Curse Reversed

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here.

And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good.

They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it,

which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.

We're continuing this morning our series in the book of Romans that we started just last week.

And you'll remember that the book of Romans is a letter.

It's a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s AD.

And the book of Romans is called Romans for a very simple reason,

which is that it is written to the churches that exist in the city of Rome.

It is about fundamentally the gospel, the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.

And Paul's hope is that those who receive this letter,

the original recipients primarily and us secondarily,

would be established in the gospel.

In fact, he makes this explicit in verse 11, which we will get to before too long.

Now, there are many applications that we'll see throughout this book,

and all of them ultimately are going to come back to the gospel.

There will be many spokes that will center over and over back to the hub,

which is the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.

In those applications, Paul has this special focus on the mission and the unity of the church.

As I told you last week, as you see that we are moving very slowly, fear not.

We will, in fact, speed up.

But as we're here at the introduction, it is, in fact, hard to go fast

because Paul lays out so many different things in these first seven verses.

He gives us some of the primary themes of the book.

Last week, we looked at verse 1, and we saw primarily two things.

First, that Christians live for the Lord,

that it is our first and our only safe commitment.

And that's because the Lord is the only one who loves us more than we love ourselves.

He's the only one who fully knows what's best for us.

We also saw that all of us are called to be set apart for the work that God has given for us,

that there are things He's chosen for us from before the foundation of the world,

and He's prepared us for those things.

And we're going to move forward this morning in verses 2 through 4,

and we're going to see outlined for us part of the hope of the gospel.

And so it's with that that I invite you to turn with me to God's Word,

and you can turn in your Bible, you can turn on your phone,

you can turn in your worship guide.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.

God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold,

and it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so that's why we read now Romans 1, starting at verse 1.

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.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in heaven, we do thank you and praise you

that we don't live in a world where we're at the mercy of the latest man or woman

with money or power or influence,

but instead your Son and our Savior, our Lord Jesus, is the King of this world.

We ask that you would show us him and his glory again this morning,

and that you would grow our love, our affection, our joy,

our reverence and awe for him, our obedience to him.

And we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

And we're picking up this week in verse 2 of chapter 1,

and I read verse 1 for you simply for context.

As we begin verse 2, we're told something right away,

which he promised beforehand.

So there is something that we're meant to be looking for here,

a promise that was made a long time ago.

And to find out what that promise is,

we simply have to look back to what we saw last week in verse 1.

The promise that was made beforehand is the gospel of God.

So we see that as we look back to verse 1.

As we look forward to verse 3,

we then understand more what the gospel is about.

It is concerning his Son.

Jumping back to verse 2, where did he promise this?

Well, he promised it through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

And so as we return to Paul's introduction in this letter,

one of his longest introductions in all of the letters that he writes to the churches,

he begins here with this very simple point.

Jesus fulfills the promises of the Old Testament.

Jesus comes and makes true everything that we were told would happen

in the 39 books that come before the New Testament.

Now, you might think to yourself,

man, that's pretty neat.

Also, why in the world should I care?

Jesus is here, right?

He has come.

Why does it matter whether he has or has not

fulfilled some sort of promise that has come beforehand?

In fact, many people think just that.

They think the Old Testament, that's irrelevant.

There are pastors and teachers around today

who will tell you that very thing.

You know, we just mostly need to focus,

maybe we exclusively need to focus on the New Testament.

We don't need to worry about what's come before.

Paul here seems to have a very different opinion.

For him, it appears to be extremely important.

And the answer to that question, why does it matter,

is something we've already read.

Now, Britt read for us Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

which sets out the tension and the problem

that the rest of the scriptures seek to answer.

Remember what we read in Genesis chapter 3?

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

There's this curse that comes on the world

because of Adam and Eve's disobedience

to what God has commanded them.

And we see a variety of curses.

Verse 16 of Genesis 3,

the woman is going to experience pain in childbirth

and disunity in marriage.

