And have you turn back with me this morning to Romans chapter 1. We'll be reading verses 1 through 7 again. Kind of my secret hope is that we read this enough times that all of us will have it memorized. And we'll hear the word of the Lord this morning. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go to him in prayer. Our gracious and heavenly Father, Lord, I beg of you this morning that we might behold our God in the person of Jesus Christ. That we might see that He is the appointed one. He is the one sent. He is the Word made flesh. He is incarnate God. That humbled Himself, took on the form of flesh, came and lived and died on our behalf, suffered on our behalf the death of the cross, that He was raised for our justification, and that He has ascended and is seated on the throne. where He ever lives to make intercession for us. May we see Him in clarity this morning. May we see the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for him. Thank you for the gift that is ours and being united to him. That we might come before you with boldness. That we might come before you clothed in his righteousness. That we might be called sons of God. We thank you and we praise you. We lift up your name. In the name of Christ, in the name of the Holy Spirit here this morning. Amen. Well, we've been looking at Romans, making our way slowly through this first section of Paul's letter, this greeting to the church here at Rome. And as I said last week, we don't want to rush through this. We, I feel, must consider what Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is doing here, even in his greeting. Before we get to the actual body of this epistle, he's laying a foundation. It's almost as if what he is expressing here in this introduction is the main idea of what will flow as he continues on in his letter here. developing out of this the rest of his letter. And Paul said in another epistle, he said in 1 Corinthians 2-1, that when he came, when I came, when I came to you brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. And this is true, Paul could have come At this with really eloquent words or in wisdom that would have been looked at as something amazing even in the eyes of the world Captivating them in worldly ways. He had the intelligence he had the training But this is not the way the message was to be preached and he states that such in 1 Corinthians 1 17 where he says, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. And we're tremendously thankful for this as his goal, that his goal was to preach Christ and Him crucified. This is the gospel that he was unashamed of. And it's in that simple message of this gospel of God that there is power, the power of God unto salvation. Yet at the same time, there are some difficult things to understand in Paul's writing. He had a mastery of Old Testament understanding through his education as a Pharisee sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. He understood the writings of Moses and the prophets and probably had most of it memorized and could recall it in an instant when it was needed. And when he was struck down by Christ as he walked on the road to Damascus, and his soul was enlightened to the truth of who Christ was, the effect of this on him was most dramatic. He went from being the persecutor to being the preacher. He went from being the scoffer to being the slave of Jesus Christ. Something dramatic happened here in his conversion. And so this rich understanding of the Old Testament flourished in his heart and in his mind. And all the truths that are found there, all the promises through the prophets, in the Holy Scriptures, came to life in his heart, flooded his mind with a depth of understanding that, to my estimation, and I think most's estimation, is far beyond that of any other member of the fallen human race. This understanding of who Christ was and what the preaching of the gospel and the message of the gospel was all about. And because of that, and because of his vast reservoir of knowledge that he had built up in his training, there are things that Paul brings out in his epistles that are sometimes difficult to understand, even though his speech is simple and plain. Peter even admits to this. in one of his epistles. In 2 Peter 3, 14-18, listen to what Peter says. He says, Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. as he does in all his letters when he speaks of these matters. There are some things, Peter says, there are some things in them that are hard to understand, which ignorant and the unstable twist to their own destruction as they do other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Did you catch how Peter ends this epistle, though, that he is writing, where he speaks of Paul and that there are hard things to grasp from the apostle Paul, hard to understand. What does he say? But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There will be many things here in Romans, in our study through Romans, that are not easy to understand. Yet Paul, under direction of the Holy Spirit, puts them before us that we might grow in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in the knowledge of our Lord. Well then, this morning, Lord willing, we will see one of these instances where there is a difficulty to grasp the depth of what Paul is revealing to us. It's hard to understand, difficult to grasp in light of the frailty of our own human minds. Yet it is most necessary for us to see from Scripture and to believe what is being taught here. And as we begin, let me bring forth a couple verses that will get your minds working and thinking about where we are going in our text. Look or listen. If you want to look up, you can. Go to Matthew 1. But if you want to, just listen. Matthew 1, verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Go down a couple verses, verse 21, she, this is the angel speaking to Joseph here, she will bear a son, she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. A couple more verses down, verse 23, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us." A couple others. Luke 135. Now this is the angel in another one of the Gospels speaking here to Mary. Luke 1.35, And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. The child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. Hebrews 3, Hebrews 3, 5 through 6. Now Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were spoken, to be spoken later. But Christ, Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. Hebrews 4. 