I invite you to open your Bibles this morning to Paul's letter to the Romans. Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verse 1. And once you find that, which will be our text for today, I want you to bookmark three other places that we're going to look at in the sermon and to save us from turning at that time. 1 Chronicles, chapter 17, in the Old Testament, historical books, 1 Chronicles, chapter 17. And then Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 33. And finally, Luke chapter 1. All that time learning the books of the Bible is paying off today, isn't it? 1 Chronicles chapter 17, Jeremiah chapter 33, and Luke chapter 1. We will come back to those. Well, Christmas is coming. It's in the air. It's in our TVs and radios and newspapers and iPods and it's everywhere. And we're looking forward with great anticipation. But what are we looking forward to? That's the question. Time with family and friends. To be sure, a break from work and from school, absolutely. Gifts under the Christmas tree, well, we certainly hope so. But is that all that we're looking forward to? Not if we are Christian. As Christians, we are also looking forward to the Advent, the coming of Christ. That's what this season of Advent is all about. And we celebrate this season of Advent by remembering that Christ has already come. Christmas is the celebration of his first coming, his first Advent. And the fact that we're remembering Christmas again this year should remind us that together with all men we're waiting for his second Advent. When he will come again at the close of history. That's what we're looking forward to as Christians. Because when he does, he will come openly to be seen by all, not by just a few. He'll come in glory rather than in humility. And he'll come as judge rather than as Savior. The scriptures say that until that day, his second advent, now, today, is the day of salvation. And the good news of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done is to be proclaimed and believed. This good news is the one and only gospel, which is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Well, Paul's letter to the Romans is his fullest expression of this gospel. In it, clearly, he makes the case that our guilt and sin deserves the wrath of God. And that by grace, God has provided the way of salvation in Jesus Christ. And that gratitude alone will motivate a life of obedient service to God. And his greeting from this letter is likewise the fullest greeting of all that he's written. And in it he reveals much about the gospel he's about to unfold. In this introduction he presents to us the one and only gospel that is proclaimed by the apostles, that was promised by God, that is centered on Christ, And that is to be obeyed by faith. Hear now the word of God, Romans chapter 1, beginning at verse 1. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. The gospel he promised beforehand through the prophets and the holy scriptures regarding his son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through Him and for His namesake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Here ends the reading of God's Word. Well, the first thing we note about this salutation, this greeting of Paul, is how Paul identifies himself. What basis does he give for the Romans, or for us for that matter, to listen to him? Is it because of anything he has inherited? No. He doesn't stand on his Jewish pedigree or on his Roman citizenship. Well, is it because of anything that Paul has merited or earned, deserved? No. He doesn't stand on his advanced degrees in biblical studies or his strict adherence to the law as a Pharisee? No, the basis Paul gives for the Romans to listen to him is the one and only gospel that is proclaimed by the apostles of which he is one. He writes to them not on his own authority, but on the authority of his master, on the authority of the master of all the saints. He writes to him as a servant of Christ Jesus. He, along with every Christian, is a bond servant to Christ. We've been bought with a price. We belong not to ourselves, but to him, and we are subject to his will. And completely at his disposal. But Paul writes not only as a servant of Christ, but as a servant with a particular responsibility. He is called to be an apostle, an ambassador, a spokesman, who speaks on behalf of Christ his own word. He's one of the apostles. There were twelve others. Each of them set apart for this gospel of God. We remember from the gospel according to Mark in chapter 3 how Jesus called the twelve apostles and in Acts chapter 1 how they elected a replacement for Judas so that they remained twelve. But during that time, Paul stood apart from them. He was not counted among them. In fact, he opposed them. He persecuted the church of Jesus Christ until Jesus himself called him to be an apostle on the road to Damascus. Therefore, Paul writes in verse 5, not only of himself, but of the twelve, he says that it's through him, that's through Christ, and for his name's sake, that we have grace and apostleship. Now, when Paul mentions grace and apostleship, he's not referring to grace on the one hand and apostleship on the other hand as if they're two different things. He's using a figure of speech that binds them together to emphasize a single reality with the use of these two words joined together by the word and. He's using a figure of speech that binds them together to emphasize that the apostleship that they have received is a gracious apostleship. It's a gift that's been given to them. It's nothing that they've earned, nothing they deserve, nothing that comes from their own intellect, their own wisdom, their own determination. But God has called them to speak for him. And that which the twelve and Paul were called to proclaim, what God gave them to speak, is the gospel of God. Which leads us to our second point. The gospel Paul proclaims is not his own. nor is it the gospel of any man it's the gospel of God God himself and God alone is the author of this good news but this good news is not new news the one and only gospel was promised by God in advance Paul writes that the gospel of God is the gospel he promised beforehand before what? Before it was fulfilled. Before the first advent of Christ. God announced his promise through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. A chorus of many prophets over many centuries across many miles spoke as with one voice. The promise of the one who was to come. The one whom God would send to save his people. We want to consider just one of those promises this morning briefly because Paul calls on it in these verses by looking at those texts I gave you. So turn to 1 Chronicles 17. We're just going to trace this promise a little bit, briefly. 