Message Two

God in Romans

Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:1, 15; 5:1-11; 11:36

1. Romans reveals God in creation:
   1. God is invisible, but the invisible things of God, such as His eternal power and divine characteristics, are clearly seen, being perceived by the things created by Him.
   2. Christ as the eternal, unlimited power of God operates the entire universe and holds the entire universe together—Rom. 1:19-20; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3; 11:3; Psa. 19:1-6.
   3. With such a solid revelation by the concrete creation of God, there is no excuse for man to say that there is no God or that he cannot apprehend God.
2. Romans reveals God in condemnation:
   1. After creation, man fell and became sinful; this brought in God’s condemnation.
   2. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men”—Rom. 1:18; 2:2-3, 16; 1:32.
   3. “Whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may fall under the judgment of God”—3:19.
   4. “There is none righteous, not even one”; “there is none who seeks out God”; “there is none who does good; there is not so much as one”—vv. 10-12.
   5. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”—v. 23.
   6. The practical way for us to be restricted from evil and wickedness is for us to glorify God, thank God, worship God, and serve God—1:21, 25.
3. Romans reveals God in redemption:
   1. God’s condemnation exposes man’s need of salvation, and for the righteous God to save sinful man, redemption is needed.
   2. “Through the faith of Jesus Christ,” God justified us “freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus”—3:22, 24.
   3. On the cross Christ “was delivered for our offenses”—4:25.
   4. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” and “in due time Christ died for the ungodly”—5:8, 6.
   5. Through the redemption of Christ, God can save us from His wrath—v. 9; cf. Rev. 14:10.
4. Romans reveals God in justification:
   1. God is just, and He cannot be unrighteous; the redeeming death of Christ has fulfilled and fully satisfied God’s righteous requirements for us sinners.
   2. The redemption of Christ affords God the righteous ground to justify those who believe in Christ’s redemption, and God is bound by His righteousness to do so.
   3. This is “with a view to the demonstrating of His righteousness..., so that He might be righteous and the One who justifies him who is of the faith of Jesus”—Rom. 3:26.
   4. Based upon Christ’s redemption, God has justified us, and the resurrection of Christ is a proof of this—v. 24; 4:25.
   5. Through this, “the righteousness of God has been manifested” and “is revealed in [the gospel] out of faith to faith”—3:21; 1:17.
5. Romans reveals God in reconciliation:
   1. We were not only sinners but also enemies of God; while we were enemies, we “were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,” and through Christ “we have now received the reconciliation”—5:10-11.
   2. God’s justification is based upon Christ’s redemption and issues in His reconciliation along with the full enjoyment of God in Christ—vv. 1-11.
   3. Having been reconciled, “much more we will be saved in His [Christ’s] life,...and not only so, but also boasting [exulting and glorying] in God”—vv. 10-11.
   4. We joy in God and enjoy God in all that He is to us—1:1, 15; 14:17.
6. Romans reveals God in identification:
   1. We were born in Adam, but God has transferred us out of Adam into Christ and has identified us with Christ, making us one with Him, through baptism—5:19; 6:3.
   2. We “have been baptized into Christ Jesus” and “have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death [in baptism],” and we are growing together with Him “in the likeness of His resurrection,” that is, “in newness of life”—vv. 3-5.
   3. Now we have to reckon ourselves “dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus,” to present ourselves “to God as alive from the dead,” and to present our members “as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification”—vv. 11, 13, 19.
7. Romans reveals God in sanctification:
   1. God has made us one with Christ so that we may be sanctified not only positionally but also dispositionally; identification, thus, issues in sanctification.
   2. We have been baptized into Christ, and Christ has come into us; now we are in Christ, and also Christ is in us for us to be sanctified—vv. 19, 22; 8:1, 10.
   3. Dispositional sanctification not only comes out of life but also results in life and brings more life to us so that we may enjoy the riches of the divine life—6:4, 22-23.
   4. In sanctification the Spirit of life is the Triune God in our spirit; the very God who created us, redeemed us, and justified us is now in us—8:2, 9-11, 16.
   5. From within our spirit He spreads Himself into every part of our inner being to make His home in us; hence, when we set our mind on the spirit, our mind is life, and even our mortal body is given life through His indwelling—vv. 2, 6, 10-11; Eph. 3:17.
