The Subject of the Gospel

[0:00] We're going to turn now to God's Word and to the letter of Romans. So please do turn it up in your Bibles and you'll find that if you have a visitor Bible on page 939.

[0:14] 939. We're looking at the first few verses. We're going to read verses 1 to 7 of chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. I'm reading from verse 1.

[0:38] 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, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

[1:32] To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:45] Amen. May the Lord bless to us his word this evening. We'll do turn up Romans chapter 1, page 939, I think, if you have one of the church visitor's Bibles.

[2:05] And these three Sunday evenings, at the beginning of term, we're thinking about a very basic question. The gospel of God. What is it really all about?

[2:17] What is the story all about? If you're browsing through a book that you might want to read, maybe you want to take it on holiday or read it, I don't know, at night to try and take your mind off things and get you off to sleep, I guess probably before you buy it, you want to know a little bit about what it's about.

[2:36] So you'll read The Flyleaf. It'll tell you a summary, won't it? Or at least it'll give some clues as to the content, perhaps a sense of the big story.

[2:47] It'll tell you if you think it's the sort of book that you actually want to spend money on and get into and start reading. Sometimes, I suppose, just knowing who the author is will be enough, won't it?

[3:00] Jane Austen, I suppose, does it for some people. That would definitely be a cure for insomnia for me. But if I was looking for, for example, a Daniel Silva spy novel, now that's a different matter.

[3:15] A deck chair in the sun and one of those in my hand and I'm a very happy person. But the first time, actually, somebody gave me one of those books, I'd never heard of the author. I didn't know anything about it. I wanted to find out what the story was about.

[3:26] Would I really be interested in reading this? I read the back, gave a bit of an insight, and I started to read the first chapter. And the first chapter began to tell me who the hero was, what he was like, what it was about.

[3:41] And very quickly, I thought, yeah, this is the sort of book for me. Well, what and who is the story of the Christian gospel really about?

[3:53] What is the story that the Bible tells? If you've never really got yourself into the Bible before, if you've never really engaged with the Christian Bible, you may be quite surprised to even know that it has a story.

[4:10] But the Bible has a great overarching story with a great, relentless, wonderfully rich plot line that unfolds all the way through. It comes to a great climax. It's a story that really does involve the future of the whole wide world.

[4:26] Really? Yes, absolutely. So what is that gospel story all about then? Well, Paul's letter to the Romans that we're looking at here is a part of the Bible that certainly answers that question very clearly, very powerfully.

[4:41] That's why Romans has always been central. It's always been a very, very important part of scriptures for the Christian church. That's why in Release the Word, in our Student and Young Workers Bible Studies, you're studying at this term and next, as we do every few years.

[4:58] And if you're new and you haven't yet joined in on Thursdays and Release the Word, it's not too late to do it. And I encourage you to do that. It's really important. But in fact, this little paragraph that we're looking at here is like a window into the letter to the Romans.

[5:14] It's a bit like that summary on the flyleaf of a modern book. And it contains within it some of the key things, some of the key themes that will be unfolded throughout the chapters that are to come.

[5:27] So last week, we looked at just verses 1 and 2. And they tell us so clearly, don't they, that the source of this gospel story is unequivocal. It comes from the holy scriptures.

[5:40] Notice the holy scriptures, the definite article, not just any old scriptures. And by the way, I suppose I do have to say these days, if you've been educated at school in the last 20 years, if you don't know what the definite article is, that's the word the, not a.

[5:56] For those of you who are a bit younger, I'm becoming a grumpy old man. But I'm no apologies. Came in today and two people at the door greeted me and said, you're getting a bit old for doing all these services.

[6:08] So I'm feeling a grumpy old man tonight. Anyway. You know how to greet me next week. The holy scriptures. Very important.

[6:20] From God's own prophets. Verse 2. His prophets. There's a personal pronoun. You really are being educated tonight. The holy scriptures from his, God's holy prophets.

[6:31] Not anybody else's. Not just random scriptures of random religions. He promised it. God himself. Long beforehand. Long before the birth of Jesus Christ. Who came in fulfillment to all of these scriptures.