Verse 17, the man is going to experience futility in his work.

Of course, there's a sense in which, right,

these cross over.

Women also experience futility in their work.

Fathers will also experience pain in raising children.

And so this is the point at which paradise is broken.

The perfect fellowship that humanity experienced with God

has come to an end.

There's disunity rather than unity.

There's disconnection rather than connection.

Thankfully, though, that's not the only thing we saw in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

If you go back before the curse is given to the woman and the man,

there's a curse put on the snake in verse 15.

God addresses the serpent and says this,

I will put enmity between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

In other words,

evil has been introduced into the experience of humanity,

but, and that's not the end of the story.

There is one coming who will crush the head of the serpent.

There will come a time when the curse will be reversed.

A moment will arrive when Adam and Eve

and their sons and daughters

no longer suffer the consequences of sin.

So why does it matter

that Jesus fulfills the promises of the Old Testament?

It matters

because he is the one who fulfills

the promise of Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

that the serpent's head will be crushed.

that we will finally be able to return to Eden.

Whether you're familiar with the Old Testament or not,

whether you care about the prophets who wrote it or not,

if you are a human and you live in this world

and you are honest with yourself,

you long to return to Eden.

You long for the curse to be undone.

You long for the serpent's head to be crushed.

And you feel it not just in moments

when we read passages from the Bible together.

You feel it when you have that longing

to experience only connection

and never disunity with others.

You feel it

when you look for healing

spiritually or emotionally or physically.

you feel that longing

when you look in the mirror.

And you wish that you could only feel good

about yourself and your body.

You feel it as you experience the grief and loss

that comes as your body ages

and your powers fade and wane.

And you feel it as you long for the evil

in your own heart

to be wiped out once and for all.

And that longing that you feel

is a longing that's been felt

ever since Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And Paul here comes to say,

Jesus is the one

that makes the promise come true.

Jesus is the one

who makes it possible

to return to Eden.

In his book,

Mere Christianity,

C.S. Lewis says this,

If I find in myself a desire

which no experience

in this world can satisfy,

the most probable explanation

is that I was made

for another world.

And if you're honest,

you can feel that you were made

for another world.

You may try to hide it

with consumption

and busyness

and pleasure.

And at the end of the day,

it's still there.

And so here again,

remember I told you,

when it comes to the book of Romans,

we're going to have many spokes

and those spokes

will always come back

to the hub of the gospel.

And here,

right at the very beginning,

verse 2,

we're back to the hub again.

Jesus is the one

who resolves

the tension of humanity.

Jesus is the one

who allows

God's people

to return to Eden.

Jesus is the one

who makes that longing

not simply a longing,

but something real

and full

and complete.

There's a theologian

named Bill Wilder

who describes the story

of the Old Testament

this way.

He says,

it is a story

in which God's people

have to leave

God's presence

in God's land.

They're cast out of Eden,

right?

And so the question

that is attempted

to be answered

throughout the rest

of the Bible

is simply this,

how will God's people

return to God's land

in God's presence?

How is it

that God's people,

his family,

will experience

Eden

once again?

The answer

is Jesus.

because he is the one

who fulfills

what was promised

beforehand

through his prophets

in the Holy Scriptures.

He is the one

who makes all things right.

He's the one

who comes to crush

the head of the serpent.

He's the one

who brings God's people

back to God's land

in God's presence.

You'll remember

last week

I told you

that as we look

at these first

seven verses

we're going to see

some of the major themes

of the book of Romans

outlined for us

and we're going to do

that once again.

One of the major themes

that Paul has already

hit on for us here

is this,

that God is a God

who keeps

his promises.

You'll want to remember

that when we get

to Romans chapter 9

Romans 9 · chapter mention

and 11,

you know,

in 20 or 30 years.

Because Paul's hope

there is to remind us,

look,

no matter what you see,

no matter what's happened,

God has kept

his promise.

What he said

in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3:15

verse 15

will and has

come to pass.

