WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.599 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:33.899 Today's scripture reading is from the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:36.660 1 through 7, as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:45.460 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:52.579 of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding 00:00:52.579 --> 00:01:01.119 his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and through the spirit of holiness 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:10.180 was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:10.500 Lord. 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:18.539 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:21.440 comes from faith for his namesake. 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:27.660 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:37.300 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people, grace and peace to you 00:01:37.300 --> 00:01:41.160 from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:43.560 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:44.360 --> 00:01:45.420 Thanks be to God. 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:49.579 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:57.299 We are going to try to do something that we've never done in the 17 years that we've existed 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:03.719 as a church, and that is to preach through the Epistle to the Romans, this great letter 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:08.659 to these Christians and this church in the heart of the empire, the capital of the Roman 00:02:08.659 --> 00:02:09.020 Empire. 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:12.180 Now, this might be a terrible mistake. 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:18.340 We might get a few weeks into the sermon series and realize this is a really, really bad idea. 00:02:18.480 --> 00:02:19.659 Why might we do that? 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:26.500 It's kind of like living down at sea level, you know, and sitting on your couch most of 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:31.920 the time and thinking to yourself, you know what would be great is to go climb Mount Everest. 00:02:33.100 --> 00:02:35.180 You know, Romans is Mount Everest. 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:41.060 There's no higher summit you could try to climb than the Epistle to the Romans, and I'm pretty 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:45.159 sure, at least speaking for myself, that I don't think I'm in shape to do this. 00:02:46.140 --> 00:02:52.280 I don't know that my lungs have the capacity to get up into this high, high altitude, this 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:53.100 rare air. 00:02:53.099 --> 00:03:00.240 I'm pretty sure my legs don't have the strength to climb up to the heights of Revelation and 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:05.639 up to these great peaks of wisdom and insight that are in this letter, but even though I'm 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:07.519 not equipped, I'm going to try anyway. 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:14.159 And I wonder if you are willing and ready to come on this journey with me from down here 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:19.419 at sea level up to the very tippy top of Mount Everest. 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:21.959 Well, ready or not, that's what we're going to do. 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:27.419 And this letter, the Romans, it's a letter written by a pastor. 00:03:28.299 --> 00:03:34.399 This pastor is deeply concerned to help these Christians in Rome, to help them grow and be 00:03:34.399 --> 00:03:37.299 built up and established in their faith in Jesus Christ. 00:03:37.899 --> 00:03:43.839 And if you just look at the table of contents in your Bible, you'll notice that of all the 00:03:43.839 --> 00:03:47.439 letters that are in the New Testament, this is the first letter. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.520 It's the first of the various letters included in the New Testament canon. 00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:52.819 It comes right after the Acts of the Apostles. 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:54.460 And that's kind of a question for us. 00:03:54.579 --> 00:03:57.979 Like, why is Romans found in the first position? 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:01.639 It's not because it was the first letter to be written. 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:08.639 But why did, you know, the people who put the Bible together put it in the first position 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:10.199 of importance from the very beginning? 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:16.680 And the reason for that is that this is, it's just widely recognized that this, in this epistle, 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:23.279 we come face to face with the foundational truths of God's revelation. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:29.419 You know, that after the Acts of the Apostles, this great story about the birth and the founding 00:04:29.419 --> 00:04:31.539 and the spreading and the formation of the church. 00:04:31.540 --> 00:04:37.819 What could be more natural than that all of those churches, and really churches everywhere, 00:04:38.020 --> 00:04:43.820 would be reminded of the basic foundational truths upon which Christians everywhere at 00:04:43.820 --> 00:04:45.980 all times must stand? 00:04:46.080 --> 00:04:49.759 So if you're here and you're exploring Christianity, we're so glad you're here. 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:55.180 And I just want to say there's no better place to bring your questions and to seek answers 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:58.560 about these foundational truths than this epistle to the Romans. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:05.980 Just by way of introduction, this letter has played a more important role in history than 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:08.579 any other book in the New Testament, maybe any other book in the Bible. 00:05:09.280 --> 00:05:12.740 God has just used this letter in an exceptional manner. 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:19.600 For example, there was a guy in North Africa named Augustine, and he was converted when he 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:20.319 read this letter. 