[6:42] So right here in the first sentence of Romans, we're being told that this gospel makes an exclusive claim. We can't escape from that. There is one source of truth about God.

[6:57] Not many. And that source is the historic scriptures that comes from God's own prophets. Spoken with exceptional clarity through his own mouthpieces.

[7:08] It's exactly what we're seeing in Hebrews. The beginning of Hebrews. In the past, God spoke in many ways through his prophets. But in these last days, he's spoken by his son.

[7:19] And I want to look at verses 3 and 4, which do exactly that. They focus on his son. Who is this all about? Well, it's about his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

[7:33] Concerning his son, who is descended from David according to the flesh. And was declared, was appointed to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness. By his resurrection from the dead.

[7:45] Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm going to come back and just zoom in on these verses in a moment. But first of all, let's just zoom right out. Because we're trying to think about this whole letter to the Romans.

[7:59] And why, in the first place, Paul wrote this whole letter to that church in Rome. What is his great concern? Well, of course, he is an apostle.

[8:10] He's being chosen by God and set apart for the gospel. He is a missionary evangelist. Verse 1 says, he's been set apart for the gospel of God. He's under compulsion to proclaim this word.

[8:23] Look at verse 14. He says he's under obligation to preach this gospel to all. To Greeks, to barbarians, to the wise, to the foolish, to everybody all over the world.

[8:35] That is his great concern. And he's straight into it right at the very beginning of this letter. He comes back to it again right at the end of the letter. Remember I said often the beginning and the end of Paul's letters will tell you his great concern.

[8:48] Aaron. Actually, come and look with me at the end of the letter. Look at, well, not the very last chapter, but chapter 15. See what he says there in chapter 15, verse 16.

[9:04] He's saying that he's a minister to the Gentiles, to the pagan nations, especially in the service of the gospel. So that, look at verse 18. So that Gentile people, non-Jewish people all over the world will come to obedience.

[9:21] The obedience of faith in Jesus Christ that he talks about. And verse 20, look, he's committed, isn't he, to new frontiers for the gospel. To proclaim where Christ has not already been known.

[9:33] And in particular here, in verse 24, he says he wants to go on via Rome to Spain. He's wanting to go to these unevangelized places to preach the gospel.

[9:45] This is a letter all about mission. And not just Paul's mission. It's all about partnership in mission with him. Look at verse 24 there.

[9:56] What does he say? I want to be helped on my journey there by you. Now what does he mean? When he says I want to be helped, he's using that word in the same sense as somebody who rattles a tin in front of you.

[10:08] And says, can you help me? He doesn't want you to say, oh yes, bless you. He wants your cash, doesn't he? When he rattles his tin in front of you. That's what Paul's asking for here.

[10:18] He's asking for funding. He's saying he needs and he wants their tangible, practical help. Because he needs their gospel resources for his gospel labors. And he doesn't show the least bit of embarrassment.

[10:31] In being very forward about the gospel needs. In fact, placing upon them obligations as he is obligated to preach. They're obligated to help pay for that gospel mission.

[10:43] He needs their money because mission costs money. And Paul assumes that Christian money is for Christian mission before it's for anything else at all. So he wants their money. He wants their prayers.

[10:54] Look at verse 30. Very plainly. Tells them to pray for him. Strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf. But he also wants their tangible financial support. A gospel partnership for Paul includes real prayer but also real provision.

[11:11] And that's his appeal. That's his command to them. Who share with him in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who share with him in the love of the Holy Spirit. He's talking about what real Christian fellowship is.

[11:24] Partnership. Sharing. Communion. That's the word in verse 27. Sharing. He's talking about sharing in spiritual blessings in Christ. And says that means sharing in material possessions with Christ's people.

[11:38] In the service of Christ's gospel mission. That's just very, very basic Christian teaching. Christian fellowship isn't what we do after this service. So we have a nice cup of tea and a biscuit and some chocolates at the back.