Now the other theme

that we're going to see

throughout the book

that's highlighted here

is this,

that there is one story

from beginning to end.

The Old Testament

and the New Testament

are two halves

of the same book.

We'll see that even more

when we get to Romans

Romans 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

I also told you last week

that Romans is referred to

as the fifth gospel.

That is what Paul teaches here,

Jesus taught first.

And we don't have to go

to just one place,

we can go to two places.

We have the famous passage

in Luke chapter 24

Luke 24 · chapter mention

when Jesus,

after his resurrection,

is walking with two men

who are walking

on this road to Emmaus

and he explains to them

that the Old Testament

is about him.

In John chapter 5,

John 5 · chapter mention

Jesus is arguing

with the Jews

and he reminds them

of this,

if you believed Moses,

you would believe me

for he wrote of me.

Who wrote the book

of Genesis?

Moses.

What was Moses

writing of

in Genesis chapter 3, 15?

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

He was writing

of Jesus,

the one who would crush

the head

of the serpent.

C.S. Lewis

in that same section

of Mere Christianity

goes on to tell us this,

I must keep alive

in myself

the desire

for my true country

which I shall not find

till after death.

I must never let it

get snowed under

or turned aside.

I must make it

the main object

of life

to press on

to that other country

and to help others

to do the same.

Christian,

you must make it

the main object

of your life

to press on

to that other country

and to help

others

to do

the same.

Jesus is the one

who fulfills

what is promised

beforehand

through his prophets

in the holy scriptures.

Paul goes on

to tell us

even more

in verse 3.

We find out

that Jesus

is not simply

the one who's promised.

This is concerning

his son

who is descended

from David

according to the flesh.

Now the word flesh

in the New Testament

can mean a variety

of things.

We want to be clear

about what it means

in this context.

Here, flesh

is simply saying

Jesus was actually

a human.

So going back

to our confession

of faith

earlier in this service,

remember we said

Jesus is 100% God

and 100% man.

And that's what

Paul is saying here.

According to

his humanity,

Jesus was descended

from David.

Of course,

he's not descended

from David

according to

his divine nature

because he

preexisted David.

No, it's according

to his human nature.

This gives us

another piece

of Old Testament

fulfillment.

It's not just

the promises

and the prophets

beforehand

when it comes

to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

It's the promises

we see throughout

the Old Testament.

And one of the most

important promises

comes in 2 Samuel 7.

God comes to David

and he says to him,

look,

you're the king now

and guess what?

An even greater

king will come

from your line.

The ultimate

and final king

is going to come

from the line

of David.

Now,

you might

be wondering

how exactly

this is going

to happen.

We'll get to that

in a minute.

But remember

just that quote

from Gregory of Nazianzus,

what was not assumed

cannot be healed.

Jesus assumed

full humanity

so he could save

us as humans.

We're going to get

to even more of that

in Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

So in verse 3,

we're told

that he's descended

from David

according to the flesh.

And then in verse 4,

we find out

he's 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.

Some people

have misunderstood

or twisted

this verse

to say

that Jesus

was at some point

actually not divine.

He was only a man.

And then later,

you know,

God looked on him

and said,

you know what?

I think Jesus

is such a great guy.

And so I'm going

to declare him

to be the son of God.

And so it's important

that we understand

clearly

what's being said here.

The word is declared.

The word is not

to make

or to become.

Okay?

It is not that Jesus

was not the son of God

at some point

and then was declared

to be at another point.

No,

what he's telling us

is that the resurrection

clarifies

and certifies for us

what was already true.

That if there was

any doubt

about Jesus' identity,

there should be

no doubt

no more

as we look

and see him

as the resurrected

son of man

sitting at the right hand

of God,

the Father Almighty.

That he was

the son of God

and is now declared

by his resurrection

with greater clarity

than ever before.