   6. Thus, we are being transformed from a natural disposition to a spiritual one by Christ as the life-giving Spirit saturating and permeating our being with God’s nature of holiness, His divine element—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2.
8. Romans reveals God in glorification:
   1. God has foreknown us, predestinated us, called us, and justified us; He is now sanctifying us, and He will glorify us—8:28-30.
   2. For this, He has made us His children by regenerating us; He is now leading us as His sons to grow up unto maturity so that we may be His heirs, joint heirs with Christ, to inherit the full sonship; this is to be glorified with our body fully redeemed—vv. 16, 14, 17, 23.
   3. For this, the indwelling Spirit is interceding for us, and God causes all things to work together to conform us “to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers”—vv. 26, 28-29.
   4. The present conformation to the image of God’s Son is the preparation for our future glorification in His Son; God is now bringing us into glory so that we may participate in His divine glory with His firstborn Son in “the freedom of the glory”—v. 21.
9. Romans reveals God in His securing love:
   1. God is enjoyed by us in His love that secures our destiny—vv. 31-39.
   2. In justification He has made us partakers of His righteousness, in sanctification He is working His holiness into our being, and in glorification He will bring us into His glory; now His love is the security of all these items.
   3. He loves us, and we are on His heart; nothing can separate us from His eternal and unchanging love that is in the redeeming Christ, who lives forever and who is interceding for us.
   4. We are fully and eternally secured by God’s eternal love in the unchanging Christ.
   5. Because of God’s unchanging love for us, neither tribulation nor persecution can suppress or defeat us; rather, in all these things we more than overcome and conquer through Him who loved us—v. 37.
10. Romans reveals God in His selection:
    1. It was God who selected us, not we who selected Him—John 15:16a; Rom. 9:11; 11:5.
    2. His selection is our destiny, which is of Him who calls and of His mercy and sovereignty to make us vessels of mercy to contain Him unto honor and glory—9:11, 15-16, 21, 23.
    3. His selection is also by the righteousness which is out of faith and through Christ, who accomplished God’s purpose—v. 30; 10:4.
    4. Since His selection of us is of grace and not out of works, it is irrevocable; in His selection we are destined to have a share, a portion, in Him—11:5-6, 29.
11. Romans reveals God in the Body life:
    1. Eventually, God is glorified in the Body of Christ; we, as His many sons, are the many members of the Body of Christ, who is God’s firstborn Son.
    2. For this Body our body has to be presented as one corporate sacrifice to God for His service, our soul has to be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we may be built together in coordination for the Body to function, and our spirit has to be burning so that we may serve Him in zeal—12:1-6, 11.
    3. For this Body a proper daily life is necessary, and this Body life is the kingdom of God on earth today—vv. 9-21; 14:17.
    4. In order to keep the oneness of this Body, we have to receive all the believers in Christ, whom God and Christ have received; hence, we have to be general in doctrinal concepts so that we may build up one another to please God and glorify God—vv. 1-6, 19, 18; 15:7.
12. Romans reveals God in the church life:
    1. The Body of Christ is spiritual and universal; it has to be expressed practically in various localities as churches.
    2. God is expressed in Christ, Christ is expressed in His Body, and the Body of Christ is expressed in the churches.
    3. The local churches as the practical expression of the Body are spoken of as “the church which is in Cenchrea,” “the churches of the Gentiles,” the church in Prisca and Aquila’s house, “the churches of Christ,” and “the whole church”—16:1, 3-5, 16, 23.
    4. Between these churches there were the communication in love and the fellowship of concern among the saints for the sharing “in the fullness of the blessing of Christ” and for the crushing of Satan under their feet so that the grace of Christ could be dispensed to all the saints—15:25-29; 16:20.
    5. In Romans 15 and 16 God is called “the God of endurance and encouragement,” “the God of hope,” “the God of peace,” “the eternal God,” and “the only wise God”; our God is rich in all these aspects, and the gospel in this book is the gospel of such a rich God, out from whom, through whom, and to whom are all things for His glory—15:5, 13; 16:20, 26-27; 11:36.
    6. Now to such a God, “to the only wise God through Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen”—16:27.