Romans 1:1-3 “Everything!”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart into the Gospel of God, ²which He promised beforehand through His prophets in [the] holy Scriptures, ³concerning His Son, the One becoming out of [the] seed of David according to [the] flesh …

Ah, yes. Verse 3 begins “concerning His Son …” Paul is continuing to expound on the Gospel of God and in this verse we are reminded that this Gospel which was promised beforehand and given to us through the prophets in the holy Scriptures is “concerning His Son!” What the Gospel teaches us is that it is all “concerning His Son!” Yes? Before I knew Christ, I couldn’t see He had anything to do with anything. But when the Lord opened my eyes and I suddenly saw Him, I knew He was everything about everything!

I can’t resist quoting Col. 1:15-20:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the Head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the Cross.”

Wow. Life itself is so about Him, is it not? Mary certainly did choose “the better part.” Martha thought life was about getting things done. Mary just sat at Jesus’ feet, adored Him, worshipped Him, listened to His teaching, and I am quite sure was totally transformed. Seeing His image, she was “changed into that image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Paul said, “I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection (Col. 3:10). “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).

The Gospel brings us to salvation itself and teaches us that in Jesus we find salvation. We find Him Lord and Savior, forgiver of our sins, our Way to heaven – but then our opened eyes see He is so much more. He is everything!

Yes, the Gospel is “concerning His Son.” And so is everything else!

But notice particularly what Paul points out about Him here in verse 3: He is “the One becoming out of [the] seed of David according to [the] flesh …” Jesus is and was a descendant of David. That means a lot of things to us, but I particularly want to note it reminds us that Jesus became a man, human. He came down out of heaven and was born of a virgin and though totally God, yet He became totally a man. He became one of us. This truth that Jesus was totally God and yet totally man has perplexed theologians for centuries, but for us who just enjoy Him, we don’t really care if it makes sense. It’s just more of Him being everything to us. He had to be totally God or He could never have born the infinite price of our sins then rose again to prove the price was paid. He had to be totally a man in order to take our place at all!

Heb. 2:9-18 tells us:

“But we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone…Both the One who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters…Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

What matters so much here is that Jesus didn’t die for raccoons. He didn’t die for angels. He died for you and me. He became one of us so He could die for us! May we never doubt the love of this One who left the glory of heaven, laid aside the free exercise of His divine attributes, and became one of us – specifically so He could go to the Cross for us and save us for all eternity! May we never doubt His love!

Yes, the Gospel is “concerning His Son.” Everything is “concerning His Son!”

Romans 1:1,2 – “Blessings”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart into the Gospel of God, ²which He promised beforehand through His prophets in [the] holy Scriptures …

In the last post, I was pondering this “Gospel of God” and how it was an ancient Truth even when Paul was writing about it 2,000 years ago.

Notice again that it was “promised beforehand.” The “beforehand” almost needs to be capitalized! But notice that it was “promised.” It is good heart medicine to stop and ponder this word “promised.” First of all, what are promises? They are, of course, someone’s word that something will be true in the future. What is truly amazing is that God gives us promises. He actually speaks to us truths that we can count on, that we can build our lives on, believing that something will in the future be true. Of course, the Bible itself calls them “very great and precious promises,” which He gives to us specifically so we can “participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world” (II Peter 1:4).

In a sense, this is precisely why we’re called “believers” – because we believe His promises. Our relationship with Him begins when we understand that He promises us eternal life if only we will put our trust in Jesus. We believe that promise and are saved. And what is it to “believe?” It is to hear God’s promise, to believe that it is in fact true and then to base our lives, our decisions, our moment by moment choices on that belief. It is literally to hang our eternal souls on that one simple promise, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

But of course our “believing” goes far beyond salvation itself. As Peter said, He gives us His promises to utterly transform us – to allow us to “participate in the divine nature” and to “escape the corruption in the world.” As we live our lives minute by minute, the very fuel that fires the engine of our hearts is His promises. Yes I want to do what He commands, but in order to do that, I must believe His promises. He tells me to love then promises that all things will work together for good. He wants me to be brave then tells me He will never leave me nor forsake me. He sends me out into this very scary world and encourages me, “Fear not, for I am with thee.” It is believing His promises that allows me to in fact live out my faith.

