Bible Study Romans Part 12-Declared

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Jesus had to do what he did out of love for the Father.

And God had to trust that that was going to happen because if Jesus had failed, not only would he have lost all of us, but he would also have lost his son.

Thank God that did not happen.

Thank you, Jesus, that you did not turn your back on the Father.

The Father loves us all.

We know that he went through so much just to save us.

Sometimes when we think about our own failures, we think, how could he love us like that?

Thank God he sees us through the lens of Jesus.

We are still in the book of Romans.

This, by the way, is what we were just talking about was the gospel.

The gospel is what Paul is talking about early on in this letter to the Romans.

He talks about the gospel all the way through the rest of it.

We're just getting started, so let's continue while we can.

We're going to look more at the first few verses of Romans, and then we're going to keep on moving along week by week.

Here we are.

We're going to get started.

We're still in this very first sentence of Paul's letter to the Romans.

That sounds worse than it is, since it all the first sentence spans the first seven verses.

We are on verse four.

That's better than halfway.

Not bad.

Last time we got a bit sidetracked.

Let's see if we can stay focused this week.

Fingers crossed.

Romans 1:1.

Romans 1:1

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised to four bias prophets in Holy Scripture, concerning his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

Now the first thing that strikes me about verse 4 is that Paul is not in any way trying to prove the resurrection happened.

He didn't, nor has he ever, nor did anyone at that time attempt to lay down a factual basis as to why we should believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

And listen, they talked about it a lot in those days.

Nearly every sermon, probably for decades, was centered around the fact of the resurrection.

But they never attempted to present a defense of its existence.

At that time there was no such thing as a Christian apologist.

And what's even more incredible, and this is really incredible, there is no record anywhere of anyone contesting that this thing actually happened.

Not one resurrection denier came forward for at least a thousand years, and that includes the enemies of God.

In the Bible, whenever one of the apostles or disciples is confronted about their teaching, they're never told to stop spreading lies.

They're never forced to prove that Jesus rose from the dead.

No one even suggested it.

Isn't that weird?

And what's more, they're never told to retract their statements as to what they saw, disavow their claims, apologize for spreading misinformation.

You know why?

Because if one person stopped saying they encountered the risen Lord, there would be hundreds who would take their place.

Not one of those early Christians was ever hauled into court for lying.

In fact, whenever someone did end up in front of the authorities, they were always accused of causing a riot or somehow disturbing the peace because of what they said they saw.

And every record we have states that their accusers just wanted them to stop saying what they saw, but never forced to prove it.

I mean, wouldn't that have been the easy way out of this?

Listen, this whole Christian thing caused a bit of a stir in those early days.

And it was showing potential for getting out of hand.

Isn't that why the authorities had Jesus put to death in the first place?

They wanted to silence him because the populace was starting to lean toward his way of thinking.

So they had him eliminated, or so it seemed.

But unfortunately for those guys, things just got worse.

But you know, all they had to do was disprove the claims, and that would have been that.

Demonstrate that Jesus didn't rise from the dead, and the whole thing would have ended right there, right?

Head over to the known tomb.

The Bible makes clear that the body of Jesus wasn't whisked away to some secret place.

Everyone knew where he was buried.

So just head over there, find the body, parade it around the town squares, and this unpleasant matter blows over forever.

Go to the burial place, take out the cadaver, put it on a cart, bring him before the people, and let them decide if he was or wasn't dead.

Heck, you know what?

Don't even go to that much trouble.

Bring a delegation of leaders and politicians and legal and religious authorities over to the known tomb?

Break the seal that the chief priests and Pharisees put on the entrance stone and let those big shot decision makers witness for themselves that Jesus was still there dead as a dodo.

Surely they must have tried it.

And if they did, I'm telling you, they would have discovered nothing but an empty tomb.

It had to be empty because if it wasn't, there would have been no more talk of resurrection.

Yep, me and the other big wigs, we opened that tomb, we saw the body case closed.

Why didn't that happen?

Listen, if it had, there would be no more claims that Jesus was the Son of God.

His dead body would have shown he was no different than anyone else, and no one could declare otherwise.

Listen, friends, if that tomb wasn't empty, you and I would be worshiping Zeus at this moment.

But because there was an empty tomb, we know he is the Son of God because he was declared to be, because of that resurrection.

The resurrection from the dead evidenced that he was the son of God.

That empty tomb declared it.

If he had not risen from the dead, well then, yeah, there's plenty of room for doubt.

And Paul could not have made this statement.

Paul would not have made this statement.

He was nothing but practical.

There's no way anyone could have convinced him that Jesus was worth being worshipped if there was somebody in that tomb.

If that tomb wasn't empty, then those chief priests and Pharisees were absolutely right.

If Jesus' body was still in that grave, then he was a heretic and a fraud.

And if his body was still there, still where they laid it, then he deserved to die, just as they said he did, because he was a blasphemer.

And it wouldn't have mattered because he would have done us no good.

But he wasn't there.

That's what the evidence points to.

He wasn't there.

And that's not just me being some religious zealot or ignorant blind sheep, only believing something I've been told.

Listen to me.