14 through 15, since then we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us now look to the text and see if we might glean some things that are beneficial from them regarding this one this gospel of God is concerning. This was our focus last week. We ended with the first clause of verse 3 here and had to finish, so let's pick up where we left off. And as we begin, let's consider that here is something quite interesting that Paul is pointing out to us. this one who the gospel is concerning, the one who this good news is regarding. He told us last week, if you remember, the gospel of God was concerning His Son. And then, here now, He reveals something additional to us, that this Son, it's concerning His Son, and that this Son was descended from David according to the flesh. I'm sure that you see where this is going this morning. There's something being stated here and in verse four that is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. Something that is difficult for us in our puny little minds to understand. Something that the theologians refer to as the hypostatic union. And that's a fancy way of saying that in Christ, there is a union of natures. There is the divine nature, and there is the human nature. Not human nature as in sinful human nature, but nature in the proper sense of the term. Being that which is natural, or that which is of the physical world. So there is a divine nature, and then there is a human nature. Now this is difficult for us to grasp, that there is a union of these things in the person of Jesus Christ. Yet that is what Paul is beginning to lay out here for us from our text this morning. That the Son, Jesus Christ, is descended from David, as was prophesied. As the unfolding of these things throughout redemptive history occurs, as these things recorded in the Old Testament are being revealed, we have this narrowing in of this line through which the Promised One is to come. We see in Genesis 3.15 that it is through the seed of the woman. We've talked about this repeatedly. that it's through this seed of the woman that the promised one will be born into this world. Not that he would just appear to us, that he would come out of nowhere, but he would be born the seed of the woman. We see proof of this if you recall when we went through this in Genesis, when Eve had her first child, do you recall that Eve said, that she had gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And if you recall what we talked about there, about what she actually said, with the help of, is something that is inserted by the translator. It does not exist in the original. Literally what she has said is, I have begotten a man, the Lord. Her hope. Her faith was that out of her loins, out of her seed, one would come to defeat the power of the serpent. So when she has her first son, her hope is that her son would be that one, the promised one. I have begotten a man, the Lord. This hope is dashed when Cain, slays his brother Abel. But we see it renewed when to her another is born. She says, God has appointed for me another, Seth. Yet this son Seth was not the son. But from this line of Seth, The Son would come. Then it's further narrowed down through Noah, you remember. And then as we left off, we see there's another figure up here at the end of our study in Genesis there named Abram, who will be called Abraham. And now it's through his line. And then it's through Isaac. And then it's through Jacob on down. And then all of a sudden now we have this King, David. through whom the One, the Son, will come. Listen to 2 Samuel 7, 12, When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, speaking to David, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. This is God telling this to David through his prophet. Isaiah 9-7, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do it. This is a most interesting This is most interesting the way that all this comes about and how it is prophesied. I don't want to get off track, but I want to make sure that we take a look at how this prophecy comes about concerning his son. Who was descended from David? David was the great king of Israel, you'll remember. He was the man after God's own heart. the king chosen by God to lead his people. And the promise was made that he would, this son of David, that David's actual throne would last forever through his son, that the kingdom would not end of his son. Yet what do we find in the time of Christ? Was David's son on the throne? He wasn't. In fact, the descendants of David, through whom the son comes, he wasn't born to a wealthy people occupying a palace, but a simple carpenter and his young betrothed. The line of David had been, we could say, all but cut down. There was no great and powerful family, yet this is the promise that David's son would be on the throne and the kingdom would be forever. So listen to the prophecy as recorded by Isaiah regarding this. In Isaiah 11, one, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, from the stump of Jesse. and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." Jesse being, of course, the father of David. Isaiah 53 too, same prophet. Another time, for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should behold him. Almost as if the hope of this promise was unseeable. Then out of the root which is still alive comes forth one from the stump, from the root, the son of David. Do you see what I'm getting at here? That the glory and splendor of David's kingdom had been almost done away with. It was like the top of the tree had withered and died, but the root still lived. And out of that root, out of the stump of Jesse, comes the Promised One, the Son. And as our text says, descended from David according to the flesh, Or we might translate this, descended from David, regarding the flesh. Now here is where we start to see what Paul is doing here. Paul is making a contrast or declaring to us the two natures of the God-man. Here in verse 3, he is speaking to us regarding the humanity of Christ. He says, who was descended, which means born or made of the seed of David. Yet he was not always such. He was made. He was descended. He was born according to the flesh. And here we must point out that this is essential. Christ did not come as a group of... There are many different heresies that existed regarding Christ. And it is essential to the Christian faith that Christ become flesh. Essential. But there were groups of people that had a problem with this in their human way of thinking. And there was a group called the Docetists that believed that Jesus Christ was not actually human. that he just appeared to have bodily existence, like some type of apparition. He had the semblance of reality without the substance of reality, like a ghost. And this idea is completely contrary to scripture. Let us see then what the scripture does have to say about this. First, let me prove to you from scripture that he was, even