[11:49] That's very pleasant. It's a small part, isn't it, of Christian fellowship. Encouraging one another. But Christian fellowship, communion, sharing, partnership. Means tangible, substantial partnership in the service of the gospel.

[12:05] And when you think about it like that. It probably means, doesn't it, that for some Christians. Their fellowship is much less substantial than it ought to be. And actually, that may well be so even here among our own congregation.

[12:19] Among some of us. Some of us give to the gospel mission of the church very sacrificially. Very generously. But as you saw from the financial update in the notes this morning. We're way behind on our giving for this year.

[12:30] The reason for that is very simple. Because some of us never get around to giving. Some of us never get around to giving properly. Some of us never even get around to giving at all. Even when we've taken vows before God and everybody else in the congregation.

[12:43] To give a fitting proportion of our time and our talents and our money. For the church's mission in the world. But friends, we need to wake up, don't we? We need to realize what our lack of care and attention to that says.

[12:56] About our value of the gospel. About our value of Christ himself and our salvation. Paul's very clear here. He's not mincing his words.

[13:07] He's saying that if the church does share his concern, his zeal for gospel mission. Then they will eagerly desire not only to pray for him. But to partner with him in tangible support.

[13:21] But it's his great concern. It's that concern for mission of the gospel. That drives his whole letter. That's why he wrote this letter. Not so that people could spend years and years writing commentaries and PhDs on the letter to the Romans.

[13:35] But to get that church galvanized for gospel mission. And that's why we're studying it. That's why you're studying it and release the word. But come back to chapter 1.

[13:46] Why? Why must this message, this gospel be so dynamically driven to the ends of the earth. With all the support of God's people wherever. At such great cost.

[13:56] To all cultures. To all peoples. Not just to the Jews. But to the Gentiles. To the wise. To the foolish. To the Jews. To the Greeks. To everybody. Well because this gospel is the gospel of God.

[14:14] And the only gospel of God. It's about a unique subject. And that subject is there. In verse 3.

[14:24] The gospel concerns God's son. Jesus Christ our Lord. What the gospel brings to us. Is spelt out in verse 16 of chapter 1.

[14:38] It brings salvation. To everyone who believes. Jew and Greek. And that salvation is from what verse 18 begins to talk about there. The wrath of God.

[14:48] Which is being revealed against all unrighteousness. And all ungodliness of human beings. But that salvation comes to us.

[14:58] Not from right living. Not from self-righteousness. Not from what we do. It doesn't come through any kind of human religion at all. It comes only through a right relationship.

[15:13] With the one who is the unique subject of this gospel. With Jesus Christ our Lord. The whole message of this letter. The whole message of the Bible.

[15:23] Is that salvation. Can be found in one way alone. And that's through Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's the heart of what the gospel is about.

[15:35] That's the heart of what this letter of Romans is about. Jesus the Savior himself. Is the unique subject. He is the substance. At the very heart of all the good news.

[15:47] About God. Through. Jesus Christ our Lord. Comes everything. That we need. And we desire. And we want.

[15:59] I want you just to look briefly with me. At just how. Dominant this term. Through Jesus Christ is. How pervasive it is. In Paul's explanation of the gospel. It's right here in chapter 1 verse 5.

[16:10] Look. Jesus Christ our Lord. Through whom. We have received grace. You see. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Comes grace. And you also.

[16:21] He says in verse 6. You also are called to belong. To Jesus Christ. Christ. And verse 7. Grace comes to you. And peace. From God our Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ.

[16:33] Verse 8. I thank God. Through. Jesus Christ. You see. God's grace. Comes to us. Through Jesus. And we respond. To God. Through Jesus. He's the way from God.

[16:45] To us. And he's the way from us. To God. Turn over to chapter. To chapter 3. And look at the. Famous little section there.

[16:56] Chapter 3. Verses 20. To 22. The great contrast. For by the works of the law. No human being will be justified. Will be. Declared right. In God's sight.

[17:07] Since through. The law. Comes the knowledge of sin. But now. There is. A righteousness. From God. For all who believe. How? Verse 22. Through.

