In 1:3 Paul says that the gospel is concerning God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The main concern of the gospel is not forgiveness nor the winning of souls nor the saving of sinners for heaven; it is the very Person of Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is not a doctrine nor a teaching nor a religion. It is a wonderful Person.
This wonderful Person has two natures, the divine nature and the human nature. In verse 3 Paul speaks of Christ as the Son. This indicates His divine nature. But Paul also says in this verse that Christ “came out of the seed of David according to the flesh.” This points to His human nature. By incarnation, the Son of God became a man, a descendant of David according to the flesh.
Verse 4 says that He was “designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead.” The Spirit of holiness here is in contrast with the flesh in verse 3. As the flesh in verse 3 refers to the human essence of Christ, so the Spirit in this verse refers not to the Person of the Holy Spirit of God, but to the divine essence of Christ, which is “the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 2:9). This divine essence of Christ, being God the Spirit Himself (John 4:24), is of holiness, full of the nature and quality of being holy. According to such a Spirit, Christ was designated, marked out, the Son of God in power out of the resurrection of the dead. By incarnation Christ, the Son of God, became a man in the flesh, but by resurrection, as a man in the flesh, He was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness.
The gospel is concerned with a wonderful Person who became flesh and was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness. For Christ to be designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness is different from the fact that He was the Son of God in eternity. As the eternal Son of God, He did not have the human nature. But His being designated the Son of God in resurrection has much to do with His human nature. Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, was designated the Son of God.
The central message of the book of Romans is that sinful, fleshly people are made sons of God and conformed to the image of the Son of God. In this way Christ becomes the Firstborn among many brothers. Thus, the central point of the gospel is not forgiveness of sins. It is the producing of the sons of God, many brothers of the Son of God.
Christ is the model, the pattern, of the gospel. He was born in the flesh; yet He was made the Son of God by resurrection in the Spirit of holiness. The first three chapters of Romans reveal our sinfulness; chapter four reveals our justification; chapter six, our death and burial; and chapter seven, our problem with the flesh and the natural life. But chapter eight reveals that we are conformed to the image of Christ, the Firstborn among many brothers. Christ was designated the Son of God, and we also are designated the many sons of God. This is the main point of the gospel.
In chapter one we have the model, the pattern, whereas in chapter eight we have the mass production. In chapter one we have one Person in the flesh designated the Son of God; however, in chapter eight we have many people in the flesh designated the sons of God. Hence, eventually the Son of God will be the Firstborn, the elder Brother, among many brothers.
Christians today talk a great deal about going to heaven. But we cannot find this concept anywhere in the book of Romans. Those Christians who are somewhat advanced speak about the so-called deeper life and about spirituality. However, not even the deeper life or spirituality is the ultimate issue of the gospel. According to Romans, so many who once were fleshly will become the designated sons of God. In a sense, I have no interest in spirituality. Many who claim to be spiritual do not express the image of the Son of God. Romans reveals that we shall be conformed not to spirituality, but to the image of the Son of God.
A person may be kind and humble without being conformed to the image of Christ. Others may see his kindness, but not the image of the Son of God. Again I say, the central point of the gospel is nothing less than conformity to the image of the Son of God. Hallelujah, one day we, people in the flesh, will become glorious sons of God!