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:26.240 We can't even imagine Christianity from the fourth century onward without St. Augustine. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.400 Another guy was a German guy. 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.040 He was a monk named Brother Martin. 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:33.460 Brother Martin Luther read this letter, and he was converted. 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:39.699 And the impact on the reformation of Christianity in the world has been incredible. 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:42.579 A British guy named John Bunyan. 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:47.840 He read this letter, and he was converted, and he went and wrote a book called The Pilgrim's 00:05:47.840 --> 00:05:48.259 Progress. 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:49.680 Maybe you've heard of that book. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:58.780 A student at a great university called Oxford University, a guy named John Wesley, read this 00:05:58.780 --> 00:05:59.000 letter. 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:00.860 He was converted by this letter. 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:06.439 We can't even imagine Christianity in the United States apart from the influence of John 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:06.740 Wesley. 00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:11.660 And there's just countless stories like that of men and women who've encountered the truth 00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:12.680 of God in this letter. 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:17.639 And it's profoundly changed, not only their lives, but the whole world. 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:19.680 And the question is kind of who's next? 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:24.480 Who's sitting here that's going to be profoundly changed by this letter to the Romans? 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:27.920 I hope many of us will be changed. 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:34.139 This great preacher in the early church, his name was John Chrysostom in Constantinople in 00:06:34.139 --> 00:06:34.439 Turkey. 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:36.019 He loved this letter. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:38.079 He read it two times a week. 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:39.100 Can you imagine? 00:06:39.100 --> 00:06:41.800 Two times every week. 00:06:42.900 --> 00:06:47.939 Martin Luther, similarly, he writes this in his preface to his comments on this letter. 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:53.580 He says, this epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, meaning it's the 00:06:53.580 --> 00:06:57.320 greatest book in the New Testament, and it's the very purest gospel. 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:03.520 It's worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word by heart, but should 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:07.920 occupy himself with it every day as the daily bread of the soul. 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:13.520 It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with, the more precious 00:07:13.520 --> 00:07:17.240 it becomes, and the better it tastes. 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:25.240 So Paul is giving us this great little introduction to this letter today, and he signifies the great 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:28.700 themes that he's going to unpack through this whole epistle. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.840 And it's kind of like a symphony, you know, you sound all the notes that you want to play 00:07:32.840 --> 00:07:36.180 through the whole composition right up at the front, and that's what Paul does. 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:46.360 And what I want to say about this introduction today is that we urgently need God's apostles 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:48.100 and God's gospel. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:57.620 That here in the Bay Area, here at Christ Church, we urgently need God's apostles and God's gospel. 00:07:57.740 --> 00:08:01.579 And I want to just talk about our urgent need first for God's apostles. 00:08:01.579 --> 00:08:08.759 Verse 1 says, Paul, servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:10.079 gospel of God. 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:11.240 Now, who in the world is Paul? 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:15.800 Well, if you're exploring Christianity or if you're a new Christian, I want to commend to 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:18.159 you this reading plan in the Bible. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.279 We're working through the Acts of the Apostles and the letters in the New Testament. 00:08:21.419 --> 00:08:24.560 You can pick up a copy in the back on your way out. 00:08:24.819 --> 00:08:26.360 No better way to learn about Paul. 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:31.240 Well, if you need a refresher, I encourage you to read a biography of Paul. 00:08:31.340 --> 00:08:34.399 This is from John Pollock, the apostle, a life of Paul. 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:37.379 This is from N.T. Wright, called Paul, a biography. 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:44.320 Wonderful, wonderful synopses of the person and the life of the apostle Paul. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.039 But how does Paul identify himself? 00:08:49.340 --> 00:08:51.139 What's the first thing he says about himself? 00:08:51.139 --> 00:09:00.199 You know, in our late modern Western culture is a culture of expressive individualism. 00:09:00.899 --> 00:09:06.799 And we're searching for all these identity markers to say who we uniquely are in this 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:07.559 me culture. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:11.379 This is my truth about myself, right? 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:18.679 And these identity markers we look at are our class, our race, our nationality, our vocation 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:19.579 and our politics. 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:26.259 What's my gender and what's my sexuality and my abilities and my age and education, my hobbies, 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:27.899 my personality type. 00:09:27.939 --> 00:09:33.000 It's kind of an exhausting list, honestly, to think about who am I and how do I tell you 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:34.919 my truth about myself. 