[17:18] Faith. In Jesus Christ. Through. Jesus. Christ. There is. There is. Justification. Turn over to chapter 5. Verse 1. Being justified by faith.

[17:29] He says. We have peace with God. Through. Our Lord. Jesus Christ. Through him. We have obtained. Access. By faith. Chapter 5.

[17:41] Verse 11. We are reconciled. Through him. And we rejoice in God. Through. Our Lord. Jesus Christ. Verse 21. Of chapter 5. We have eternal life.

[17:51] Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. It's all there in chapter 6. Chapter 6. Ends the same way. Chapter 6. Verse. Verse 23. The free gift of God.

[18:02] Is eternal life. In Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Chapter 7. Again. The famous. Great question. In chapter 7. Verse 25.

[18:12] Who will. Who will save me. From this body of death. Thanks be to God. Says Paul. Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. I'll be saved. He's speaking there again.

[18:24] Isn't he? In the future tense. When at last. We'll be truly saved. In our bodies. On the day of our resurrection. Just as he goes on. To speak about. All through the next chapter. In Romans chapter 8. It begins that way.

[18:34] And it ends that way. Through. Jesus Christ. Verse 1. There is no condemnation. For those. In Christ Jesus. Our Lord. And ends. Verse 39. So there's no separation.

[18:45] From God's love. For those who are in. Christ Jesus. Our Lord. No condemnation. In Christ Jesus. No separation. In Christ Jesus. Everything.

[18:57] Is in. And through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. We could go on. But. I'm sure you've got the picture by now. There is salvation. And the gospel.

[19:08] Is the power of salvation. To all who believe. Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. And through another. Only through Jesus Christ. Our Lord.

[19:18] Not through. Buddha. Not through Muhammad. Not through Krishna. Not through the. Talmud. Not through any. Any religion. At all. But only through. Right relationship.

[19:30] With. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. And then. An exclusive. Relationship. With Christ. Through faith. Not.

[19:41] Not through Jesus. And my cooperation. Not through Jesus. And my learning. Not through Jesus. And my. Performance. No. No. No. God's saving grace. God's. Justifying.

[19:52] Forgiving. Reconciling. Grace. Comes. All. Holy. Completely. Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. And through him alone. In Christ alone. Our hope is found.

[20:03] That's the. Reformation faith. Isn't it? Because that's the. Biblical faith. That's the gospel faith. But who is this.

[20:15] Jesus. Through whom. Everything we ever need. It will come. Who is this. Unique. Son of God. Well. Verses three and four. You see. In chapter one. They tell us two things.

[20:26] Don't they. About who Jesus is. First of all. He says. He was descended. From David. According to the flesh. That is historically. He was a descendant of David.

[20:37] The great king of Israel. God promised David. That one day. A scion of his house. That would reign. On his throne forever. You can read of it. In second Samuel.

[20:48] Chapter seven. Way back in the old testament. You can read. In Matthew chapter one. In the genealogy. That begins his gospel. And he maps it out. Lays it out. So clearly. Going back through David.

[21:00] Indeed. Right back. To Abraham. But Paul actually means. More than that here. When he says. According to the flesh. He's not just saying. That. That naturally speaking.

[21:11] Humanly speaking. Jesus was the son of David. When Paul uses that word. Flesh. Very often. In fact. Most often. He is.

[21:22] Speaking about this. Present age. Of the world. It's his way of speaking. About this. This world. That we live in. The world of sin. The world. Under the curse. He speaks about.

[21:33] This age of the flesh. In contrast. With. The new age. The age to come. Which. Very often. He talks about. Is the age of the spirit. The resurrection age. The age of glory.

[21:44] If you read Romans 8. You'll see that. All the way through. There's that contrast. Between the flesh. Those who are in the flesh. And the spirit. Those who are. In the spirit. And he's doing the same thing here.

[21:55] In verses 3 and 4. Of chapter 1. He's saying. Jesus was born. Into the world. Of the flesh. That is. Into this evil age. Under the curse. In chapter 8.