That tomb had to be empty.

Because if his body would have been there, no one would have accepted the fact that he was the son of God.

You know why?

Because he was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.

If he didn't rise, maybe he was still the Son of God, but there would have been nothing to declare that.

And the enemies of God would have won, and Jesus would have faded into history.

But that didn't happen because Jesus rose.

And the only time in the entire New Testament where anyone even tries to prove otherwise was that rather humorous attempt at getting the guards to lie about what happened.

I mean, that's a pretty smart strategy if you think about it.

Squash the story before it gets out.

You see, immediately after the Lord the Lord rose, and this is amazing, when Jesus, when Jesus rose from the tomb, when he sailed through that solid rock, those silly guards saw it.

Isn't that hilarious?

The very first witnesses to the resurrection were the brigands who were there to make sure he would stay in that cave.

I love God's style, don't you?

Anyhow, they see this unfold, and then what do they do?

Matthew 28, starting at verse 11.

Now, when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.

And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers.

By the way, why give the soldiers large money?

They must have believed the story.

Shouldn't they have just told those guards?

You're crazy.

You were drunk.

That didn't happen.

It couldn't have happened.

Those chief priests and elders believed that story, and they only told it once.

They believed it so much, they had to bribe them.

Verse 13 saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while he slept.

And if this come to the governor's ear, we will persuade him and secure you.

You see, in those days, falling asleep on duty was a cause for summary execution.

They had to be paid large money to tell the authorities that they fell asleep on duty.

And the chief priests and elders were very good.

They knew how to get to the governor.

I mean, after all, that's how they got Jesus crucified.

But in this case, they told those soldiers, don't worry, we'll talk to the governor, your boss, and we'll tell them it's okay that you fell asleep.

Take this money and run.

Other than just saying that they're liars.

Why didn't they?

They would they would rather tell the soldiers, tell everybody you fell asleep, than rather tell everybody you were a liar.

They knew they weren't liars.

Have you ever wondered why Christianity has lasted this long?

This is why.

Nobody could prove anything against it.

They try now.

Of course, they always try long after everyone is dead.

They always tell stories of long-dead celebrities after they're gone because nobody can check up on the story.

Now we're fighting against the resurrection because there's nobody left who can dissuade us.

In those days, never happened.

For a thousand years.

Nobody questioned the resurrection.

Don't you find that fascinating?

Verse 15.

So they took the money and did as they were taught.

And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

And you know what?

Their story might have stuck too, if that's all they had.

As Matthew reports some years later, there were still some who held on to it.

Now, listen, if all the story of the resurrection had to go on was the testimony of some close followers, then the counterstory of the guards who were there would have been very tough to combat.

Now, don't you think God would have known that?

He did.

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

And when they saw him, they worshiped him.

Listen, this goes beyond just faith in the promise of the resurrection.

This is no longer just repeating a doubtful claim from a lowly carpenter.

Now they have seen the truth with their own eyes, and that kind of evidence is really hard to refute.

Listen to me, no dubious testimony from a drunken, crooked guard could stand up to the word of an eyewitness.

But let me tell you, when God does something, he does it all the way.

Listen to this.

These are Paul's words in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 3.

For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received.

How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

You're going to be, as we go through the letters of Paul, you're going to be really tired of Paul saying the same thing, how Jesus died for our sins through scripture, as promised according to scriptures.

Verse 4.

And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.

And that he was seen of Cephas, who was Peter, then of the twelve.

After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

Verse 7.

After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all, he was seen of me also as one born one born out of due time.

Listen, my friends, I've been saying it a lot lately.

God will never leave you without a witness.

God doesn't need you to defend him.

Jesus not only appeared to those first eleven, but he also appeared to over 500 people at once.

I absolutely love that.

He appeared to them all at once.

And you know why?

There is nothing that wins a court case faster than corroborating evidence.

Listen, if if Jesus had to appear to one and then another and then another 500 times over, well then you might have 500 different testimonies.

Pretty easy to poke holes in evidence like that.

Can you imagine, though, if I approached the bench at a trial and said, Um, Your Honor, I'd like to call the 500 people who saw that crime committed.

The judge would throw me out.

But not before he'd rule in my favor.

Now there's one more thing that I'd like to say before we get to Romans 1:4.

Romans 1:4

Listen to me.

It's my personal belief that among those 500, there must have been a few, shall I say, credible witnesses.

In those days, I don't think the word of your common everyday peasant went very far.

Certainly it would not have been enough for a case this important.

If it was just the testimony of, I don't know, 500 slaves or 500 stable boys or 500 foreigners, well, the authorities wouldn't have been all that concerned about it.

The words of those types didn't carry much weight in that society.

That's why I say, or at least I believe, that Jesus must have appeared to at least a few relatively influential people.

In fact, I believe he even appeared to some of the more prominent Pharisees.

You know why?

Because, first of all, though they were horrible human beings, they did know their scripture.

And we know at least a few of them, Nicodemus tells us this.

We know that during the life of Jesus, at least a few of these Pharisees suspected that Jesus was exactly who he said he was.

