to people
who deserve
only his condemnation.
We call it
the gospel of Jesus.
Second point then
is that God's initiative
comes with
all God's power
guaranteeing
therefore it will be
successful
or it is successful.
Paul describes himself
as a servant
or an apostle,
a special messenger
of God in other words.
We might use
more modern terms,
a contract worker
with a specific task
of making known
this wonderful initiative
from God
to anyone
and everyone
who will listen.
The next cab
off the rank
for Paul
is coming to Rome
and then he hopes
to get to Spain.
Wherever people
will listen,
wherever Paul can go,
he's contracted
to speak of this
wonderful initiative
of God
to rescue
undeserving people.
But God's gospel
is never dependent
on Paul
or any of the other
apostles for success.
Look at verse 2.
What Paul is speaking,
his message,
is not a new message.
In fact,
it's the culmination,
it's the final piece
of a jigsaw
that's been built
throughout the whole
of the Old Testament.
God's one plan
of salvation
promised over generations
the plan
to re-engage
with his people
in rich,
everlasting relationship.
And God's power
over the generations
was seen
in keeping his plan
on track
in spite of all sorts
of white-anting
of his plan
by evil people.
God's power
was clearly evident.
but never more clearly
than in the birth,
life,
death,
and resurrection
and return to heaven
of Jesus
as Lord and Savior.
And we see there
in verse 4,
Jesus was clearly human,
descended from King David.
God's promise to David
was that a descendant
of his would re-establish
God's kingdom
as an eternal kingdom.
And God's power
demonstrated
in Jesus' resurrection
from the dead
proved that Jesus
was truly God
as well as truly human.
And therefore,
perfectly qualified
Jesus to establish
God's eternal kingdom
and rule.
And so he returns
to heaven
as Lord and Savior.
And verse 5
is that same
power
which underpins
the authority
of Paul
and other apostles
and which
in Paul's own generation
has resulted
in so many people
being saved,
being changed
from the inside out,
coming to Jesus
for salvation.
And verses 6
through to 12
is very personal details
as Paul just
reflects
on his desire
to visit
with the Christians
at Rome.
The fact that there
are so many Christians
in Rome,
the fact that there
are any Christians
in Rome,
confirms the reality
of the gospel
to Paul.
But very simply,
it's just hard
to argue
with the evidence
of radically
changed lives.
Everywhere Paul goes,
he's seen
those radically
changed lives
with people
who've been confronted
by God's
powerful gospel.
gospel.
Paul had heard
about the changing
power of the gospel
in the Christians
in Rome.
Changed from the inside out,
changed in their actions,
changed in their attitudes,
changed in their thinking.
And Paul couldn't wait
to meet them
and swap stories
of how they'd experienced
God's grace,
God's powerful gospel
to encourage
one another.
And so powerful
is this gospel.
Paul uses
a very interesting word
in verse 16.
He describes it
as God's dynamite.
The Greek word
is dunamis,
the word we get
dynamite from.
The gospel
is God's
blasting powder.
Blasting
as dirty,
sinful people,
as Beck said
in the talk,
but I won't do
all the theatrical things.
The old technology
of a piece of paper
works so well for me.
I don't have to dance
and jig around
unless my pages
blow away.
But yeah,
the gospel
just blasts
the dirt away.
Not just on the outside,
but on the inside
right to the depth
of our being.
Blasts us free
from the guilt
and power of sin
and leaves us
totally renewed
from the inside out.
Which in turn
allows God
to treat me
and everyone else
who believes
like we'd never
ever sinned
in the first place.
Complete restoration
of relationship.
Complete removal
of dirt
so that clean
now relates again
to clean
in Christ.
Clean in Christ.
That's a wonderful
picture word,
isn't it?
One little stick
of dynamite
doesn't look like
very much.
Not that many of us
have seen a stick
of dynamite,
but one little stick
of dynamite
doesn't look like
very much.
But boy,
oh boy,
when it's well applied,
it's powerful
in what it achieves.
in exactly the same
way,
my friends.
The gospel
may not look
or sound
powerful
in comparison
to what others
in the world
says is the way
to the good life,
the way to security.
But it is the solution
for our deepest
problems.
It is the answer
to our deepest
cravings.
It demolishes
the solid walls
of unbelief
and resistance
to God's rule.
No trouble
at all.
And the third
point then is
this power
of God
has a purpose,
the unbelievably
radical outcome
intended in God's
powerful gospel.
So as best
we can say,
Paul wrote this
letter about
57 AD,
which means
it's a little
over 20 years
since Paul himself
was confronted
by Jesus
and the gospel.
He himself,
while trying
to persecute
Christians,
was so radically
captured
and blasted
by the gospel,
blasted into
a whole new
orientation in life
and contracted
to take the message
of salvation
both to Jews
and to every
other nation
on earth.
20 years on,
what's Paul
excited about still?
The gospel.
He's still pushing
this radical gospel
of God,
that salvation,
forgiveness,
new relationship
with God
and guaranteed
place in heaven
is promised
to everyone
who recognizes
their need
and simply
turns to Jesus
for the righteousness
that's necessary
to get into heaven,
a righteousness
they can never
produce by themselves
but is on offer
in Jesus.
Jesus.
We probably
find it a bit
hard to understand
how radical
this would have
been in Paul's
day.
We're so familiar
with the terminology
that it's just,
well I think in some
cases,
ho-hum for us
but this was
radical stuff
in Paul's day
and age.
Let me try
and illustrate.
The Jews
for instance,
if you ask them
what a person
needs
to get to heaven,
they would say,
well the first thing
they have to do
is become a Jew
in every shape
and form
and do all
the things
that are required
of the Jew.
Pray and sacrifice
and go to the temple
and do this
and do that
and have your
alms days
and your holidays
and do,
do,
do.
Yeah,
that's what,
that's,
do that for a start
and then we'll see.
the Romans.
The Roman worldview
was that they were
a superior race.
We've heard that
in our own sort of
20th century,
haven't we?
They believed
they were the superior race
in the world
and therefore naturally
would be acceptable
to the gods.
In fact,
the gods would consider
an honour
to be friends
and associated
with the Romans
and the evidence
of that
was the physical
prowess of the Romans.
The superior intellect,
the good character.
In fact,
that's why
the Roman would say
that's why
we're the rulers
of the known earth.
Biggest civilization
and empire
had ever been seen.
Again,
adoption
was a big thing
in Roman society.
Adoption into a family
but only when
the adopted person
was respectable
and commendable
and came with
a list of great achievements.
So yes,
it was a great thing
to adopt somebody
but they had to be somebody
before you would adopt them.
God's gospel
is so radically different
to anything
the Romans would have known
because God's gospel
is big on adopting
those
who are down and outs,
who are
dirty,
unlovely,
undesirable
before God.
God's gospel
is clear
that anyone
and everyone
regardless of their race,
regardless of their
circumstance in life
will receive
a fresh start.
Grace and salvation
if they'll receive it
as a gift
through trusting Jesus.
It's that simple.
And again,
we can feel
Paul's excitement
at this incredible truth.
If you look at
verse 6 there,
in the church
at Rome,
Paul knew
there were people
from all over the world
sitting shoulder
to shoulder
in unity
together
recipients
of God's righteousness,
together
loved by God,
together
assured of his favor.
and as a direct result
of that,
they loved each other.
People who naturally
would hate
and divide each other,
they loved each other.
They were committed
to helping each other
and Paul wanted
to be part of it.
He soaked it in
and just,
wow,
this is the result
of God's powerful gospel.
If I put it
in modern terms,
I think I could say this,
that the gospel
was doing
around the world
at that time
what the United Nations
would long to do,
what the United Nations
was set up to do
and which everybody
in the world knows
the United Nations
will never be able to do.
Now,
I'm not saying
they haven't done
good things.
Don't misunderstand.
me.
But they're just
on the surface.
The gospel
reunites humanity
so hopelessly
divided by ethnic,
religious,
and nationalistic
boundaries.
And boy,
how I wish
the gospel
would sweep
through Europe
in the coming weeks
before warfare does.
So,
moving towards
conclusion,
to the conclusion
now,
now we're in a
position,
I think,
to understand
what Paul's
getting at
in verse 16
when he says,
I'm not ashamed
of the gospel.
Because to understand
that phrase,
we need to understand
something of shame
and honor.
And why Paul says
he's not ashamed
of the gospel.
It's Paul's great thing
which the rest
of this letter
explains in detail.
So, shame and honor
were huge categories
in Roman society
as indeed
in many
Middle Eastern
societies
still are.
Perhaps some
Christians in Rome
thought that
aspects of
Paul's person,
Paul's character,
or of the gospel
itself
as a body of truth
were shameful.
Now, how might
that work
for these people?
Well, perhaps
Paul's background.
He was a Jew
and a Roman citizen.
Now, lots in Rome
really resented
dual citizenship,
especially when
it was a Jew
who was a Roman citizen.
It was embarrassing.
It was actually
unpalatable to some.
Then, perhaps,
if you add into that
the circumstances
in which Paul
was commissioned
to speak the
gospel.
In Roman circles,
to be a rhetorician
or a public speaker
or a teacher
in public places,
you needed
an illustrious
background.
When they dig
into Paul's
background,
what did they find?
Hmm.
He was a bit
of a rat pack.
He had blood
on his hands.
And he,
according to some
sources,
he was a bit
of a roughneck.
Perhaps he was
embarrassing
to know
that he was coming
to Rome.
Perhaps some
Christians
struggled with
the apparent
shameful beginnings
of the gospel.
Well,
we understand
the gospel
and the results
of the gospel,
but boy,
we want to play
down the fact
that, again,
the gospel
is sourced
in the person
Jesus,
the Jewish nation,
Jewish history.
And my goodness
me,
we Romans,
we're persecuting,
we're trying to get
rid of the Jews.
The suspicious
circumstances
of Jesus'
birth,
the ordinariness
of Jesus'
life,
his crucifixion
as a criminal,
and that was
crucifixion under
Roman law,
remember.