[22:07] Verse 3. He. He says. That he was born. In the likeness. Of sinful flesh. That is. He was born. Just like one of us. He was born. In flesh.

[22:18] Of our flesh. Not as. Sinful flesh. Because he was sinless. Paul's very careful. With his language. But he was born. In the likeness. Of sinful flesh. Truly human.

[22:30] And for. Sin. That is. What he's saying. Is that. In order to deal with sin. Our sin. In order to rescue. His people. Out. Of this.

[22:40] Cursed world. Under sin's power. He came. From outside. As God's eternal son. He. He had no need. To enter. This world.

[22:52] Under the curse. C.S. Lewis. I think. Puts it so wonderfully. When he says. He served. In our sad regiment. As a volunteer. He came to be with us.

[23:03] In order. To save us. He. Was. According to the flesh. Descended from David. But you see.

[23:14] The second thing. That he tells us here. In verse 4 too. He. He didn't remain. Captive. In this cursed world. No. He was. Declared. He was. Appointed. To be the son of God.

[23:24] In power. According to the spirit. Of holiness. By his resurrection. From the dead. What that means. You see. Is that. That Jesus Christ. Came.

[23:35] To be the new. Adam. To be the first. Of a whole. New. Humanity. That's what Paul speaks of. Later on. In Romans chapter 5. It's what he. He speaks about.

[23:46] In 1st Corinthians 15. In fact. It's what we've been seeing. In Hebrews chapter 1 and 2. As well. He was the first. Of many brothers and sisters. Because Jesus. Was everything.

[23:57] That the first Adam. Was not. Where the. The original humanity. Was. Was characterized. By disobedience. And became utterly. Unholy. And that led to sin.

[24:09] And to death. But Jesus. Was not just the opposite of Adam. Jesus was much. Much more. Even than the opposite of Adam. Chapter 5. He says this.

[24:20] Because of one man's trespass. Death. Reigned. Through that one man. But much more. Will those who receive. The abundance of grace. And the free gift of righteousness.

[24:30] Much more. Will they reign in life. Through this one man. Jesus Christ. See verse. Verse 4 here says. That Jesus was. Was declared.

[24:41] He was appointed. The son of God. With power. By his resurrection. That doesn't mean. That he wasn't. The eternal son of God. Before that. No. What it means is. The phrase.

[24:52] Son of God here. Means. The human son of God. Adam. Was God's son. Adam was created. As God's son. But he fell. So tragically.

[25:02] He rebelled. But in Jesus. The man. At last. God has. A true human son of God. Who was obedient. To him. In every way.

[25:12] Who triumphed. And he even triumphed. Over death. Death. Could not hold him. Because. He was. Truly holy. In his humanity. The spirit of holiness.

[25:24] That it speaks of here. The spirit of holiness. Dwelled in Jesus. In full measure. Completely. And so. Through. This one man. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. At last.

[25:36] God's whole purpose. For creation. For humanity. Is fulfilled. And Jesus is declared. The son of God. In power. That is. The human ruler. Over the world. That God made man to be.

[25:47] In the beginning. That man was destined to be. You see. The world that we know. The world that we live in. Is the way it is. It's in such a mess. Because. Because human beings.

[25:58] Are no longer. Truly human. We've been dehumanized. By sin. We sometimes use that language. Don't we? We say. Oh that. That's inhuman. Or that behavior.

[26:09] Is subhuman. But the Bible says. We're all subhuman. We're all subhuman. We've been dehumanized. Unmanned. By our sin. Every single part. Of our human makeup.

[26:21] Is tainted. By our rebellion. Against God. That means. That we can't. Not be. What we are. You know that.

[26:31] Don't you? I know that. Can't be what we want to be. Never mind. What God wants us to be. It's just not true. Is it? What. What I heard President Obama.

[26:42] Say some years ago. One of those memorial services. For. I think it was one of those awful school shootings. In America. And in the memorial service. He said this. Deep down.

[26:53] Inside. We're all. Full. Of goodness. Well friends. If that was the case. He wouldn't have been at a service. For a school shooting. Would he? But that's the belief of our.

