The gospel of God, Paul writes at the beginning of Romans, is about His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the shortened version. However, inserted is further information in subordinate clauses. When the apostle writes that the gospel of God is about His Son, it is followed by an interpolated sentence:
“(Whoaccording to the flesh is of the seed of David, who is proved to be the Son of God in power accordingto the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead)”
Rom 1:3-4
Now here it is a matter of explaining who exactly the son is, and from what this is shown. Two things are mentioned:
- According to the flesh, the Son of God comes from the seed of David
- According to the spirit (holiness) he is proved to be the Son of God in power – by resurrection of the dead.
According to the flesh
God foresaw a king like David on the throne. In Psalm 132, David writes:
“The LORD has sworn an oath of allegiance to David; he will not depart from it: “Of the fruit of your womb I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies, which I will teach them, their sons also shall sit on your throne forever.”
Psalm 132:11-12 (cf. 1Kings 8:25, 2Chr 7:18, Ps 89:4-5, Jer 33:17, and others).
In the Gospel of John we read:
“Now some of the multitude, when they heard these words, said, This is truly the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But others said, Surely the Christ is not from Galilee? Did not the Scripture say, “From the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was, comes the Christ? Now there was a division in the crowd because of him.”
John 7:40-43
From the descendants of David – this is evidenced in the genealogy of Matthew 1 (Matt 1:1). That the Son of God should come from Bethlehem also has to do with David. For David came from Bethlehem (1Sam 17:12, 1Sam 17:58 and others). So this was clear from the scriptures. That is why the Jews called it a contradiction in relation to Jesus, not realizing that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, although he grew up in Galilee.
The fleshly descent secures the claim to the throne, and thus over the kingdom, which was promised to Israel. In the church in Rome there were also Jews to whom he preached gospel. These he explains the connections in relation to Jesus. First came in verse 2 the reference to the prophets and the scriptures (Rom 1:2) and now here follows the anchoring in the promises of a Messiah and King.
Already we have seen that the word “son” has to do with “build”. In Hebrew, the root word is the same. It is through the Son that the Father continues to build. The son is the one through whom the Father’s house is built. That is why it is important for the son to be able to fulfill this very aspiration after the flesh, in order to make this lineage and continued building possible.
Following the spirit of holiness
The second part of the statement is directed to the fact that he is the Son of God in power. In other words, God’s power becomes visible through Jesus. Nothing makes this clearer than the resurrection of the dead. This is not a trick that has been newly invented, but it has to do with His nature and origin. He has life within himself.
In the Gospel of John we read:
“For as the Father hath life in himself, even so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.”
John 5:26
We are dying from birth. Jesus, however, had “life in Himself” as God Himself has. It was given to Him by the Father. On the cross, therefore, he consciously gave up his life:
“And it was already about the sixth hour; and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour, when the sun was darkened; and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And when he had said this, he passed away.”
Lk 23:44-46
He, who had life in Himself, laid down His life Himself. He raised others from the dead, He Himself died. Let us think of these raisings of the dead:
- The little daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue (Mk 5:21-42)
- The son of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:11-17)
- Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary (John 11)
Jesus speaks a word and the dead rise. He is the Son of God. It is unique. It is holy as God is holy. Through Him, God the Father is building His house and these are the signs and wonders that point to it. Paul describes it this way:
“Who being the Son of God is proved in power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.”
Rom 1:4
Future resurrection
Consequently, this is also what the Son of God will do in the future, as it is said:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that have heard shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, even so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and he hath given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have committed evil unto the resurrection of judgment.”
John 5:25-29
Here we are talking about the future. There will still be a resurrection. The resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment are mentioned. According to Revelation, these will be two separate resurrections, more than 1000 years apart (Rev 19-20).
Significant for our reading in Romans is that here we recognize the Son of God. Indeed, the resurrections – past and future – powerfully demonstrate that He is the Son of God because God works through Him.