And then pause and consider how we got those promises. He gave them to us “through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” I think I could type for days on all the encouragement we can draw from these simple words. I’ll restrain myself and try to be brief. “Through His prophets” – they are God’s promises, but He gives them to us “through His prophets.” Someone once observed it is generally true that when God does miracles, He usually uses someone. It is very often true when He answers one of our prayers, He’ll do it using someone. He rarely just answers our prayers straight from heaven. He can and He does, but so often He chooses to use people. Each of us can stop and survey our lives and realize they are filled with people who were God’s instruments to do us good. It is then encouraging to realize that is what He wants to do with you and me. We may not even realize He’s using us, but as we would walk with Him and sincerely try to love Him and love the people around us, we can count on Him somehow using us to answer other people’s prayers, to be His instruments to literally do miracles in other people’s lives.

He used “His prophets” to give us the very promises that we “believers” hang our souls on. He could have just spoken from heaven but instead He chose to use simple bungling people just like you and me. And notice they were His prophets. He calls them “His.” Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers and God the Father calls certain people “His” prophets. Isn’t it great to be “His?” We may not be prophets or anything even so remotely impressive, but we’re still “His.” Jesus said that eternal life itself really comes down to knowing God (John 17:3) – it comes down to a relationship with Him. We don’t belong to the evil one any more. We belong to the Lord. We are His.

And then note, how did those prophets give to us His promises? “In the holy Scriptures.” It was no doubt amazing to actually hear the prophets preach. Even in the early church it is said that when the prophets speak, a person “will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘Surely God is among you!’” (I Cor 14:24,25). A prophet is a powerful speaker. However, in order for us to benefit from the prophets’ ministries, their words had to be recorded. Their messages from God had to be written down, and thank the Lord they were. We call them “the holy Scriptures,” the Word of God, the words of the living God, our Bible.

I suppose to some extent, the Jewish people could have transmitted the words of the prophets orally from one generation to the next. However, if the Gospel was to go literally into “the ends of the earth,” it needed to be written down.  And so it was. And so I sit here this morning pondering the words of Paul, some 2,000 years later and half way around the world. I guess it is a special delight to me to have God’s truth recorded in “words” so I can handle every one of them, even every letter, turn them each this way and that, and thoroughly enjoy asking the question, “So what?” If every word is from God, then every word is important, every phrase and sentence has the potential to utterly transform my mind, to change my life, to give me new hope and help. “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” And it’s all in “the holy Scriptures.”

As I said above, I could write on and on about this verse. Our God is an encouraging God. His Word is full of help and hope. We are so blessed that God’s good news was “promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures!”

Romans 1:1,2 – “Ancient Hope”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart into the Gospel of God, ²which He promised beforehand through His prophets in [the] holy Scriptures …

I love studying the Bible. At first glance, these verses seem like just routine introductory remarks; however, each phrase is pregnant with profoundly important and encouraging truth! After introducing himself, Paul goes directly to the centrality of the Gospel.

To begin with, we note it is the Gospel of God. It is “of God.” And what is it? The Gospel. The Good News. I think it worthwhile to observe that the Greek word translated “Gospel” was actually a common word which was used most often in the case of “good news” from the battlefield. It was a message of victory, of enemies defeated, of a city or nation delivered – but this is, in particular, the Gospel of God. This is God’s good news and it is all of the above – a message of victory, of the enemy defeated, of souls and lives of people delivered.

And this is not new news. It is the Gospel of God which was promised beforehand. And when was this “beforehand?” This Gospel is nothing less than God’s promise in the very Garden of Eden, of the “Seed of the woman” who would “crush the head of the serpent” (Gen 3:15). This is nothing less than God’s promise to Abraham some 4,000 years ago, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). It is seriously ancient. In fact, between I Peter 1:19,20 and Rev 13:8, we learn that the promise even antedates Creation itself. Jesus is the Lamb “chosen” and “slain before the foundation of the world!”

What Paul is about to tell the Roman believers was no novelty. It wasn’t what the Ephesian philosophers liked to discuss – “new teaching,” “strange ideas,” “the latest ideas” (Acts 17:19-21). Our Gospel is Truth, literally with a capital “T.” It is ancient truth which antedates even human history itself. It was true before there was a man to believe it. It’s been true ever since the Garden of Eden. It is still true today, and its truth is our hope for all eternity. It is the Good News of God that Jesus is the Conquering King, the Rider on the white horse, who has in fact crushed the head of the serpent, and who has delivered us from the dominion of Satan and into His marvelous kingdom of light. Even as you and I live our lives here in this world still awaiting Jesus’ arrival, we live in the hope that our King has already won. Our enemy is a defeated enemy.