[27:06] Our Western liberal. World view. If that were true friends. This world would be very very different. From what it is. We are.

[27:17] Tainted. In every. Every part of our humanity. Because of sin. Of course. To say that. Which is the. The Christian doctrine. Of total depravity.

[27:28] To say that we're totally depraved. That's not. To say that we're all as bad. As we could be. Or we would be. Without the restraining grace of God. Thank God. He restrains. That evil.

[27:39] Greatly. Much of the time. Nor is it to say. That there's no good. In people. In all people. Regardless of their. Their faith. Or their background. Of course there is. Of course there is.

[27:51] And when we see. Great good. And love. And kindness. In people. That is a reflection. Of what we're made to be. And it's a reminder. That. The true image of God. In humanity. Has not been totally obliterated.

[28:01] Thank God. Much of God's image. Does remain in us. To animate us. To drive us. And that's what we see. When we see human kindness. At work.

[28:12] And human love at work. Sometimes on a grand scale. You see it. Don't you. When there's an outpouring. Of care and help. When there's some awful disaster. In the world. And people. Immediately are rallying. To try and help. But that's the vestiges.

[28:23] Of the goodness. Of God. That's seen in our human nature. But. If any of us. Really. Seriously. Think. That if we. If we could just.

[28:33] Get rid of the supposed. Malign influences. In society. Whatever they are. Sweep them all away. And all of us. Would sort of naturally. Grow up. Into.

[28:43] Into perfect goodness. And peace. And beauty. And wholesomeness. Anybody. Thinks that. Oh dear. Turn on your television. Reread.

[28:54] The Lord of the Flies. I'll just watch. A couple of episodes. Of. What do you call it? Big Brother. Or Love Island. Actually. That's not my recommendation.

[29:05] For your TV viewing. I don't know anything about Love. I've never. I've never watched it. But I've read about it. So. I reckon it's not for watching. But it would tell you. Wouldn't it? Any of these reality TV things.

[29:16] We do not see. What we long to see. But the story of the Bible. You see. Is that there is one place. Where you do see humanity. Is it's never been seen elsewhere.

[29:29] In all its sheer beauty. And its grace. And its unspoiled. True humanity. You see it. Here. In Matthew, Mark.

[29:39] And Luke and John. You see it. As you read the pages of the Gospels. You see it. In the person of God's. Holy Son. When he walked. In our world.

[29:51] Jesus Christ. Our Lord. And God has therefore. Appointed him. Publicly. In the sight of all the world. As his triumphant. Holy. Human son. At last.

[30:02] And he has done it. By raising him. From the dead. He's publicly vindicated him. In doing that. He's justified him. In the eyes of the whole universe.

[30:12] He's reversed. The condemnation. That was publicly upon him. Under that sentence of death. On the cross. And now. He reigns. In life. As the true human son of God.

[30:25] The true human being. It's exactly what we've seen. In our morning studies. In Hebrews. We don't yet see. Do we? Humanity. In glory. With everything in nature.

[30:35] Under his feet. Reigning supreme. In God's image. But we do see. Jesus. Crowned with glory and honor. Showing us.

[30:46] The way. And showing us. The end of the story. Because his triumph. Wasn't just for himself. He is bringing many brothers. To glory. And just as Adam's rebellion.

[30:58] You see Paul says here. Just as his rebellion. Led to condemnation. For all men. So Christ's triumphant obedience. Much more. Leads to justification. And life.

[31:09] For all. Who are in Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Through him. Then. We have received grace. As Paul here. In verse 5. Grace and peace.

[31:20] Comes to us. Through him. And through him alone. Because God counts. What is his. Now. To be truly ours. Through what he's done. When we're called.

[31:31] To belong. To Jesus Christ. In Romans 4. Verse 25. Has this marvelous truth. He tells us. That what Jesus did on the cross. In the death. He died.

[31:41] And. In his rising to life. He tells us. It was for us. He was delivered up. For our. Trespasses. What was our condemnation. Became his.

[31:53] And he was raised. For our. Justification. What was his vindication. Becomes ours. Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord.