00:09:35.239 --> 00:09:37.019 But what's the first thing that Paul says? 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.099 He just keeps it super simple. 00:09:39.100 --> 00:09:44.800 And he says, hey, I'm Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:49.340 Or literally, I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.420 And that's what a Christian is. 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:57.220 This identity transcends all other identity markers. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:03.700 A Christian is somebody who's willingly surrendered themselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ. 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:09.660 They do not merely look at Jesus and say, he's my savior who forgives me of my sin. 00:10:09.780 --> 00:10:12.879 That's true and we must be able to say that. 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:16.280 But more than that, a Christian says, Jesus is my lord. 00:10:16.800 --> 00:10:17.640 He's my master. 00:10:17.800 --> 00:10:19.220 He's my king. 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:21.720 He's sovereignly governing my life. 00:10:22.860 --> 00:10:27.759 And if you do not identify yourself as a slave of Jesus Christ, you need to ask yourself, 00:10:28.040 --> 00:10:28.800 am I a Christian? 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:37.679 If you've not committed yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, you're probably not yet converted. 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:41.120 And I want to say that we're so glad that you're here. 00:10:41.740 --> 00:10:43.159 We welcome you. 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:44.699 We want to engage with your questions. 00:10:44.859 --> 00:10:51.859 We want to explore with you your current identity and your current worldview in relation to this 00:10:51.859 --> 00:10:56.599 radically alternative paradigm that Paul's giving us. 00:10:56.600 --> 00:10:59.899 He says, Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus. 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:06.200 And I don't have time to recount the life of the apostle Paul and tell his whole story. 00:11:06.300 --> 00:11:12.440 But suffice it to say, in a nutshell, Paul was adamantly opposed to Jesus Christ. 00:11:13.180 --> 00:11:18.159 You can't think of somebody who was more against Jesus than Paul. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:21.399 He was zealously persecuting Jesus and Jesus' people. 00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:24.180 He was sending them off to prison and to death. 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:31.339 And then one day, one day Paul had this dramatic encounter with the resurrected Christ. 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:41.339 And this encounter just profoundly changed the way Paul thought about himself and his identity. 00:11:41.479 --> 00:11:46.019 Before, he was critiquing Jesus and Jesus' word, Jesus' message. 00:11:46.319 --> 00:11:49.519 And then all of a sudden, after that day, he was surrendering to Jesus. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:51.679 Before, he was an enemy of Jesus. 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:55.379 And now he says, I'm a slave of Jesus. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:04.699 And friends, if God can change Paul, and if God can change his identity, then there's no one that God cannot change. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:05.340 Amen? 00:12:06.100 --> 00:12:11.779 None of us, none of the people in our lives, God can do anything with anybody whenever he wants. 00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:16.360 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus. 00:12:16.939 --> 00:12:20.159 But he describes himself in two ways, really. 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:24.439 He says, I'm a servant of Christ Jesus, and I'm called to be an apostle. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:27.379 And he repeats this in verse 5. 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:33.500 He says, I've received from Jesus both, on the one hand, grace, and on the other hand, apostleship. 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:37.879 And it's this gift of grace, on the one hand, that's made me a Christian. 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:46.299 And it's this gift of apostleship, on the other hand, that's given me the knowledge to preach and to teach and write large portions of the New Testament. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:48.480 Because I'm an apostle. 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:52.679 An apostle is a special, unique, particular calling. 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:54.279 It means that I'm a sent one. 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:58.639 I'm one whom Jesus has sent out as a messenger. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:13.779 And this term, this technical term, the apostle, it applies only to this band of the apostles that Jesus selected, that he trained, that he authorized, and that he sent out to be his ambassadors. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:17.379 His delegates, his representatives in the world. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.519 So that they would go out and speak for the Lord Jesus himself. 00:13:21.699 --> 00:13:26.960 They would speak on Jesus' behalf as if it were Jesus himself speaking to other people. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:37.500 And the reason I'm spending a little time on this is because we cannot follow Jesus Christ without following his apostle Paul. 00:13:38.100 --> 00:13:39.180 I'm going to say that again. 00:13:39.900 --> 00:13:46.000 We cannot follow Jesus Christ without following his apostle Paul. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:54.000 And the reason I say that is because you'll hear many Christians today say, I love Jesus, but I'm not so sure about this Paul guy. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:56.759 Maybe you've thought that to yourself. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:02.860 You know, I go and I read Paul and I pretty quickly encounter things that I don't like. 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:04.779 Things that offend me. 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:06.059 Things that irritate me. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.120 Things that make me want to say, you know, that's just Paul, but this is Jesus. 00:14:10.340 --> 00:14:11.240 Paul's down here. 00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:13.399 Jesus is up here. 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:16.720 And I want to say that's a very low view of Paul. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.139 And it's shared by a lot of people. 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:22.820 This is Thomas Jefferson. 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:24.340 He wrote this letter in 1820. 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:28.680 He said, Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.920 Frederick Nietzsche in 1881, he said, Paul was the disangelist. 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:34.940 Not the evangelist. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.920 He was the disangelist, the bringer of ill tidings. 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:41.680 Fast forward to our time in 1991. 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:44.800 This guy, Stephen Mitchell, he's translated a lot of ancient texts. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.599 He wrote a book called The Gospel According to Jesus. 00:14:47.740 --> 00:14:52.939 He said, Paul of Tarsus was the most misleading of the earliest Christian writers. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:55.120 He didn't understand Jesus at all. 00:14:55.979 --> 00:15:00.539 He wasn't even interested in Jesus, just in his own idea of the Christ. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:06.159 These things, I have pages and pages of lists of these kind of quotes. 00:15:06.819 --> 00:15:08.459 That's just the air we breathe. 00:15:08.939 --> 00:15:10.120 It's the water we drink. 00:15:10.179 --> 00:15:13.419 It's the default mode of our cultural moment. 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:16.839 And that's a very low view of Paul. 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:22.319 It's a view that's shaped by the European Enlightenment, not so much the New Testament itself. 00:15:23.079 --> 00:15:28.039 And I want to ask ourselves, what would it mean to have a higher view of the Apostle Paul? 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:37.099 And I think a higher view means to recognize that God carefully developed this man, Paul, in three unique ways. 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:38.439 Number one, he was Jewish. 00:15:39.599 --> 00:15:45.740 And he sat at the feet of this guy named Gamaliel, who was the greatest teacher of the Pharisees, 00:15:45.819 --> 00:15:49.339 which meant that Paul himself excelled in the scriptures. 00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:52.699 And he became an expert in the Jewish scriptures. 00:15:52.700 --> 00:15:57.120 Secondly, Paul was not only Jewish, he was Greek. 00:15:57.220 --> 00:16:02.200 He was born and raised in Tarsus, which was one of the three centers of Greek culture. 00:16:03.160 --> 00:16:08.060 You had Athens, Greece, Alexandria, Egypt, and Tarsus in Turkey. 00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:14.840 And this means that Paul can not only quote the scriptures, but he can quote to us the Greek poets and the Greek philosophers. 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:18.160 And then thirdly, Paul's a Roman citizen. 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:23.280 He has grown up in this Roman legal culture. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:29.560 He's developed that legal mind, that power of logic and argument and reasoning. 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:32.840 Paul is like this tricultural polymath. 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:35.000 He's like some of you guys. 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:40.780 He's this tricultural polymath, this Jew who's also Greek, who's also Roman. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.519 And I love what N.T. Wright says. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:45.620 He's a great scholar of the Apostle Paul. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:45.960 He says, 00:16:46.079 --> 00:16:50.460 Paul is one of the most seminal minds of the first or any century. 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:58.699 Despite the longstanding tendency to sneer at Paul and to press him for answers to questions he didn't ask, 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:05.139 I persist in regarding him as the intellectual equal of Plato, Aristotle, or Seneca. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:10.680 Now, if you're here exploring Christianity, I want to encourage you to read Paul, if you've never read him, 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:13.779 like you would read Plato or Aristotle or Seneca. 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:24.500 And if you're here and you're a Christian today, I'd like for you to encourage you to read Paul as the special chosen mouthpiece of Jesus Christ himself, 00:17:24.620 --> 00:17:25.740 the resurrected Christ. 00:17:25.740 --> 00:17:31.740 Because Jesus says in John 16, on the night before he's to go to his crucifixion, 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:35.140 he's with his apostles and he says to them, he says, 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.660 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:43.980 But when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he's going to guide you into all the truth. 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:53.700 He's saying the Holy Spirit's going to guide my apostles into the deeper truth that they need to preach and teach and write the New Testament scriptures. 00:17:54.860 --> 00:18:01.579 And that means for us is that if we want to find the truth, we don't go straight to the Holy Spirit. 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:07.199 No, we go to these apostles and what they've written in their letters, in their gospels, 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:15.039 and we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the truth that Jesus has given to and through these apostles. 00:18:16.439 --> 00:18:22.839 In fact, we are not being led by the Holy Spirit into truth unless it's apostolic truth. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:31.379 Unless it's the truth that the resurrected Christ spoke through his apostles, including the apostle Paul. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:40.339 So I want to encourage you, I want to invite you and challenge you to build your life on these two great things that we hear about in verses 1 and verse 5. 