It’s time to start a new book in my quiet time and I decided to study Romans ¬†since it’s been about a year. ¬†I hope I try to at least read through Romans once or twice a year, but this time I am going to try to study it more and I will try to write about what I’m reading here.

Today’s Reading: Romans 1:1-7

I hope I articulate this well, but here is what struck me about today’s reading. ¬†As Paul opens up this letter, he talks about who Jesus is; that he was a man, born into David’s lineage and one who basically meets the requirements of what the prophets spoke of concerning the Messiah. ¬†I want to specify that He ‘met the requirements’ but probably didn’t ‘fit the profile’. ¬†This is why so many had a hard time believing in Him. ¬†However, I don’t think that Paul thought much of Him ‘meeting the requirements’. ¬†Instead, I affirm what he says in verse 4, that he was “shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit.”

Fulfilling prophecy is an important part of Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah. ¬†It completes the picture of God’s redemptive plan…one He had from the start. ¬†However, without the resurrection, Jesus is just a man with a good-looking resume. ¬†The resurrection affirms His deity.

Paul concludes this section with a call to everyone of us.  The call to share the gospel with the unbelieving world.  He mentions that as members of the body of Christ, this call is extended to all the believers in Rome, and we know that this goes for us too.

My prayer today is for our church to take part in the work that God has called each and everyone of to. ¬†Be there for a friend. ¬†Help a neighbor with his yard work. ¬†Invite someone to church. ¬†And do it all with purpose…that one day God will use you to reach that person with His Good News.