In this message we will begin to consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ in the Epistles. We begin with the experience and enjoyment of Christ in Romans. Often considered the fifth gospel, Romans is a rich, deep, thoughtful, and logical book. It is rich in the enjoyment of Christ as indicated by a particular expression in 10:12: “The same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.”
Romans first shows us that for our experience and enjoyment the Lord’s status is of two natures, human and divine. These two natures of Christ’s person are indicated by the two titles of Christ in Romans 1:1-4—seed of David and Son of God. These verses say, “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
According to His human nature, Christ is the seed of David, a descendant of a person in history (Matt. 1:1; 22:42). According to His divine nature, He is the Son of God, the expression of God. In the New Testament the title Son of God means the expression of God (John 5:19; 14:7-9; Heb. 1:3). As the Son of God, Christ expresses God the Father: “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). No man has ever seen God, yet the Son as the Word of God and the speaking of God has declared Him (v. 1; Rev. 19:13; Heb. 1:2). The Father is the invisible God, the hidden God; the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is the manifest God. As the seed of David and the Son of God, Christ is the complete God and the perfect man, the God-man.
This mysterious person with a wonderful status of two natures—the Lord Jesus Christ as the seed of David and the Son of God—is the contents of the gospel of God which is revealed in the entire book of Romans. The book of Romans is a book on the gospel of God. The entire book—from chapter 1, which concerns the person of Jesus Christ the God-man and the righteousness of God, to chapter 16, which concerns the local churches as the expression of the Body of Christ—is the gospel, the good news and glad tidings (10:15), of God to men in its completeness. No other book presents to us the gospel of God in such a complete way as Romans does. In chapter 1 of Romans, we see Christ as a wonderful person with two natures—divine and human—and in the last chapter we see the local churches. This indicates that the beginning of the gospel is Christ and the consummation of the gospel is the local churches. These local churches are the issue of the dispensing of Christ’s person with His divine and human nature. This One is dispensed into God’s chosen and redeemed people to make them members of the Body of Christ as the church of God, which is expressed around the globe as the local churches. The gospel of God is thus God’s entire New Testament economy, and the center of this gospel of God is Jesus Christ the God-man.
The gospel of God as revealed in Romans is not concerned with religion, doctrine, or forms, nor is it merely concerned with redemption, forgiveness, or justification. As Romans 1:3-4 makes clear, the gospel of God is concerned with God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This indicates that the gospel is concerned with sonship. God’s delight, desire, and pleasure are all related to His Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Gal. 1:15-16). Romans 8:28-29 then reveals that it is God’s intention to produce many sons conformed to the pattern, the model, of Christ as the firstborn Son of God. Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ, many sons are being produced. Romans 1:3-4 gives us Christ, God’s Son, as the prototype, and 8:29-30 unveils the many sons as the mass production. Thus, the gospel of God is concerned with producing many sons conformed to the image of Christ.