00:18:40.419 --> 00:18:52.559 And that is, first of all, this experience of grace that would cause you to identify yourself above and beyond everything else as a slave of this one whom you call your Lord, your master, your king. 00:18:53.159 --> 00:18:59.500 And secondly, I want to encourage you to build your life on what Paul calls the apostolic truth. 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:02.420 That is, this authoritative revelation. 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:10.019 There's no other sure foundation given through Jesus Christ for his church. 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:12.559 You with me so far? 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.859 We urgently need God's apostles. 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:20.960 But here in the Bay Area, here at Christ Church, we also urgently need God's gospel. 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:22.720 We need God's gospel. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.899 And Paul announces this major theme of his letter here in the first sentence. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:27.419 He says, 00:19:27.940 --> 00:19:33.039 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for what? 00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:36.879 Set apart for the gospel of God. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.980 And that's obviously an important word. 00:19:39.100 --> 00:19:45.220 He uses it six times, the gospel, in this opening kind of introduction to the letter. 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:48.880 And perhaps it's become an over-familiar term for many of us. 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:52.160 And so I want to think for a minute about what it means. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.120 The gospel is like this multifaceted diamond. 00:19:56.140 --> 00:19:56.380 Right? 00:19:56.420 --> 00:19:57.180 It's just radiant. 00:19:57.720 --> 00:19:58.540 It's beautiful. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.240 It's brilliant. 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:00.520 It's a great treasure. 00:20:00.800 --> 00:20:02.800 And it's got these six facets to it. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:07.759 And Paul says, first of all, the first facet is that the origin of the gospel is God. 00:20:08.619 --> 00:20:10.500 It's the gospel of God. 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:14.659 It's not just about God, but it's from God. 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:16.500 And it has God as its source. 00:20:17.619 --> 00:20:20.500 And this implies that it's not from a human source. 00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:22.940 It's not been invented by any of these apostles. 00:20:23.139 --> 00:20:26.759 No, it's a divine message, not a human message. 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:34.559 And this whole letter is going to be an exposition of this divine revelation, this gospel of God. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:38.900 Paul says, secondly, the ground of the gospel is scripture. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:47.140 It's the gospel of God that was promised beforehand through the prophets in the holy scriptures. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:51.519 This good news of God, he says, is not new news. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:53.400 It's, in fact, very, very old news. 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:59.880 And I want you to think back, he says, to all these great promises of God, these promises that were spoken through the prophets, 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.920 these promises that are recorded in scripture. 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:08.540 Go back to that mother promise in Genesis 3.15, the Garden of Eden, right? 00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:12.900 Where God says, a great one is going to come among you. 00:21:13.780 --> 00:21:15.800 And he's going to trample down evil. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:17.980 He's going to be, he's going to fight with evil. 00:21:18.060 --> 00:21:20.140 And he's going to be grievously wounded. 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:24.820 He's going to suffer terribly, but he is going to triumph over evil. 00:21:26.360 --> 00:21:30.780 Fast forward to Genesis 12, where God says to Abraham, he says, 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:36.820 Abraham, through you and through your offspring, particularly one of your offspring, 00:21:37.020 --> 00:21:39.180 I'm going to bless all the nations of the earth. 00:21:40.520 --> 00:21:42.880 You look at the psalm, Psalm 22. 00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:44.780 It's about this anointed king. 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:48.660 And he's crying out to God in utter agony. 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.519 He says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:55.139 And you read to the end of that psalm, and somehow it ends in victory. 00:21:56.660 --> 00:22:01.779 You go to Isaiah 53, this promise about this suffering servant who's going to come, 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:07.440 and somehow God's going to place on him all the sins of every single one of us. 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:11.379 And somehow through his wounds, we are all going to be healed. 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:17.300 Daniel 7, this great promise of the Son of Man who's going to come, 00:22:17.360 --> 00:22:20.140 and he's going to enter into the presence of Almighty God, 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:21.900 into the presence of the Ancient of Days, 00:22:22.100 --> 00:22:24.380 and he's going to bring all of us with him, 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:27.160 and he's going to have a kingdom that will never end. 00:22:28.300 --> 00:22:31.660 The whole Old Testament is just preparing us and telling us 00:22:31.660 --> 00:22:34.800 these great promises about this coming prophet, 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.720 this coming priest, this coming king. 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:41.660 And, you know, when Paul is going around, he's preaching, 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:45.539 he's teaching in all these major urban centers in the Mediterranean basin. 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:48.019 He goes to Corinth for 18 months. 