His claim
for resurrection,
people just don't
come back
from the dead.
Jewish links,
indebtedness
to the Jewish nation,
and so on and so forth.
Yeah,
you could well
imagine that people
might be a tad
embarrassed
slash ashamed
of this guy
coming to preach
the gospel.
Sort of,
we love the outcome
of the gospel,
but Paul,
can you just
tone down the
background?
Perhaps some
Christian,
Roman Christians
find the gospel
itself shameful
because it
flies in the face
of Roman
self-value.
It identifies
individual Romans
as being equally
guilty before God.
Yes,
those wretched
barbarians out there
that we conquer
because we're better,
well,
actually the gospel
says you're not
a whit better
than them
in terms of God.
Equally in need
of a rescue
because of a bad
heart towards God,
because of your
determination for
rebellion and autonomy.
perhaps even some
people find the
gospel or ashamed
of the gospel
or embarrassed
by the gospel
because of what
it says about
God's heart.
See,
Romans took
their lead
from their idea
of the gods
and the top gods
were merciless.
The old idea,
if you got power,
you got wanted.
But this God
of the Christians,
this God
of the gospel,
well,
for goodness sake,
he actually takes
the cost of
repairing relationship
upon himself.
He's known
and characterized
by mercy
and kindness.
He doesn't
treat his enemies
as they deserve.
He treats them
with honor
in spite of
what they deserve.
My friends,
these are not
the qualities
that the world
in general
appreciate,
let alone
the Roman world
in particular.
Paul knew
that he deserved
to be treated
shamefully
before the righteousness
of God
because he had brought
shame on God.
God's name,
God's character
by his horrible,
persistent rebellion.
God's power
and the gospel
but then Paul says,
but how could I
be ashamed
of God
or the gospel
which treats me
with such honor?
honor.
So,
for you and me,
if you've experienced
God's powerful gospel,
how could you be ashamed?
How could you be embarrassed?
We've been treated
with honor
contrary to what
we deserve
in the gospel.
We've been rescued,
renewed,
adopted into
God's own family
and all of that
when we know
actually
that it was Jesus
who was treated
shamefully
on our behalf
so that we might
be treated
with honor.
Amen.
Ethered is
the
way
that
by
May
God
we
collect
on
back
to the
old
way
of
thinking
that we
can create
our own
righteousness
that we
can bring
our own
assets
to the
bargaining
table
and say
actually God
you need
to let
me an
heart
I
deserve
it
On this basis and that basis and that basis.
My religious actions here.
My attitude there.
My good works here.
That brings incredible shame.
To the Lord.
Or if we claim to be Christ's renewed people.
But fail to be concerned.
To be his single united community.
I said before.
Changed lives.
Are hard to argue with.
And if we want to speak.
And adorn God's powerful gospel.
Then there's no better way.
To do that.
Than the model of changed lives.
A radically.
Different community.
Where all the natural divisions of the world.
Just mean nothing.
My final comment then.
Is if you've not yet experienced.
God's powerful gospel.
Then why not.
Ask to be changed.
From the inside out.
This morning.
Right here now.
Why?
Because renewal by Jesus.
Is precisely what you need.
To fix.
The deep-seated problem of guilt.
That manifests itself in a whole heap of ways.
In your life.
Even though you may not realize at this point.
That it is the deep-seated problem.
Of sin and rebellion of God.
That manifests itself in all these different ways.
and the beauty of the gospel is that this morning
the Lord doesn't ask you to produce your own righteousness
he doesn't ask you to achieve
a standard that he knows is impossible for you to achieve
he says I've done it for you
and what I want you to do is take out your hand
put out your hand and take it as a gift
take me at my word
and believe that your whole relationship with God
is going to be transformed and renewed
simply by believing that Jesus has died
and dealt with your sin
see at the end of the day
you may not realise it but I can tell you
that renewal by Jesus is the answer
to your deepest longing to be loved
to be accepted by God
that's where we started at
it's the key to the good life
a life of purpose
and a life of security
that's what we're all craving for
that's why we ask that question
to start with in life
what is God like
and from there we ask the question
well okay
if God's like this then
how do I engage in the good life
so my friends I end where I started
what is your God like
I'm not talking theory
I'm talking on the ground
rubber meeting the road
practical stuff
on any given day
in any given circumstance
what is your God like
and what sort of world
are you building around that
because the world you build around that
the answer to that question
will determine your security
and your future
make sure you consider the question well
and consider the answer
in the light of what God himself says
not in what you might think
pray with me
please
Lord what an exciting start
to this letter
as we just have you showcased
what you've done for us
what you keep on doing in us
and ultimately what you intend us to be
we thank you Lord
that you've not demanded from us
a righteousness
which you know is not possible
for us to deliver
but instead Lord
have provided that righteousness
for us in Christ
and offered it to us
as a free gift
a gift Lord
that's been ever so costly
for you
to formulate
but Lord
a gift which is free
to us to take
help us Lord
not to be ashamed
help us to live
as people who
are fully aware
of how you honor us
in a daily basis
and I pray this in Jesus name
Amen
thank you
God bless you