after his resurrection, that Jesus Christ, the son of David, descended from David, that he was according to the flesh. Luke, the doctor. in his gospel account is very aware of these particulars as a doctor and makes special note of these types of things. Listen to the account of Christ appearing to his disciples in the last chapter of Luke, Luke 24. Luke 24, 36, and as they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace to you. Now listen, but they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, have you anything to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it before them. My friends, a mere apparition does not have a corporeal nature, a physical nature, a bodily nature. You can't touch it. You can't feel it. It cannot partake of food. He was descended from David according to the flesh. Elsewhere in Scripture we might see the truth of this, that Christ was truly man. He is referenced as a man in Scripture. Romans 5.15, But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. 1 Timothy 2.5, for there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He had a truly human body. Once again, recall in Luke 24.39 that we just read, see my hands and my feet, and that is I myself, touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." He's saying, I have a real human body. I am flesh. Hebrews 2.14, Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one that has the power of death, that is the devil. He partook of those same things, flesh and blood. He possessed a true human soul. Matthew 26, 38, then he said to me, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death, remain here and watch with me. My soul. He was subject to true human feelings and weaknesses. Matthew 4, 2, and after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. John 19, 28, after this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. He grew hungry. He grew thirsty. We already referenced Matthew 26, 28, my soul is very sorrowful. He experienced the human emotion of sorrow. John 11, 35, the shortest verse in the whole Bible, Jesus wept. John 4, 6, Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. He experienced true human feelings and weakness. And he was, as we have said, the seed of the woman. Galatians 3, 16, now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, and to offsprings. referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring, and he spells it, Paul spells it out here in Galatians, who is Christ? And to your offspring, who is Christ? Luke 1 42, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. True humanity being born. the fruit of your womb. A woman doesn't give birth to an apparition, gives birth to a true human baby. And the importance of the genealogical record in Scripture makes this even more abundantly clear. We find these in Matthew 1, we've talked about these before, Matthew 1 and Luke 3. One through Joseph as his adopted father, through his line being descended from David and then Luke 3 being that which is Mary's line descended from David. This tie to this line of David was something that was very important back in that day because they were looking for the Messiah to come from David. Just as an interjection here, There is no way that those Jews who are still looking for Messiah today can prove that someone comes from the line of David. After 70 AD, the ability to do that was completely done away with. So if the Christ did not come before 70 AD, then we'll never know the Messiah based on him being the son of David. Acts 2.30, referencing David as a prophet. We read this last week, being there for a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne. This was important. Acts 13, 22-23, And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified, and said, I have found in David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will. Of this man, David's offspring, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Galatians 4-4, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son born of a woman born under the law. There's a lot more that I would like to look at and to see here as far as references. But with this last one, let's go on to verse four, after having talked about the human nature of Christ. Romans 1, 4, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. You will notice here that after telling us that Christ was descended from David according to the flesh, Paul goes on to say, "...and was declared to be the Son of God." It does not say that he was made into the Son of God. He was declared to be. He was demonstrated to be. He was distinguished to be. It was made apparent that He is the Son of God. It was proved to be true. This is regarding not the human nature of the person of Christ, but the true divine nature of Jesus Christ. Yes, He is made, born, descended to be truly man. Yet here Paul says he is declared to be the son of God. The person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is something, although he is truly man, he is something that is altogether different than we are. He is declared not to be a son of God, but also to be the son of God. the Son of God. There is in the person of Jesus Christ the nature of God, the divine nature which has existed from all eternity. This is spoken of over and over again in Scripture. Acts 9.20, in reference to Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus, It's recorded, and immediately, he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. 1 John 4, 15, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. John 20, verse 31, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that by believing, you may have life in his name. Matthew 16, 13 through 17. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, this is very interesting. He asked his disciples, who do the people say that the Son of Man is? Who do people say that this flesh and blood, this human individual, the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? So he is taking on the title, one of his favorite titles, son of man. Who do they say that the son of man is? Who do you say I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven. And in Matthew 22, 41 through 45, we have a very interesting exchange between Christ and the Pharisees, pointing to how Christ is something more, more than just the son of David. Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question saying, what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, the son of David. He said to them, how is it then that David in the spirit calls him Lord? saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son? And you see how this exchange ends in the 46th verse. And no one was able to answer him a word. Nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. The Christ is not just the Son of David according to the flesh, not just truly man, but he is truly God, the Son of God. This is how he can be David's son, yet David's Lord. Jeremiah 23, 5 through 6, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is the name which he will be called the Lord our righteousness." Something altogether different. Romans 9, 5, "...to them belong the patriarchs, and from their race according to the flesh." According to the flesh is the Christ who is God. According to the flesh is the Christ, who is God, over all, blessed forever. Amen. We could go on and on with these references from Scripture, but let me see if I can summarize some of the facts as if we were in a court of law. And we're in this court of law and we're bearing forth the evidence of who Christ is, and that He is not just the Son of David according to the flesh, but that He is the Son of God, that in Christ exists both truly human nature and the divine nature, that He is God in the flesh. Jesus Christ is in the form of not just our human nature, but also the nature of God. Philippians 2.6, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Form relating to substance and nature, you see. He being in the form of God. Hebrews 1.3, he is the radiance of the glory of God. This is one of my favorite passages. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. There's something about Christ. Though he is truly man, he's the exact imprint of the nature of God himself. He's truly God. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Does that make you think of the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand? He's eternal. That's an attribute that belongs to who? God. Micah 5.2, but you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from me. One is to be a ruler in Israel whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days. John 1.1, One that we've quoted numerous times. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And this is the One who came and was declared to be the Son of God. John 1, 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. His glory. The glory as of the only Son from the Father. full of grace and truth. Isaiah 9, 6 quoted a lot around Christmas time. For to us, a child is born. A true flesh child is born. To us, a son is given. and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. You're gonna call the son Mighty God, Everlasting Father? Do you see this? A child is born, descended from David according to the flesh, but a son is given. He is from eternity God. Christ is omniscient in his divine nature, which is an attribute of God. Revelation 2.23, in the letter to the church at Thyatira. And all the churches will know that I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. He searches mind and heart. He's omniscient. John 2, 24-25, But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Luke 5, 21-22, And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God, when Jesus had perceived their thoughts? He answered them, Why do you question in your hearts? He knew what was in the hearts of men. Omniscience, the deity of Jesus Christ, is all-knowing. He's omnipotent. Revelation 1.8, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Philippians 3.20-21, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior. the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power, now listen, by the power, the omnipotent power, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. He creates. Remember when we were back in Genesis and we looked at, in the beginning, God created? That can only truly be spoken of as God. Everything that we say we create is just taking what already exists and fashioning it into something else. Only God creates. Well, listen to what it says about the Son of God. John 1.3. I've already read John 1.1. And John 1.14, but John 1.3 says, all things were made through Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. He creates. Colossians 1.16-17, For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things. were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and He holds all things together. He does the same work that the Father does. John 5, 17, But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working. John 5, 19, a couple of verses later, so Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees his father doing. For whatever the father does, so that the son does likewise. He does the same things that the father does. And he is to be given divine honor as the father is. Now before we look at this, I want to point out a couple things. That God would not have his honor given to one who is not God. He will not allow that. Listen, Isaiah 42, 8, I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise. to carved idols. And of course we know in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 23-5, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on earth beneath. or that is in the water under the earth, you shall not bow down to them or serve them for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. He will not share his glory with another. Will not do it. John 5, 23, the apostle John says, so that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Hebrews 1.6, and again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, this is speaking about Christ. When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Psalm 212, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him. Who is our refuge? God is our refuge and our ever present help in our times of trouble. But kiss the son. Blessed are those who take refuge in Him." Well, we've got to begin to draw this to a close or it's just going to go on longer and longer. But we can't part without addressing the last part of verse 4, the last phrase of which we'll pick up in the next time we come together. Romans 1-4, "...and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." Here now is how this declaration comes to us, that the Son is evidenced to be divine, that Christ is proven to be the Son of God, not just truly man, which He became when He took upon Himself a nature of flesh and was born, but that He was declared to be something more than just that. And this declaration was made in power It had been veiled in flesh, but yet in His resurrection, His power is clearly revealed. And then we come to another difficult statement from Paul. Difficult to understand. Declared in power according to the spirit of holiness. What does this mean? Well, the difficulty in this lies in the fact that this phrase is nowhere else in Scripture. the spirit of holiness. This is the only place in scripture where this terminology or this phrase is used. And there are those who would say that this