00:22:48.120 --> 00:22:50.380 He goes to Ephesus for 36 months. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.440 He's preaching from morning till night. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:54.200 He's sweating. 00:22:54.700 --> 00:22:55.759 You know, he's weeping. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.120 What is he telling these people? 00:22:59.620 --> 00:23:02.000 What's the content of his message? 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:06.079 This letter is a condensed outline. 00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:10.059 It's a skeleton of all the great headings that Paul would unpack. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:14.480 And when you read this letter, it's just full of allusions and quotations 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:17.240 to these promises of God in the Old Testament. 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:18.339 And Paul would tell us, 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:22.180 I really want to encourage all of you to read the Old Testament 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:25.460 at least one time a year to familiarize yourself 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:28.400 and just soak in these promises of God. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.820 He says, first of all, the origin of the gospel is God. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:33.880 Secondly, the ground of the gospel is Scripture. 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:38.340 And thirdly, the center and substance of the gospel is Jesus Christ. 00:23:39.320 --> 00:23:42.460 It's the gospel of God regarding his son, he says. 00:23:43.460 --> 00:23:47.019 And Paul's already told us about this blessed person, Jesus, 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.360 at the center of his life. 00:23:49.600 --> 00:23:51.460 He's the Lord and I'm his servant. 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:53.320 He's the master and I'm his slave. 00:23:54.620 --> 00:23:56.820 Paul's telling us that I've been captivated. 00:23:56.820 --> 00:23:57.759 I've become a captive. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.980 I'm captured by the love of Jesus Christ. 00:24:02.080 --> 00:24:05.380 I can't even think about myself apart from Jesus Christ. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:07.640 My whole life revolves around this person. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:10.560 And now he's telling us why he's so captivated. 00:24:11.560 --> 00:24:12.380 Verse 3, he says, 00:24:12.460 --> 00:24:14.120 It's the gospel regarding his son, 00:24:14.840 --> 00:24:17.620 who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:19.920 and who through the spirit of holiness 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.900 was appointed the son of God in power 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:26.140 by the resurrection from the dead, 00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:28.120 Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:24:29.340 --> 00:24:32.180 Paul's saying that Jesus has two natures. 00:24:32.320 --> 00:24:34.320 He's fully divine and he's fully human. 00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:37.740 And Jesus had two stages in his ministry. 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:40.340 He was humiliated and then he was exalted. 00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:42.679 And Paul's telling us, 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.279 he's saying that the eternal son of God came down. 00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:48.099 He descended. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:49.659 He emptied himself. 00:24:49.819 --> 00:24:50.819 He lowered himself. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:52.220 He humbled himself. 00:24:52.419 --> 00:24:58.079 And he became obedient to a life under the law, 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.659 to being a human being like all of us. 00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:03.400 He was born in the royal line of King David. 00:25:03.580 --> 00:25:07.560 He came to fulfill all these promises that God made about his Messiah. 00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:10.000 But as we know, he came by stealth. 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:12.500 He came incognito. 00:25:12.600 --> 00:25:16.860 He was born into this very ordinary, poor family. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:23.160 And he ended his life in a very lowly and humiliated and weak way on his cross. 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:28.320 And yet Paul says that he was resurrected from the dead. 00:25:29.580 --> 00:25:34.340 And he doesn't say that he became the son of God because of the resurrection. 00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:38.099 But because he was raised by the Holy Spirit, 00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:43.619 he was declared to be and he was demonstrated to be the son of God. 00:25:43.899 --> 00:25:48.279 Obviously, for all the world to see this one, this only one of us, 00:25:48.679 --> 00:25:52.619 who's gone through death and come out the other side alive, 00:25:52.679 --> 00:25:55.799 he says he's been declared the son of God in power. 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:01.599 Because he has the power not only to be alive, but to give us life. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:05.379 And Paul says that he now, he's been exalted. 00:26:05.539 --> 00:26:09.980 He reigns on God's throne as the world's true Lord. 00:26:10.159 --> 00:26:11.359 Caesar is not Lord. 00:26:11.699 --> 00:26:12.859 Jesus is the Lord. 00:26:14.899 --> 00:26:19.779 This God-man who was humiliated in weakness and exalted in power, 00:26:19.899 --> 00:26:20.740 why did he do it? 00:26:21.719 --> 00:26:23.319 He did it to take our place. 00:26:24.839 --> 00:26:26.679 You think about what is sin? 00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:30.339 Sin is us taking the place of God. 00:26:30.339 --> 00:26:35.179 Sin is us saying, I want to be my own Lord and my own master. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.740 I want to sit on the throne. 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:37.759 I want to be in charge. 00:26:37.859 --> 00:26:40.599 I want to determine what's right and what's wrong for me. 00:26:40.679 --> 00:26:44.439 And if sin is us taking the place of God, what is salvation? 