Romans 1:3-4
3 Concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 who was designated as the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the first chapter of his gospel, Matthew lists the genealogy of Adam through Abraham, through David, to Jesus. But note carefully the wording of Matthew 1:16 - “And Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.” Joseph is referred to as the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus. To be sure, Mary conceived by the power of the Hoy Spirit, not through a sexual union with Joseph. And this might cause us to sit up and ask, “How, then, can Paul say that Jesus is the seed of David according to the flesh?”
This apparent inconsistency is resolved by Luke’s genealogy, which differs to Matthew’s. Matthew’s genealogy traces Jesus’s royal lineage to king David; Luke’s genealogy traces Mary’s ancestry to king David. Hence, though not the offspring of Joseph, Jesus was the offspring of Mary who was a descendent of king David. Therefore, Jesus was born of the seed of king David.
But why does Paul specify David’s seed and not Abraham’s? After all, it was to Abraham that the promise was made. If you’ve been following the studies through Genesis you will be aware that Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob had twelve sons. One of those twelve sons was Judah, and it was to Judah that Jacob blessed with the words, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.” A sceptre is a staff that signifies royal authority. David was the first king descended from Judah, and it was from David who God promised would come a King who would rule forever, see references: 2 Samuel 7:12–16; Psalm 89; 132; Isaiah 11:1–5; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Ezekiel 34:23–24
Therefore, Jesus is not to be viewed only as a man who hung on a cross, but a king; The King; King of kings. It is all too easy for us to labour the cross, the substitutionary atonement, the forgiveness of sins etc. and focus our attention on Jesus only as Saviour. And all this is very true, but he is also King. Is Jesus your saviour? “Indeed he is!” you might reply. But is He also your King? To be sure, He is your King whether you honour Him as King or not, but do you recognise Him as King; live your life honouring Him as King?
The first point to note is that Jesus was human in every possible way. He was conceived (albeit by the Holy Spirit), grew in the womb over the course of nine months, was born through a natural birth, and grew into adulthood like any other man.
V4 is a challenging verse and raises the question, “If Jesus was designated as the Son of God who was He previously? Did Jesus become the Son of God? Is Jesus not the eternal Son of God?” According to the Athanasian Creed Jesus is the eternal Son of God, and reads, “The Father eternal, the Son eternal: and the Holy Ghost eternal. Hebrews 13:8 confirms the immutable Sonship of Jesus in the verse “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” so how are we to understand Paul’s words?
The confusion lies in the word ’designated’. The word is ὁρίζω (horizō), from which the word horizon originates. It means to define or mark out boundaries or limits; to determine, appoint, decree, ordain. The word is translated in different Bible versions as declare, appoint, show to be, marked out as. Therefore, Paul is not saying that Jesus became the Son of God but was shown to be the Son of God by his resurrection.
If we look again at vv3-4 Paul is presenting us with a description of Jesus who was both man in the fulness of man, and God in the fulness of God. During his earthly ministry Jesus took on humanity in its fulness. In terms of his humanity, He was in no way different to man except for being sinless. The evidence is in the manner by which others related to him, e.g. his family were concerned he had lost his senses (Mark 3:21); the scribes and Pharisees would have none of his claims, accusing him of being mad or demon possessed; Pilate introduced him beaten and scourged as “the man” (John 19:5), and He hungered and thirsted like a man, was wearied like a man, and was executed as a man.
But His resurrection from the dead demonstrated that He is the Son of God. It showed Him to be, marked Him out to be, declared Him as, designated Him as the Son of God. Hence Paul writes at the end of v4, “Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Jesus - name
Christ - Messiah, anointed
Lord - (κύριος: kyrios), God
During the fourth century a heresy arose called Arianism (after the heretic Arius), stating that stated Jesus was a created being. The early church understood that if Jesus is not God then He could not mediate salvation. It was this crisis that instigated the famous Council of Nicea in AD 325, from which was written the Nicene Creed. The section relevant to the nature of Jesus Christ reads:
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man.”
In a previous post we explored the meaning of the term ‘gospel of God’. In light of this current post we can define the gospel as being: The second person of the Trinity - the Son of God - was made man to give salvation to man.
Thoroughly enjoyed this commentary on the opening of Paul's letter. Looking forward to gaining more understanding of this epistle.