That hope means you and I can go out today into a scary world where the very air we breathe would kill us and yet go bravely and confidently, knowing that love will win, because He who is love has crushed the head of that evil serpent, the dragon, our ancient adversary Satan. That adversary is still the roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is still the murderer from the beginning, the liar and the father of lies, deceiving the nations, who reigns as the prince of the power of the air, but our Jesus slays him with the breath of His lips. It is tremendously encouraging me to remember that, although evil seems very, very powerful in our world, all our God has to do is “huff” a little breath and He blows it all away. That is how big a challenge it is to Him! “Hoosh,” He breathes and all the most powerful designs of evil cease to exist. Right now in America, it seems like evil has literally risen up on its hind legs and is breathing out “threats and murder” to overwhelm any last remnants of good left in our country, and perhaps it will; but above it all reigns Him who can blow it all away with the breath of His lips. Perhaps evil will win, but I don’t think so. Not this time. I believe the Lord will rise up and deliver to the forces of evil a crushing blow. I can only pray that He will not only defeat them but crush them and let the good people of America be encouraged, let our America go on at least for a time to be a place where good is honored, where the Bible is respected, and where the nation of Israel supported. I don’t know how things will fall out, but I know the forecast for our lives is God’s kindness.

That is God’s Good News. Our King wins.

God help us to be people of hope. We live because of an ancient hope, because of an ancient message of hope, the Gospel of God.

Romans 1:1 – “Servants”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart into the Gospel of God …

And so it begins. I want to embark on a study of the book of Romans. I may not live long enough to finish it, but I want to have at least started. I don’t like the fact that I have been reading, enjoying, and nursing on this book for all these years but never spent the time actually studying it to be careful that I really did understand it. Also, I have always found with the Bible there are diamonds and jewels to be had when I settle down and just mine slowly and carefully through any book or passage. I expect the book of Romans to be a literal goldmine. And so it begins.

The book of course is written by Paul. It is interesting to note that his real name was Saul, Saul of Tarsus, but when he expanded his ministry out into the Gentile world, he changed it to Paul. Actually, in the Greek language, he changed it to Paulos. In our English tongue, we shorten it to Paul, but in the language of the day, it was Paulos. For some reason, Greek speaking people (and Latin too, I think), liked to add the “os” to the end of names. Of course we like to add “y” or “ie,” so that Ruth becomes Ruthie or Bill becomes Billy, but they like “os.” In Greek, it wasn’t just Christ but Christos. Timothy’s actual Greek name was Timothaios.

All of this said, one would think his Greek name would have become Saulos. There is a lot of debate about why that is not the case, but I personally think the best explanation is that “saulos” is actually a word in Greek, but it’s not good. It meant “conceited, affected, effeminate.” …And so it became Paulos.

It is encouraging to stop and ponder even what seems to be the routine opening words of the book. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ…” Modern commentators like to make a big deal about the fact the word translated “servant” can mean “slave.” That can get great mileage with preaching but I think it better to moderate our translation to “servant.” I certainly am very happy to be the Lord’s slave, particularly with Him being the very kindest of masters, but I think, in our modern world, “slave” carries too many negative images which I doubt are in Paul’s mind as he uses this word. Throughout the Old Testament, people were called “the servant of the Lord,” including Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, the prophets, and more. I believe Paul is expressing in Greek those same ideas from Hebrew.

It is a wonderful thing to be a “servant of Jesus Christ.” In reality this is the highest title a person could possibly be given. What a privilege to be counted a servant of Him who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, to be servants of the Most High God. I enjoy going to work every day, knowing I go as a servant of the Most High God. I go realizing this is His world, that He today intends to do great good to His world, and that He is allowing me to go being His representative, doing His work, and reflecting Him to everyone I work with and for. All is His – every phone call, every work assignment, every problem that comes up, it’s all His work and I get to be part of it. I get to be His servant!

Paul in particular was called [to be] an apostle and set apart for the Gospel. I insert the […] only to show that those words are not present in the Greek. It literally says he was a "called apostle," as in my literal translation above. The problem is that isn’t how we probably would say it in English. That literal translation is just a little awkward in our English tongue. Regardless, the point we see is that Paul’s calling in particular was to be an apostle and that meant very specifically that he was set apart to spend his life in Gospel ministry.