00:26:44.619 --> 00:26:48.099 Salvation is God taking the place of us. 00:26:49.199 --> 00:26:51.299 That though we try to usurp his throne, 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:53.439 Paul's telling us that the son of God, 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:57.660 he came down to live this God-glorifying, 00:26:58.259 --> 00:27:00.140 righteous life that we owe to God. 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:03.880 He came down to die the death of a sinner in our place. 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:09.240 He came down so that he might be raised up in power to live and to reign, 00:27:09.320 --> 00:27:15.220 and so that he might raise us up in power to live and to reign with him. 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:17.039 And Paul says, that's why I'm a captive. 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:18.759 I'm a slave. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:22.299 I've been taken captive by this amazing love, 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:25.059 this gospel regarding God's son. 00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:29.100 And he'll go on to say that I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:31.819 That's his great thesis statement in this letter. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:34.339 I'm not ashamed of this gospel. 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:39.420 It's an ironic understatement when you state a negative to affirm a positive. 00:27:39.420 --> 00:27:41.100 When he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:43.340 he's saying, I'm very proud of this gospel. 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:47.279 My only boast is in this gospel. 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:51.600 This gospel thrills me and it moves me in the depths of my being. 00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:54.539 I can hardly contain myself. 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:59.420 Why, Paul says, because it's the gospel of God and of his son. 00:28:01.600 --> 00:28:07.019 It's not about what we must do to get God to love us. 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:12.039 No, the gospel is about what God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.420 has done to show us his love. 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:21.099 The gospel is not spelled D-O, go and do something to get God to love you. 00:28:21.139 --> 00:28:27.379 The gospel is spelled D-O-N-E, what God has done for you in your place. 00:28:28.299 --> 00:28:31.759 And that's why Paul writes this whole letter, 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:38.660 just proudly boasting in the heart of the empire that the good news of God's son 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:42.720 is better than any other good news that's on offer out there. 00:28:44.059 --> 00:28:49.440 And that's my prayer, is that we too would become not ashamed. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:57.359 That we too would become, in fact, very proud of this gospel of God's son. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:01.979 The origin of the gospel is God, the ground of the gospel is Scripture, 00:29:02.179 --> 00:29:04.919 the center and substance of the gospel is Jesus. 00:29:06.159 --> 00:29:09.359 Paul says, the range and the scope of the gospel is all the nations. 00:29:09.479 --> 00:29:14.759 I've received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles, he says, 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:17.039 all the ethnos, all the ethnics. 00:29:18.219 --> 00:29:24.279 If this is the gospel of God, then it must include every creature that's made in the image of God 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:25.379 in the whole wide world. 00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:30.260 Paul says, this isn't just a message for Jews only, 00:29:30.520 --> 00:29:37.740 it's universal good news for Africans, for Asians, for Latinos, for Europeans, for Middle Easterners. 00:29:37.780 --> 00:29:41.660 If you just look around this room, you'll see it's a good news that includes 00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:44.720 all these different people groups in the world. 00:29:44.820 --> 00:29:47.800 And Paul would say it not only includes all the ethnic groups, 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:51.460 it includes, it's a good news for all the religious groups. 00:29:52.600 --> 00:29:54.380 The gospel is good news for Hindus. 00:29:55.380 --> 00:30:02.520 And it's good news for Buddhists and Muslims and atheists and agnostics and none of the above. 00:30:02.520 --> 00:30:10.040 Paul is saying God is on a mission to call not just some people in one region of the world, 00:30:10.140 --> 00:30:14.420 but to call all people to himself through the gospel of his son. 00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:22.759 And to be a Christian means that you too want to extend God's call to all the people in your neighborhoods 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:25.060 and all the people in your networks. 00:30:26.340 --> 00:30:28.160 And some of us get nervous about that. 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:31.300 Some of us get nervous about evangelism and missions. 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:34.700 And we say, well wait, isn't Christianity a Western religion? 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:37.580 And isn't Christianity against diversity? 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:40.839 And isn't Christianity just about colonizing other cultures? 00:30:40.939 --> 00:30:43.059 And that's a big hairy conversation. 00:30:43.199 --> 00:30:44.639 Love to talk about that over coffee. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:51.600 But the data says that in the 21st century, there's the same number of Christians in Europe 00:30:51.600 --> 00:30:57.460 as there are in North America, as there are in South America, as there are in Africa right now. 00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:06.400 And the data tells us that by the year 2030, in seven years, the church in China is going to outgrow the church in America. 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:12.299 By the year 2060, 40% of Christians will live in sub-Saharan Africa. 00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:16.819 And black Christians will be the largest racial group of the global church. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:24.819 And the data tells us that even right now, in the United States, black women are by far the most Christian demographic. 