Well, can you imagine how those suspicions would have turned to certainties upon a visit from the resurrected Messiah, who happened to be the same guy that said he would do that?

Now, there's a certain interesting fact that may actually help to substantiate my position on this.

From just after the resurrection day onward, there was never again a mention of a Pharisee in Scripture.

Not one.

Let me repeat, the Pharisees were experts in the Hebrew Bible.

They knew probably more about what Scripture said about the coming Messiah than anyone else.

I would imagine that as every day went by while Jesus was here, more and more of these men must have seen that he was the true promised one.

And the kicker happened when one or even some of their own reported to the group that Jesus had appeared to them after the crucifixion.

Tight-knit Pharisees heard that Jesus indeed rose from the grave, that must have been all they needed.

I think that the majority of the Pharisees, especially those around Jerusalem, found it no longer possible to doubt that Jesus was the Son of God.

And with that, they converted, and we hardly heard from them ever again.

And like all converts in those first few months and years, they must have gone about declaring their new faith.

Now imagine a group of very prominent, respected religious experts going around telling everyone that Jesus came out of that tomb.

Imagine how difficult it would be to kill that story if you were just a corrupt, undereducated, overconnected civil servant.

The leadership of the Jews would be fighting against their most respected citizens if they tried to deny the resurrection.

That would not look good on them.

There was not one shred of evidence that anyone at that time dared call the members of the early church liars for preaching Christ crucified.

They didn't like it.

They told them to stop, but they didn't argue that it didn't happen.

And it's my opinion that they didn't because they couldn't.

It was too well documented by not only a large quantity of witnesses, but throw in those Pharisees and other Jewish leaders and experts.

And now you have quality witnesses.

Let's get back to Romans 4.

I'll read it again.

Now I'm going to go back to verse 1.

As I said, this is all one big sentence.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised to four by his prophets and holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.

We needed him to be according to the flesh.

Verse 4, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

Listen to me.

The resurrection is the event of the Christian faith.

Without it, there would be no Christianity.

Oh, but wait a second, you might say.

I thought the event of Christianity was Christmas.

Not one single person in the first century or the second century or the third century church ever gave the day Jesus was born a second thought.

In fact, we have it wrong now.

It's not December 25th.

That's because no one thought about what it actually was in those days to write it down.

Nobody cared.

300 years of absolute disregard.

You see, being born isn't much of an achievement.

Though, as you can tell, I'm tempted, but I'm not going to go off on another tangent.

But I will say this: the birth of Christ would have had no meaning had he not gone to the cross.

In fact, though he was the son of God, had he not risen from the tomb, listen to me, no one would have ever known it.

Even if he was the son of God, but he didn't rise from the tomb, nobody would know.

How could you say such a thing?

Well, I didn't.

Paul did.

He said it was the resurrection that revealed to the world who Jesus was.

Jesus was, with that resurrection, declared to be the Son of God with power.

Now that statement is a little difficult for our modern English brains to work out, but it's not really all that difficult.

At the end of this year, 2024, we here in the United States are going to have an election.

We're going to be voting for lots of different positions in the government, but the one we're all most interested in is president.

We are going to pick a president.

When we vote on Tuesday, November 5th, we are going to make our choice.

And then when we're done, when the polls close, someone is going to add up the votes.

And when that count is over, there will be a winner.

And then on the next day, someone is going to get up and declare the winner, right?

You've seen that happen.

Somebody gets up and declares a winner, isn't that how it goes?

Such and such is declared the winner and is hailed as the president of the United States.

Hugging high fives, confetti, acceptance speeches, condolence speeches, or concession speeches, I should say.

Happens all the time in democratic society.

Now let me ask you, you don't really believe it's that declaration that made that person president, do you?

The person making that statement isn't the one that has the power to choose the president, do they?

We do.

Our voting the day before chose the president, didn't it?

But the person who won, technically the day before, even if they didn't get all the votes counted before midnight or whatever, and that's the other thing, it's not the count that makes the winner the winner.

Another action is what made that happen.

It wasn't the count, it wasn't the declaring of the winner.

In fact, the declaration isn't even the moment the president becomes president.

That happened the day before.

My point is that the declaration of the winner of the presidential election is merely the announcement so that everyone else knows what happened previously by some other mechanism.

In itself, it has no power.

By the time of that declaration, the fact had already been the fact.

That's what we have here.

Jesus was, Romans 1, 4, declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

Contrary to what many have believed, it wasn't the resurrection that made Jesus the Son of God.

He was already the Son of God.

But the way that resurrection happened, the power of it told the entire world what he had been since eternity.

The resurrection told the world, declared to the world that Jesus was the Son of God with power.

I literally could sit here and talk about this for another hour.

But we probably shouldn't.

I suppose we did make some progress here today.

This is really one of the most important statements in the new in the New Testament.

And that's why we're taking it slow.

That's why I'm trying to bring in all of these perhaps other analogies so that you can see how important this is.

What is presented to us in verse 4 is of immeasurable value to the Christian faith.

If you don't grasp this, you are not a Christian.

However, we're going to stop here for now and we'll get back at it next time.

Make sure you come back because you don't have all the information yet.

See you then.

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