|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
January 5
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - - next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
Let's continue looking at Paul's statements concerning Who Jesus is. In verse two, Paul shows Jesus as the One who fulfills The Old Testament prophecies. In the beginning of verse three He shows Him as being both the Son of God and also Lord. Next, he states that Jesus fulfills the Messianic requirement of being from the lineage of David. He also makes note of the fact that Jesus was human by stating that He was of the seed of David "according to the flesh". Today, most people who reject Jesus reject His deity. In other words, they don't believe that He is God. However, there were several philosophies during the first century that taught that it was impossible for deity and humanity to coexist in one Person. Therefore, Jesus was either God or He was man, but not both. That is one of the reasons that John makes statements such as this:
"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist". (II John 1:7).
If Jesus was not God, then He would have had a sin nature and would not have been an acceptable sacrifice for sin. However, if He were not a man "in the flesh", then He could not die for men, and, in fact, could not die and shed His blood at all. So Paul declares that Jesus is the Messiah based on His familial relationship to David, and also that He is both God and man, and thus can provide the sacrifice necessary for man's salvation.
Finally, Paul once again states that Jesus is God. In fact, he says that one specific thing "declares" Him to be God's Son: His resurrection from the dead. The Greek word translated "declare" means "to mark out or set a boundary". It is the basis for our English word "horizon", which sets the boundary between earth and sky. Many people down through the centuries have claimed to be god. Many people have died for their "cause". But only One rose from the dead, and it is the fact of the empty tomb and the reality that after His death, burial, and resurrection Jesus showed Himself alive to His disciples "by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days" (Acts 1:3) that sets the boundary between Him and everyone else. He, and He alone, is both God and Man, the Messiah, the Lord, and the Risen Savior.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
