Piper - #2 - God's good new concerning his son - Romans 1:1-4

The beginning of every message seems to be a quick review of the previous message and in this case. Sometimes these reviews drone on and on. In this message, it was a gem that I want to share. In speaking about Paul living to please God with his whole life, Piper writes:

In other words, Paul serves Christ in the power with which Christ serves Paul. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Peter 4:11). We will skew the whole meaning of Romans from the outset if we don’t see that Paul serves Christ in the power that Christ supplies, so that Christ gets the glory for Paul’s service

And then the next phrase says, “This sovereign, all-supplying Christ.”

I had never seen it phrased about Christ coming to serve is one who still serves. He really does continue to serve in ways that are power supplying and life altering. He is a serving God. And as Paul says, we will skew the whole meaning of Romans if we don’t see that the grace that Christ gives to serve Christ comes from Christ.

As for this second message, he starts off by saying it is about the gospel of God. It is easy to skip right over the beginnings but in this case, Piper doesn’t and I am glad. A couple of things jumped out at me:

First, I am in the middle of preparing an Old Testament survey course to the pastors class in Zambia and I have been really encouraged to see how the Old Testament is all about Christ and fulfilled in Christ and is typified in Christ. He is the reality of all that was written about “beforehand in the holy scriptures.”

Piper writes, “

1) The gospel of God is the fulfillment of Old Testament promises.

It is not a new religion. It is the fulfillment of an old religion. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. What he was preparing and promising then, he fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

2) God keeps his promises.

Hundreds of years go by. The Jews wonder if the Messiah will ever come. They go through horrendous suffering. Then God acts and the promise is fulfilled. This means that God can be trusted. It may look as if he has forgotten his promises. But he does not forget. So verse 2 is not only a statement about the content of the gospel, but is also a reason for believing it. If we can see that God promised Christ centuries before he came and that in many details he fulfils these promises, our faith is strengthened.

3) These are holy, inspired writings we should reverence and believe.

Read the verse carefully: He [God] promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” God promised in the Scriptures. God is speaking in the Scriptures. That is what makes them holy. This is Paul’s understanding of Scripture and should be ours. If you have ever wondered why our Bibles say “Holy Bible” on the front, Romans 1:2 is the answer.

Piper also talks about the fact that Jesus was born as a man and raised by the Spirit of Holiness. Another insight here was that he was born according to the prophetical writings of God (his promises came true) and it also says that he raised. To be raised you have die. And that was against all the hopes and dreams of the Jews. Piper quotes (Luke 24:21, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”

So, all in all, a good foundational start to the GOSPEL of GOD