00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:30.919 And that globally, the people who are most likely to be Christians are women of color. 00:31:31.980 --> 00:31:38.539 And the reason I say this is that if you're a Christian, this multicultural joy, this interracial love, 00:31:38.619 --> 00:31:40.679 that's your inheritance in Jesus Christ. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:41.859 Amen? 00:31:42.619 --> 00:31:47.619 You belong to the most inclusive life system that's ever been introduced on planet Earth. 00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:48.879 It's not just for some people. 00:31:49.159 --> 00:31:50.779 It's for all the people. 00:31:50.779 --> 00:32:00.079 And Paul says the purpose of this gospel, he goes on, he says the purpose of the gospel is the obedience that comes from faith. 00:32:00.700 --> 00:32:08.700 I've been called to, I've been given grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 00:32:10.220 --> 00:32:13.139 This is how it worked with Abraham, our great father in the faith. 00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:17.019 Hebrews 11 says that by faith, Abraham obeyed. 00:32:17.019 --> 00:32:22.379 The only proper response to the gospel is faith and faith alone. 00:32:23.379 --> 00:32:31.299 But a true and a living faith in Jesus Christ includes within itself a submission to Jesus as your Lord, 00:32:31.379 --> 00:32:35.059 who's leading you into a lifetime of obedience. 00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:41.059 We enter into new life in Jesus Christ on the basis of faith and faith alone. 00:32:41.059 --> 00:32:48.119 But the test of whether or not your faith is real is, do I obey Jesus? 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:53.779 We are saved by faith alone, but saving faith is never alone. 00:32:53.899 --> 00:32:57.480 Paul says it's the obedience that comes from faith. 00:32:58.859 --> 00:33:04.419 And then the last thing Paul wants us to know, this last facet of this gospel diamond, 00:33:04.539 --> 00:33:10.319 he says is that the goal in the end of this gospel is the honor of the name of Jesus Christ. 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:17.539 I've been given grace and apostleship through Jesus to call all the Gentiles his obedience that comes from faith. 00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:18.439 Why? 00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:20.839 For the sake of his name. 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:22.439 For his name's sake. 00:33:23.779 --> 00:33:28.079 Friends, if you've been transformed by the love of God the Father, 00:33:28.179 --> 00:33:32.939 and if you've heard that love being expressed to you in the gospel of his Son, 00:33:32.980 --> 00:33:36.099 and if that love has been applied to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, 00:33:36.099 --> 00:33:39.819 then the result is that your one goal in life, 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.359 the chief end of your existence, 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:46.539 utterly changes from what it was before. 00:33:48.039 --> 00:33:50.959 You begin to live your life however you were living it before, 00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:54.379 you begin to live your life for his name's sake. 00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:58.619 And that means that I'm no longer living for the glory of my name. 00:33:58.699 --> 00:33:59.299 Who am I? 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:01.559 I'm just a slave of Christ Jesus. 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:09.799 No, I'm living for the glory of his name because who's going to be the center of attention at the very end of time? 00:34:12.259 --> 00:34:13.239 It's not me. 00:34:14.299 --> 00:34:15.340 It's not you. 00:34:16.139 --> 00:34:17.619 It's going to be one person. 00:34:18.699 --> 00:34:19.239 And he says, 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:23.179 we're called to live for the glory of his name and his name alone. 00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:26.799 So if you're exploring Christianity, 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:30.239 and you're here and you're asking yourself the question, 00:34:30.399 --> 00:34:31.559 what does it mean to be a Christian? 00:34:31.839 --> 00:34:37.859 To be a Christian means that you cherish the six facets of this gospel diamond. 00:34:38.859 --> 00:34:41.259 This gospel that has its origin in God the Father. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:44.159 Its ground in the Old Testament scriptures. 00:34:44.339 --> 00:34:46.460 Its center and substance in Jesus. 00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:49.879 Its range and scope in all the nations. 00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:52.579 Its purpose and the obedience that comes from faith. 00:34:53.140 --> 00:34:56.619 And its goal and end in the glory of the name of Jesus Christ. 00:34:56.740 --> 00:34:57.579 And if you're a Christian, 00:34:58.460 --> 00:34:59.760 and you're asking yourself, 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:03.019 what kind of people is God calling us to be and to become? 00:35:03.380 --> 00:35:06.099 He's calling us to become good news people. 00:35:06.900 --> 00:35:13.320 He's calling us to be a people who celebrate and who study and who share this gospel of God, 00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:15.400 according to scripture, 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:18.980 about Jesus Christ for the nations, 00:35:19.160 --> 00:35:20.760 unto the obedience of faith, 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:22.640 for the sake of the name. 00:35:22.700 --> 00:35:23.420 We can never, 00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:24.840 never let go 00:35:24.840 --> 00:35:27.940 of these great precious truths 00:35:27.940 --> 00:35:29.400 that have been given to us. 00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:30.980 We urgently need, 00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:32.460 not only God's apostle, 00:35:32.580 --> 00:35:34.820 we need God's gospel. 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:35.940 This is the gospel 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:37.900 of God himself. 00:35:39.660 --> 00:35:40.860 May he teach us, 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:42.780 and may he conform us to this gospel. 00:35:43.559 --> 00:35:44.440 In the name of the Father, 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:44.720 Son, 00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:45.420 and Holy Spirit. 00:35:46.220 --> 00:35:46.500 Amen. 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:46.680 Amen.