Like each of us, he was a servant of Jesus Christ. However, one aspect of being a servant is that we don’t get to pick for ourselves our calling, our assignment under the Master. Each of us needs to accept his or her calling and then go about that service with all our hearts. Paul’s calling was specifically to be an apostle. That, of course, was a full-time ministry position which included specific responsibilities. In Eph. 4:11 we learn that this same Jesus “gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers …” In I Cor. 7:17,20,&24, Paul advised, “each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him … Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him … Each man should remain in the situation God called him to.” For the vast majority of believers, we’re called to simply live our lives for Him, as in Col. 3:23,24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Being servants, what matters is that we do whatever the Master calls us to do, whether Paul to be an apostle or one of us to be a candlestick maker.

As we read Romans 1:1, we can all be very thankful that Paul accepted his calling and, in fact, worked at it with all his heart. We have the book of Romans to study and ponder and nurse on, specifically because the Lord called this one man to be an apostle, set him apart to the Gospel, and he embraced his Master’s will and was faithful in it. Your calling and mine may not seem so glorious, like just being a good parent, a good neighbor, a good candlestick maker, but we can rest assured, the Master can and will use us just as mightily, if we are but faithful to our calling. As a servant, I don’t necessarily need to understand the Master’s plan, I just need to live out my part, then leave it to Him to weave the tapestry according to His great wisdom.

Paul was set apart “unto the Gospel” and this very book – the book of Romans – is a fruit of his faithfulness. My prayer as I study through it is that, in many ways, the Lord will take this work of Paul’s and write it on my heart. May He make us living epistles, known and read by all men, not just engraved on tablets of stone, but written on the fleshy tablets of our hearts, so that whatever we do, wherever we go, we spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. As we would go about our lives humbly serving the King of kings, may His presence adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things and may He grant to some repentance, so that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil and become themselves servants of this wonderful Most High God!

Daniel 3:30 – “Our God Wins!”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³⁰Then the king caused to prosper Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babel.

As usual, I’ve come to the end of this particular study, Daniel 3, and I’m loathe to leave. It’s so pleasant to keep coming back to this passage and once again see the amazing greatness and goodness of our God. I’ll scratch down a few more thoughts before I have to say goodbye to my friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

I want to note that, as is often the case, I see in this chapter what looks to me like ancient literary ordering. What jumps off the page at me is how the chapter begins and ends with the phrase “in the province of Babel.” In v1, Nebuchadnezzar sets up his idol “in the province of Babel.” In the last verse, v30, he promotes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego “in the province of Babel.” In my own studies, I’ve noticed that ancient peoples liked to create what I’d call “bookends.” I’m not at all surprised to see the phrase repeated like this, one at the beginning and the other at the end. Usually too, it seems like these bookends aren’t arbitrary, but often make some important point. In this case, it seems like, yes, it is very important to note that all of this takes place in Babel, which today we call Babylon.

What do I mean? In Daniel chapter 3, we’re not in Jerusalem. We’re in Babel. As I noted earlier, I think it true that spiritually all of human history has been in effect, “The tale of two cities” – Jerusalem and Babel, the City of God vs. the City of Satan. From the very beginning, Babel itself represented rebellion against God. We see the city through God’s eyes in Revelation 17,18. He calls her “the great prostitute dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls, with a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.” In Babel we see this world’s wickedness. We see a world dressed on the outside in scarlet and glittering with gold, yet on the inside filled with abominable wickedness.

I can’t help but noting how, in America, Hollywood sure fits this bill. There are gathered the most beautiful people in the world, wealthy beyond imagination, living in palatial mansions, driving prohibitively expensive cars, yet sadly we see that too many of them are almost unbelievably wicked. Like Babel, with their beauty and wealth, they draw the whole world after them, yet where do they lead them to? Only down their own path of abominable evil, of immorality, of drunkenness and drug addiction, of broken marriages, and of broken lives. Hollywood is simply an American expression of the ancient evil city, the anti-God world system, the “other” city – Babel.

It’s in that world this chapter takes place. It’s in that world that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have to live their lives and live their faith. I suspect, the “bookends” of “in the province of Babel” are there to make that very point. The Lord wants us to notice that everything in this chapter happens not in some quiet Christian village but in the very pits of this world’s wickedness. And of course practically speaking, that is very important to you and me, since that is very often exactly the world we find ourselves living in. And, once again, our hope is not that we can somehow hide from that world but rather, even if that’s where we find ourselves, our God will be with us there. Our Jesus will walk with us in the fire.

I mention the order I see – I also notice that the chapter begins and ends with Nebuchadnezzar making decrees. Then we see his advisors at first accusing the Jews, then being the exact group that serves as witnesses of God’s great delivery of those same Jews. Then we see Nebuchadnezzar summoning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to threaten them with the fire, only then we see him call them “Come out! Come here” out of the fire. In the very middle we see Jesus walking with the guys in the fire. Just so I record it, that looks like a big chiasm, but I can’t exactly say that’s what it is. I just smell chiasm as I look it all over.

Then there is (to me) the strange repetition of terms. Even in English, it seems like a waste of ink as the text repeats the list, “the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials,” then repeats over and over the “sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music.” The chapter would be quite a bit shorter just to say, “all the government officials” and “all the instruments.” Even the names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” get repeated thirteen times in 30 verses. In English, most of the time, we’d be saying “they.”  But then what also intrigues me is that the repeated lists and names aren’t always the same. As I noted in my studies earlier, some of the lists have an instrument or two more, others less. In addition, they’re not always spelled the same. In v.26, when Nebuchadnezzar calls the guys out of the fire, in Aramaic, Abednego isn’t spelled the same as every other occurrence in the chapter. Abednego is usually spelled in Aramaic as “Abed Nego” with an open space in between. For some reason, in this one place, it is spelled with a thing called a “makkeph” which is like our hyphen, so that it could be literally translated “Abed-Nego” rather than “Abed Nego.” Why is his name repeated 13 times and in only one it is hyphenated?

Although all of this may seem trivial to someone else, it isn’t to me. Our God is a God of order and I’m studying His Word. I have to believe there is some reason why He repeats all these lists, but then makes them slightly different, and even why He would spell Abednego’s name differently in that one place.

Frankly, I don’t know why. I’d like to know for one thing because sometimes, when you see the order, it helps in understanding the passage. I’d also like to know simply because if I don’t, that means there is something about the passage that I don’t understand – and the whole point of studying is to understand.

Hmmmm. One of the challenges for me has been working with the Aramaic. It is very similar to Hebrew but then not – the same only different! Because of that I’ve actually found it a little unpleasant to work with. Although I hate to leave my friends, I am just a little bit looking forward to getting back to Greek or Hebrew. What I’m saying is that it’s possible part of why I don’t understand is just the struggle with the language. Sometimes in order to see the order you need to be able to “step back” and look at the passage as a whole. I can barely deal with it word by word, so I don’t have that ability.

Certainly another handicap is not having even a basic understanding of the Babylonian culture. It might be that the repetition and even the variations in spelling are some expression of their culture. Although the Holy Spirit inspired Daniel to write these words, the plain simple fact is that he wrote them about 2600 years ago to be read by a people who lived 2600 years ago in an ancient culture halfway around the world from us. At some point, we have to be humble enough to admit there may be things about it we simply will not understand. What really matters is that faith tells us we can understand everything the Lord wants us to – if we’ll take the time to read and study.

One other thing I want to note before I leave – I think in a lot of ways this passage is a fractal of the end times. We know from Revelation that somehow, in the end, the literal city of Babylon (Babel) does rise again. Right now it lies in ruins in the deserts of Iraq but it will be rebuilt and re-populated. Like Nebuchadnezzar, the AntiChrist and his False Prophet will build an image “in honor of the Beast” and “…cause all who refuse to worship the image to be killed” (Rev.13:14,15). Right now, I don’t know if there is something we should take from the similarities or just note it as a fractal of what is, in reality, the pattern of our fallen world. The good news is, in both stories (as in all stories), God wins!

I guess that is the big takeaway I want to gain from this passage – a stronger, deeper belief that, no matter what, our God will win. I’ve never before seen so clearly how I can not only trust God with the future, but actually look forward to it. He will be there. The forecast is kindness. Even in suffering, I can expect to know God’s kindness. I can look forward to watching and seeing how His wise, good, and kind plan works out, all day, every day, for as long as I live and work here in this world – even if I find myself living (and suffering) in Babel.

Lord, keep before my mind my three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. May their faith help me live in a greater, more constant confidence in You and the assurance of Your kindness. May that faith make me brave when I need to be. May it make me more faithful. You certainly deserve it. You deserve servants who totally trust You, who “for the joy set before them, despise their crosses, lay aside every weight that hinders, and, looking unto Jesus, run with endurance the race You set before them.”

Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we are servants of the Most High God.

And our God wins!