Today's Passage - Romans 1:2-4

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 1:2-4   "...The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."   Paul mentioned three things about the gospel: First, the gospel was "promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures."  It didn't suddenly come down from the sky and it wasn't invented by someone; the gospel of Jesus Christ was established on the foundation of the entire history of salvation of mankind.  The Old Testament is still very important because it is the foundation of New Testament.  We cannot understand the New Testament without the Old Testament, and after you read the Old Testament you will better understand the meaning of New Testament.   Second, the gospel is about the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Physically speaking, Jesus is a descendent of David, which demonstrates His human nature.  We often talk about Jesus as our Lord, but neglect the fact that our savior was also completely human.  Not only is He the Lord who's sitting on the throne, He was also a man.  In fact, Jesus had to be a man so that He could identify with our pain and also take on the punishment of sin from God on our behalf.  Hebrews 4:15 says: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."  Because He was completely human, He could sympathize with our weaknesses; there's no burden that He could not carry and no suffering that He could not bear.  In our daily life, no matter what kind of difficulties you encounter, as soon as you come before His throne of grace, there's nothing He can't bear.  You just need to come before Him in prayer, and He will give you strength and help you any time.   Third, the Gospel is about Jesus whom, "through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord," and this demonstrates His divinity.  Not only can Jesus sympathize with our weaknesses, He is also the Son of God who is a savior with no sin.  Only He could take our place in death and be resurrected from death, proving that He is the Savior who can bring us hope to overcome sin.  When we accept the gospel, not only do we accept a theory, but we also accept a life which was resurrected from death and a life that is victorious and real.  Let us thank God for this new life!                                                                          Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because not only you are our savior and you are also our victorious general.  We can fearlessly bring all our burden and hardship to your hands, because on the cross you already took on all our pain, and on your throne you have released us from all our bondages.  We thank you for such a precious gospel!  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!