[32:03] That is. When we believe in Jesus. When we bow the knee to him. And when we answer. God's call. Personally. To belong to him. In obedient faith. Then our story.

[32:16] Becomes united forever. With the story of Jesus. The holy son of God. We're united with him forever. In his risen life. And we enter a whole new world.

[32:30] We leave behind. That past age of the curse. The age of the flesh. And we're born again. Into a new age. Into the age of the spirit.

[32:41] Into the age. Of eternal life. That's what the gospel teaches us. I know. Yes. I've been telling you this morning. Haven't I? We're still in these bodies.

[32:51] We're still. Sinful. We're still mortal. These bodies are going to die. Every one of them. Unless the Lord comes. And the new testament doesn't pretend. That's not true.

[33:03] It's absolutely honest. It tells us. Again and again. That our full salvation. That our full redemption. Is still in the future. Paul says it again and again. In Romans chapter 8.

[33:14] We're saved. In this hope. The hope of resurrection. But. The new age has begun. Through Jesus Christ. Who has gone before us. And we are following.

[33:27] Our great savior. Already. And that's why. You see. Our life pattern. As Christians. Mirrors. The life pattern. Of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[33:37] Because we're being saved. With him. And through him. And he once walked this earth. According to the flesh. And when he did. For him.

[33:49] That was the road. Wasn't it? To Calvary. The way of rejection. The way of scorn. The way of pain. But now. He's exalted. He's alive. Bodily. According to the spirit of holiness.

[34:01] Also. Also. He calls us now. To follow him. In his earthly path. To take up. Our cross. And to follow him. In that way. But it's by the power. Of his risen life. In his spirit.

[34:12] Who indwells us. That gives us. The power. To do that. And to follow him. In this world. And it's also. Wonderfully. That same power.

[34:23] In that same. Holy spirit. Who one day. Also. Will certainly. Lead us. Where he has already gone. Into that resurrection life. And to that glory.

[34:35] Romans 8 verse 11. Is a wonderful. Wonderful verse. If the spirit of him. Who raised Jesus. From the dead. Dwells in you. He who raised Jesus. From the dead.

[34:45] Will also. Give life. To your mortal bodies. Through his spirit. Who lives in you. All of that. Is yours. And mine.

[34:56] Through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. The only hope. For any human being. In life. And in death. Is through. Jesus Christ. Our Lord.

[35:07] God. But the good news. You see. The story of God. The gospel. It's a story. All about that hope. Because it's a story.

[35:17] All about. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Promised beforehand. In the prophets. And now fulfilled. In the coming. Of our savior. The son of God. The only savior.

[35:29] The life giver. Forever. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. And that's why. The apostle Peter. Was so clear. Unambiguous. And certain. When he proclaimed. That there is no.

[35:40] Other name. Under heaven. Given to man. By which we must be saved. But Jesus Christ. Our Lord. And that's why we'll see.

[35:52] Particularly. As we look at it next time. That the Christian gospel. Demands from you. Whoever you are. Every one of us. That we must. Bow the knee. To Jesus Christ.

[36:05] Our Lord. Well let's pray. Heavenly Father. We thank you. For your. Son.

[36:16] Descended from David. According to the flesh. But appointed to be. The son of God. In power. According to the spirit. Of holiness. By his resurrection. From the dead.

[36:27] Jesus Christ. Our Lord. We thank you. Lord. That you have given us. This great story. And more than that. Lord. You've invited us. Into this story.

[36:37] Forever. That we should be a part of it. That we. Should be united to him. Our story. And his story. Forever and ever.

[36:48] God. So Lord. So Lord. As we come to this table now. That reminds us. Of the great. Grace and mercy. Of the past. And of that great promise. Of future hope.

[37:01] Would you draw near to us. Burn into our hearts. And minds again. Afresh. This glorious gospel. And cause us. To cry out to you.

[37:12] In faith. And in trust. To lay hold. On these great promises. That are ours. Through. Our Lord Jesus Christ. For we ask it.

[37:23] In his name. Amen.