1 Chronicles 17. This is a promise given through the prophet Nathan. A promise that was realized in part but not in full by David's son Solomon. Again, the Word of God. After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, Here I am, living in a place of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent. Nathan replied to David, Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you. That night the Word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, This is what the Lord says, You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. Now, skipping down to verse 11. I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you. When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever. And so Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. Again, fulfilled in part by Solomon, who actually built the temple, but not in full. And 300 years later, 300 years later, after Solomon, the prophet Jeremiah echoes this very same promise. Jeremiah chapter 33. Again, it's a promise that was realized in part, but not in full. It was realized in part when Israel was gathered again after the exile to Babylon. But that was not the final fulfillment. Hear now the word of God. Jeremiah chapter 33, beginning in verse 14. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, I will make a righteous branch sprout from David's line. He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called, the Lord our Righteousness. For this is what the Lord says, David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, Nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices. Again, fulfilled in part, but not in full. And another 600 years later, after Jeremiah, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and revealed that this promise would be realized in the full, in her son, Jesus. luke chapter 1 tells us of this revelation beginning in verse 26 in the sixth month god sent the angel gabriel to nazareth a town in galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named joseph a descendant of david the virgin's name was mary the angel went to her and said greetings you who are highly favored the lord is with you mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered this what kind of greediness might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. This promise that God announced beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures was to announce that day when Jesus Christ would come. But that promise that he announced beforehand before the coming of Christ depended on another promise that he gave even before the beginning of the world. Paul doesn't mention it here in our text, but he reveals it in his greeting to Titus, his letter to Titus. There he's focused very much on the same gospel, but focused more on the result of that gospel, the faith that it creates. And he says that the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth rests on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. Now, as creatures bound by time, we could not know this hope of eternal life, promised before the foundation of the world, promised before time began, unless God revealed it to us in time, which he does in his word. And this hope of eternal life, promised before the beginning of time, And the salvation in Christ that is promised through his prophets can be ours only when we believe this gospel of God that proclaims the person and the work of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ our Lord. There's only one gospel that saves. And this leads us to our third point, which is that the one and only gospel promised by God and proclaimed by the apostles is centered on Christ, on this person. Paul turns our attention to the subject of the gospel of God in verse 3 when he says that it's the gospel regarding his Son. He tells us the subject of this gospel. For you see, apart from God's Son, there would be no gospel. There would be no salvation. There would only be empty promises and pleasant platitudes of every religion that man has made. He's central. Apart from Him, there is no good news. But the Gospel, the one and only Gospel, is about His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and it depends on His two natures. It depends on Him having come as He did. You see, Jesus is the Son of God. As Gabriel told Mary, He'll be called the Son of the Most High. The Apostle John refers to him as the Word of God and begins his Gospel this way, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He's eternal God, existing from before the foundation of the world. But Jesus is also the Son of Man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in a virgin's womb and was born of Mary. As to his human nature, Paul says, he was a descendant of David. The Apostle John says it this way. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Jesus is the greatest son of David. Jesus fulfilled what God promised through Nathan and Jeremiah and the angel Gabriel. But not only this promise. Every promise of God is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. He says, all the promises of God find their yes in him. The one and only gospel is about this God-man, Jesus Christ. At his first coming, at his first advent, the Son of God humbled himself to become something that he wasn't before. He became man. The one and only God-man. The one and only gospel is about him. It's about his coming in the flesh to fulfill in the flesh what Adam, the first man, failed to do. He became a man to render perfect obedience to the will of God in the flesh to fulfill all righteousness for sinners like you and me. It's about his coming to suffer in the flesh. What Adam deserved because of sin, what we deserve because of sin. He became a man to satisfy God's perfect justice against men because of sin. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul tells us how the Son of God took on flesh, how he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross. And how in the flesh God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name. In that beautiful chapter, Philippians chapter 2, he talks about the humiliation of Christ by virtue of becoming a man. And the exaltation of Christ in that humanity because of the work accomplished. And he does the same thing here in Romans chapter 1 in these opening verses. Here he says in verse 4 that Jesus Christ our Lord through the spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. We need to look at 3 and 4 together in contrast. Paul sets them in direct parallel. It's lost in our English translations because we like to make it smooth. A little less Paulish translation will let you see what he's doing here. He says in verse 3, he tells us how the Son of God was humbled through the Incarnation. That He is the one who was born from the seed of David according to the flesh. And then in verse 4, he describes how the Son of God, now incarnate, was exalted as the God-man. He is the one who was declared the Son of God in power according to the Spirit. Listen to the contrast, the movement from humiliation to exaltation. The eternal Son of God, who was humbled in weakness, born from the seed of David, according to the flesh, was in that flesh, exalted in power, declared to be the Son of God, according to the Spirit. That's all Paul is trying to tell us here, is that Jesus Christ, the God-man, has always been God. He was humbled by becoming a man, but in that humbled humanity he is exalted now again to the