A man named

John T. Rhodes

does a fantastic job

illustrating this

with this quote

on page seven

of your worship guide.

as Elizabeth II

became queen

on the death

of her father

in February 1952,

but wasn't crowned

until June

the following year,

Christ was king

from his incarnation,

but took his throne

at the resurrection.

Okay?

He was declared

to be

the son of God

with power.

The resurrection

is the coronation,

it's the announcement,

it's the certification

of what was already

true

about Christ.

Now,

you might be wondering,

okay,

wait,

if Christ was king

from his incarnation,

what about before

his incarnation?

Well,

he's king

from his incarnation

according to his

human nature

in the sense

that he fulfills

the promise

of 2 Samuel 7,

but of course

he's the son

of God

for all

eternity.

Eternity past,

eternity future.

And so it's not

that Jesus

becomes God,

he was always God,

it's that there

is now

a new phase

in the history

of redemption.

There's a new

chapter

in the story

of God's

redemption

of his people.

There is

something different,

it's not something

different in Jesus'

nature

or his character,

there is,

however,

something different

in his glory.

And you'll see

this on page

eight of your

worship guide.

Didn't Jesus

always have

supreme authority?

As God,

yes.

But considered

as a man,

the resurrection

ushers in

a new degree

of glory

even for Jesus.

Jesus rises

from the grave,

changed,

glorified,

with a more

majestic body

than before.

And I'll bring

this down

to earth

for you.

Before

Jesus'

resurrection,

it was possible

for Jesus

to get a

cold.

Before

Jesus'

resurrection,

there might

have been

times when

in his

human nature,

he would

have done

really well

to get

some antibiotics.

After

Jesus'

resurrection,

there were

no more

colds.

Jesus has

a perfected

and resurrection

body.

Jesus has

a glory

according to

his human

body that

he never

had before.

And he is

now,

we're told,

in verse

four,

the Son

of God

in power.

There's a

new expression

of Jesus'

power.

There's

something true

about the way

he expresses

his power.

There's

something of

its intensity

that was

not

realized

before that.

We're told

in verse

four,

this new

power is

according to

the spirit

of holiness,

which is a

reference here

to the Holy

Spirit.

And so we

can remember

Jesus'

teaching in

John chapter

John 14 · chapter mention

14.

He says

this,

I will

ask the

Father,

and he

will give

you another

helper to

be with

you forever.

Jesus is

telling his

disciples,

look,

there's

going to

be

something

in the

future

that I'm

going to

ask for

and give

to you.

You don't

have the

Holy Spirit

in the way

that you

will have

it.

You will

receive it

after my

resurrection

and my

ascension.

And then

what do we

see in the

history of

the church?

Acts chapter

two,

Peter is

preaching this

sermon.

Pentecost

happens where

there's this

great pouring

out of the

Holy Spirit,

a pouring

out such as

has never

been seen

in the history

of God's

people.

And Peter

says this,

speaking about

Jesus,

being therefore

exalted at the

right hand of

God and having

received from the

Father the

promise of the

Holy Spirit,

he has poured

out this that

you yourselves

are seeing

and hearing.

Jesus,

in his

resurrection

and his

ascension,

pours out

on his

people

even greater

gifts and

power than

ever before.

It is

better

for you

to be a

Christian now

after Jesus'

resurrection

and ascension

than it was

to be

Abraham.

It is

more and

greater,

you experience

a greater

presence of

the Holy

Spirit than

Moses and

the people

who were

with him.

Why?

Because he

was declared

to be the

Son of God

in power

according to

the Spirit

of holiness

by his

resurrection

from the

dead.

Paul is

telling us,

teaching us,

reminding us

that Jesus'

resurrection

and his

ascension to

the right

hand of

God the

Father

means more

blessings and

power for

his people

than ever

before.

In other

words,

the resurrection

proved

something

and the

resurrection

did

something.

Pentecost

would not

and could

not happen

until Jesus

was sitting

at the

right hand

of God

the Father

Almighty

fulfilling

his promise

to his

disciples

to send

the Holy

Spirit

in full

measure

upon his

people

and on

the church.

It is

good news

for us

that he

has been

raised from

the dead

in power

according to

the Spirit

of holiness.

Now I'll ask you

the same question

I asked you

about prophecies

from the Old

Testament being

fulfilled.

Why do you

care?

We cared

about Old

Testament prophecies

being fulfilled

because it means

the return

to Eden

the resolving

of what was

broken

in the

garden

and we

care that

Jesus was

raised from

the dead

in power

according to

the Spirit

of holiness

because it

means his

gifts to

his people

are greater

than the

past.

John D. Rhodes

goes on to

tell us this

Jesus has won

every blessing

for us

now he will

make sure

those blessings

are poured

out from

on high.

it is as

if at

the atonement

Christ won

the right

to a

treasure chest

of jewels

kept by

the Father.

The Father

then joyfully

gives these

jewels to

Christ's

people as

and when

he is

asked.

Jesus'

gifts to

you and

to his

church are

greater than

ever before

because of

the resurrection

from the

dead

in power

by the

Spirit

of holiness.

That's our

hope when we

have our

confession of

sin.

That Jesus

who is risen

and is with

God the

Father Almighty

intercedes for

us.

We're going to

go on to

hear in

Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8 that in

fact he

intercedes for

us with

groanings too

deep for

words.

It's our

hope and

our confidence

that he

represents us

before the

Father.

We pray in

Jesus' name

with greater

access than

the saints

of the Old

Testament.

Another

theologian,

Herman Boving,

reminds us that

the resurrection

is the

declaration,

it's the

reminder to

us that our

sins are in

fact forgiven.

If we ever

had any doubt,

we need to

remember that

Jesus has been

declared the

Son of

God.

Even more

than that,

he reminds us

there's various

places throughout

Paul's letters

where he tells

us, look,

evil forces and

powers are more

restrained than

they ever have

been.

Because Jesus

has put,

God the

Father has put

all of those

things under

Jesus' feet.

And so we're

reminded definitively

there's been this

power that's

exercised over

evil and its

forces.

It no longer

rules and

reigns.

Jesus is the

king of the

world.

He was declared

to be the

Son of God

in power

according to

the spirit of

holiness by the

resurrection from

the dead.

As the fifth

gospel,

Jesus teaches

us the same

things.

Remember in

John chapter

John 17 · chapter mention

17, he has

his high

priestly prayer

and he asks

for many

things including

the unity of

his people.

He also asks

for glory.

He says,

and now

Father glorify

me in your

own presence

with the glory

that I had

with you

before the

world existed.

Man, that

sounds an

awful lot like

declared to be

the Son of

God in power.

And then as

Jesus gives

some of his

final words to

his disciples,

as he leaves

them, Matthew

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28, he

tells them this,

all authority

in heaven and

on earth has

been given to

me.

Man, that

sounds a whole

lot like

declared to be

the Son of

God in power.

And how does

he end that

sentence in

Matthew chapter

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

28?

He says this,

and behold, I

am with you

always to the

end of the

age.

That's why we

follow him.

That's why we

obey him.

That's why we

hope in him.

That's why we

can sing together,

Jesus the

Savior reigns,

the God of

truth and

love.

When he had

purged our

stains, he

took his

seat above.

His kingdom

cannot fail.

He rules

o'er earth

and heaven.

The keys

of death

and hell

are to

our Jesus

given.

Let's pray.

Our Father

in heaven, we

do thank you

and praise you

that Jesus is

the King of

the earth,

that he rules

and he reigns

with a power

that the Old

Testament saints

could only

imagine, and

that he takes

the treasures

that you have

given him and

he casts them

out on his

people with

great blessing

and power.

We ask that

you would remind

us of that

hope and that

we would hold

on to it more

and more,

knowing even

more than that,

that it's Jesus

who holds on

to us.

We ask all

these things in

his mighty

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.