is the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit who in power raises Christ from the dead. Now there is also scripture that speaks of the Father raising Christ from the dead. And so I suppose that this could be what Paul is saying here. Yet Paul uses other phrases in his epistles and even within this epistle of Romans to speak about the Holy Spirit. And as all three persons are part of the Godhead, all the persons of the one Godhead, nothing can truly be said to be from one without being from all three persons of the Godhead. Nothing can really truly be said to be done by the actions of one without it also being done by the three persons of the Godhead. They're all in complete agreement, you see, always. They are one God in three persons, always in agreement. They have one undivided essence. So it is that I believe that this is a reference not to the Holy Spirit, but that it is according to the spirit of holiness which Jesus Christ possesses in His divine nature as the Son of God. And that this truth that He is the Son of God, that He is divine, is what is declared through this resurrection. that resurrection, that historical event that beyond any shadow of a doubt proves, marks out that the man Christ Jesus is the God-man, the Son of God, God incarnate, that He is God. This declaration, if I can take just a moment, this declaration, we get the same word that comes from what is used here in the text to be defined as declaration is the same word as horizon. It's that that sets the boundary between the earth and the sky. And it's something that marks out in property. So if you have property and you need to know where your property line is, as opposed to your neighbor, this is that same word that would be used. This marks out the property line. This defines what something is. Well, this resurrection is what truly defines or declares that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He is God incarnate. And in reference to this spirit of holiness, and why I think that this is in reference to the divine nature of Christ itself, and the spirit of holiness that he possesses as part of the Godhead. John 10, 17 through 18 says, for this reason the Father loves me, listen to what he says here, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me. Those that crucified Christ did not take His life from Him. He laid it down according to the purpose of this triune Godhead of which the Son of God is part. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have the authority. I have the power. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." Do you see how this understanding fits best with what Paul is stressing to us in these verses? That Jesus Christ is truly man, yet He is truly God. that there exists in the man Christ Jesus, in the person of Christ, two natures, one born according to the flesh in time and place, the other nature eternal, existing always as God. And in His nature, in this spirit of holiness, He rises from the grave, declaring that He is the Son of God. There is no doubt now. There's no doubt. don't miss this, that Jesus Christ is very God of God. The Jews of His day didn't miss it. They didn't miss what He was trying to reveal to His people. They charged Him with blasphemy. They crucified Him, charged Him with blasphemy for saying He is the Son of God. Yet God declared Him to be exactly that through the resurrection. The claims of Christ, you see, are vindicated through the resurrection. Matthew 26, 62-64 gives us a snapshot of what was happening right before Christ was crucified. And it says, And the high priest stood up and said, Have you no answer to make? What is this that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you, I urge you, I suggest to you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, you have said so. But I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Now in effect, what is he saying? In effect, he is saying, yes, I am. I am the Son of God. And from now on, you will see the Son of God in human flesh, the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of God. Do you see what he is saying here to the high priest? The Lord said to my Lord, the Son of Man, that who would be born according to the scriptures, according to the prophecies, the son of David, born according to the flesh, the son of man. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, the hand of power, the throne of God. And now Christ said, see me there from now on for eternity. This truth that Jesus Christ is the God-man, truly God, truly man, is at the core of all that Paul will build upon in his epistle. This is an essential truth of the Christian faith. There is no Christianity if this does not exist. It's what makes the whole plan of God regarding salvation from before the foundation of the world work. For the Jew and for the Gentile, the wisdom of God's provision for us in this, that God became man and dwelt among us. He became as we are that we might through Him become as He is. I can leave you with no better closing than to give you Scripture. So let me close with this, but we see Him, Hebrews 2, 19 through 18, but we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, now listen, for it was fitting that he, for whom? For whom? for His glory and for His honor, for whom and by whom He is the Creator Himself, creating for His own glory and honor, for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering." For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. This is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood. he likewise partook of those same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who fear of death, who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely Listen, for surely it is not angels that he helps. He didn't come in the form of angels. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers. in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Oh, for those of us who are his, find joy and peace in this. and you who are outside of Christ. See Him. See that God Himself took on flesh, suffered and died to accomplish a perfect salvation, that death had no hold over Him. Sin couldn't hold Him in the grave. It had no power over Him. He rises victorious. This is your hope. Look to Christ. Cast yourself upon Him. See His pierced hands and His feet. This is the only way of salvation for you or for anyone. Our Savior must be made man, that He suffer and die in our place. He must be God that He might live. He must be holy and undefiled, that He might do what mankind in sin can never do for themselves. so that in Him we might have life. Look to Him alone for salvation and peace with God. There is no other. There is one God-man, Jesus Christ. Let's pray.