The Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 18, 2016
Romans 1:1-7
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 his prophets in 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 name’s sake, 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. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am not sure if this is true for you, but I have found that one of the more difficult aspects of getting ready for Christmas is simply picking out the Christmas presents. I want to find just the right gift for each person on my list— and that is not always easy to do! Once that goal has been reached, however, I have discovered that one of the more exciting parts of getting ready for Christmas is wrapping the Christmas gifts! As I wrap each individual present I can’t help but picture the person for whom I purchased that present. I smile as I envision them opening that gift and seeing for the first time what I picked out especially for them. Since I am not much into adding bows and ribbons to the presents I wrap the very last thing I do is to fill out that little gift tag— you know, the one that says “From” and “To.” Even if I am not there when some of my Christmas presents are opened that little gift tag is a personal handwritten “connection” between me, the present, and the person who is opening that present.
I would like you to visualize a Christmas present as we study our sermon text for today. The present itself, the present which Paul picked out especially for you and for me, is found in the closing sentence of our text. The majority of this text could then be viewed as the gift tag that proclaims the “From” and the “To,” as well as the “wrapping” in which we receive the greatest Christmas present of all! With that picture of a Christmas present in mind let’s close out our Sunday morning Advent sermon series by looking at these words of Romans chapter one under the theme: Grace and Peace to You!
Now we all know that before we open up a Christmas present we always need to read the gift tag which tells us both who the present is from and whom the present is for! That’s what we will do with our text as well. The “From” part of the gift tag is found in the opening two verses of our text. We read, “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 his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.”
Now when I sign one of these little gift tags I usually state very simply that this particular gift is from “Steve” or from “Dad.” Paul, however, wants to make very very sure that the recipients of this letter know exactly who is writing to them. To that end Paul emphasizes three important truths concerning himself.
First, Paul reveals that he is a “servant of Christ Jesus.” The Greek word that Paul uses here is the ordinary word for “slave.” Paul is a “slave” of Christ Jesus. Paul belongs to Christ Jesus. Paul was duty-bound to carry out not his own wishes but rather the wishes of Christ Jesus. Paul lived under Jesus’ authority and willingly served the Christ.
Secondly, Paul brings out that he was “called to be an apostle.” Although Paul was not one of the original Twelve, he had been called directly by Jesus Himself to serve as His apostle to the Gentiles. You may recall how Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. (See Acts 9) Therefore, Paul not only spoke with the full authority of an apostle of Jesus Christ, but Paul also wrote under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Paul reminds the Romans— and us, of course— that he had been “set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” You may remember that Paul was trained as a Pharisee. In fact, in his youth Paul (at that time he was known as Saul) was the “rising star” among the Pharisees. (See II Corinthians 11:21-23; Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:4b-6) This means that Paul knew his Old Testament Scriptures inside and out! Once God the Holy Spirit had created the gift of saving faith in Paul’s heart Paul was then able to go back and see that from Genesis to Malachi God’s Word was focused on proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord’s Messiah, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that we have seen that the gift tag is signed by none other than Paul, “a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,” let’s see who the gift is “To.” Look at the opening part of verse seven. Paul writes, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.” I just have to share with you a literal translation of this sentence! Very literally what Paul wrote here goes like this: “To all who are in Rome, beloved (or dearest) of God, called holy (or set apart as holy) by God.” Take a moment to savor the sweetness of those words, my friends. The Christians in Rome are the “beloved” of God. God Himself calls them His “dearest.” At the same time the Christians in Rome are “called holy.” They have been “set apart” from the sinful world by the Lord God Himself! Once you have savored the sweetness of those words then remember this: Those same words apply to you as well! You are the “beloved” of God! God calls you His “dearest.” You are “called holy.” Through the power of His Holy Spirit working in Word and Sacrament God Himself has set you apart from the unbelieving world to be His very own treasured possession! What an absolutely wonderful uplifting truth. You are “saints” in the eyes of the God of heaven!
So we see then that the gift tag says, “From: Paul, the apostle” and “To: You, the Saints of God.” In an effort to keep my analogy going here I would like to suggest that the “wrapping” of this Christmas present is described for us in verses 3 & 4 of our text. Paul had just said that the Gospel had been “promised beforehand through his (i.e. God’s) prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” With those words Paul makes sure that we are firmly grounded on the rock-solid foundation of God’s holy inspired Word. With that focus clearly in view Paul then goes on to describe the very essence of the Gospel message by saying, “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.”
With these simple yet powerful words the apostle Paul does indeed beautifully capture the essence of the Gospel. The essence of the Gospel centers on the fact that the Child born in Bethlehem is our true Brother. According to His “human nature” He was— and still is— a direct descendant of great King David. As we confess in the Nicene Creed Jesus is “fully human.” But at the very same time in a way that is too awesome for us to truly comprehend the Child born in Bethlehem is also the true eternal Son of the one and only Living God! This Child is Immanuel which means, “God with us.” (See Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23)
The entire Christian faith stands or falls on the truth that Paul is emphasizing here in this portion of our text. Our Savior needed to be a true human being so that He could serve as our Substitute. He had to live the perfect life that we could not live. He had to serve as the innocent Lamb of sacrifice and die on the cross in order to pay the debt of sin that we owed to God! At the very same time our Savior needed to be God Himself so that His perfect life and His innocent death would be “sufficient” to pay the debt of sin for the entire human race. By physically rising from the dead on Easter Sunday the Child of Bethlehem proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that He is the Savior we need— both true man and true God in one Person.
So let’s see where we are, shall we? The gift tag reveals that our Christmas present this morning is “From: Paul, the apostle” and “To: You, the Saints of God.” The beautiful wrapping paper represents the awesome truth that the Child of Bethlehem is both true man and true God in one Person— the only Savior we need. That leaves just one more thing to look at— the gift itself! The Christmas gift that Paul places before us this morning is found in those simple profound words, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Christmas gift that Paul gives to us today, my friends, is not a gift that he made himself. It is not a gift that he purchased. It is not a gift that he or we even deserve. No rather, it is a gift that God Himself gave to Paul for Paul to both enjoy and to share with others! Yes, God’s Christmas gift to Paul is the Christmas gift that Paul now shares with you. It is the glorious gift of “grace and peace.” Think about it. The birth of God’s Son as a little Baby in Bethlehem is the purest gift of grace that this world has ever or will ever see. Jesus came into this world simply because He loves you! In fact, He loves you so very much that He came here into our world as our true Brother so that through His life, death and resurrection you could have the gift of true peace— the peace that comes from the forgiveness of sins, the peace that guarantees eternal life in heaven, the peace that only God Himself can give to you.
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” While the words are simple enough the truth they express goes beyond our understanding. My prayer then on this last Sunday before we celebrate the birth of our Savior is that each and every Christmas present you open this year will indeed remind you of the greatest gift of all— the gift of God’s own Son. When that is the focus of your Christmas celebration then, my friends, you will indeed enjoy and treasure the Christmas gift God gave to Paul, the Christmas gift Paul shares with you and the Christmas gift you now have to share with others: Grace and peace to you!
To God be the glory!
Amen
