Romans 1:3-4 (ESV) – 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

Without a person making atonement for sins, we would be lost for eternity. That is reality. Anselm of Canterbury wrote an entire book on why God had to become a man. He begins with the reality of sin. Sin is a debt we owe to God that we can’t pay. It is withholding from God what He is due, and it leaves us with a debt. But we can’t pay the debt. Anything we can do to attempt to pay the debt is something we already owe God. Man owes the debt but can’t pay it. God could pay the debt but doesn’t owe it. He wouldn’t be just if He simply erased the debt. This leaves mankind with need of a Redeemer that is both God and Man. God, because only He can pay it. And man, because only man owes it. 

This theological reality points us to the reason why we stand in awe of Jesus. The Scriptures teach repeatedly that Jesus was fully God and fully man. The events of His birth, life, death, and resurrection, demonstrate that He was one of us, yet not like us, at the same time. We read Paul’s words in Romans 1:3-4, “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….”

Jesus, the Son of God, was a descendent from David according to the flesh. This is Paul’s way of saying that in one sense, Jesus is from eternity as God. In another sense, He is descended from David. That sense is the human sense, from the flesh. But we see quickly that while He descended from the flesh through David, He was not simply a man. He was the Son of God eternal. This is demonstrated from the resurrection of the dead. He demonstrated that He is the Christ, our Lord. 

The teachings of Scripture, from beginning to end, point us to the God-Man, Jesus Christ. He is the central character of the entire drama of redemption.

Jesus' death and resurrection paid
for sins and demonstrates His
power to forgive them.
All who call upon the name
of Jesus are saved.
He is the world’s rightful King.
All who bow the knee with joy
will never perish but have
everlasting life with Him. 

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Reflection & Journal: 
- Why does it matter that Jesus was born of human flesh?
- What does the resurrection demonstrate about Jesus?
- How does this passage further your love for and awe of Christ today?

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