heavenlies as the only God-man. And this transition is marked by his resurrection from the dead and accomplished through the spirit of holiness. We could spend a lot of time on that, but Calvin, I think, sums it up best when he says that Paul here is connecting these three things to one in this manner. That Christ, the God-man, was declared the Son of God by His exercise of real heavenly power, that is, the power of the Spirit, when He rose from the dead. This is all a package. This is all of one thing. The God-man was humbled unto death, and the God-man was exalted into glory. Jesus, whose name means Savior, is God in the flesh. He's God incarnate, fully God and fully man, forevermore. What He became, He continues to be. And by His bodily resurrection from the dead, He has been confirmed as the Christ, the one who was promised, the one who was anointed by God to save His people. And by His bodily ascension to the right hand of God in heaven, He has assumed the throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. And at his bodily return, at the end of history, at his second advent, every knee will bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's why Peter declared to the Jews in Acts chapter 2, Let all Israel be assured of this, that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. The one and only gospel wants us to know who we're dealing with. Yes, he was a baby in a manger once upon a time. But don't be deceived by that sentimental picture. This is God in the flesh who humbled himself for you and for me if we'll only believe. And who's been exalted to the right hand of God the Father is to wait for the day when He'll come back and to judge between those who believe and those who do not. You see, this gospel of God regarding the Son is the good news about Jesus Christ, our Lord. But it is only good news for those who will believe it. And that leads us to our fourth and final point. The one and only gospel that is centered on Christ and proclaimed by the apostles is to be obeyed by faith. Its proclamation, following the English Standard Version translation, is to bring about a result, is to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. The gospel is to be preached for a purpose. There's a result that it's intended to bring and that result, that purpose, that goal is obedience of faith. What is this obedience of faith the gospel proclamation is supposed to bring about? The NIV translates it as the obedience that comes from faith. Pointing us perhaps to the obedience to God's law that demonstrates that we do have faith and we believe that. True faith always shows itself in new obedience. to God. But while it's true that this always is the case, that faith always brings out this obedience in us, this ongoing fruit of faith has its beginning in the obedience of faith that belongs to and is part and parcel of faith itself. If there's something, Paul's saying something more here than that this faith brings about obedience. He's talking about the obedience that is part of faith itself. An obedience that the gospel calls for. When the one and only gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord is proclaimed, it is to be believed. This is God's will. It's what he requires of all men. From the very beginning of his earthly ministry when Jesus proclaimed the gospel of God, he said, the time has come. The kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news. That wasn't a request, that wasn't an invitation, that was a command. Repent and believe the gospel. The Apostle John echoes Jesus in 1 John chapter 3 when he says that this is God's command to believe in his name, or to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ. This is God's command. Believe. In the English Standard Version's translation of John chapter 3, verses 35 and 36, Jesus speaks of himself and he says this. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. With these words, Jesus connects belief with obedience and unbelief with disobedience. Some do not obey the Son, he says. In other words, they do not believe in the Son. Their unbelief is the disobedience of sin. Others believe in the Son. In other words, they obey the Son. And their belief is this obedience of faith. See, not everyone who hears the gospel will believe in the Son. Not everyone who hears the gospel will obey the Son. Why? Because it's not the words of the gospel itself or is proclamation that creates the obedience of faith it demands. The gospel is simply a means that must be applied by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the end for which it is intended. The gospel, to bring about the obedience of faith, never acts alone. It's always used by the Spirit. What God requires, He is gracious to provide by the Holy Spirit through the gospel. And he does so to all who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all who are called to be saints. The gospel demands obedience. God is faithful and gracious and merciful to give his Holy Spirit to all that he calls so that when that gospel comes, it will be believed. Paul says it best in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9, It is by grace you've been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Well, the one and only gospel has been proclaimed to you today. And it comes with the command to obey the Son. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. To disobey the Son, to reject this Gospel, is to remain under the wrath of God. And when Jesus comes again, when He comes bodily again, all who are disobedient or who have died in their disobedience will suffer the wrath of God for eternity. But all who believe the gospel, who obey the Son by faith, are saved by grace through that faith. Your sins are forgiven. You've been made forever right with God and you have been given eternal life so that when Jesus Christ comes again in the flesh, you will enter into His loving presence forever. In the meantime, you who obey the Son, you who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the blessing of verse 7 is for you. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before you this morning reminded of your work from first to last for your people. Reminded of the gospel of Jesus Christ which was promised before his coming which has been promised since before the foundation of the world. A promise fulfilled in the coming of your one and only Son in the flesh to take upon himself our humanity and to accomplish in the flesh all that we could not accomplish and to satisfy all that we could not satisfy. and that he would die for us and be raised for us and ascend for us and to rule over us with the promise that he will come back for us again, the God-man. We thank you, Father, that we can have ourselves oriented rightly to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that we live between his first and his second. And that which you call us to obey through the gospel, you give us by your spirit through that gospel. For you are the author of our salvation from first to last. We praise you and we thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen.