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 appointed with power to be the the Son of God in 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
Romans 1.1-5
5.The gospel is about the powerful Son of God
“…who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (verse 4).
We already know that Jesus is a king, being born a ‘son of David’. But now we are told he is indeed THE King.
The term ‘Son of God’ is not to be confused with ‘God the Son’. Jesus is the second person of the trinity but that is not what is being said here. ‘Son of God’ is a term used by God of the Kings of Israel. In Psalm 2 God says of his King “You are my Son today I have become your Father” (verse 7). Not only is Jesus truly human but he is God’s King. He has been declared so by the voice from heaven at his baptism and on the mountain when he was transfigured (Mark 1:11; Matthew 17:5)
However what is being said here is that this Jesus is the promised Messiah who would rule over God’s world forever. His resurrection shows that he is the one. Psalm 16:10 tells us “you will not abandon me to the grave nor will you let your holy one see decay”. It is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that demonstrates with power that He is undoubtedly the one to whom this Psalm referred. This king (in terms of Psalm 2:8) will have the nations for his inheritance and he will be absolute ruler of the whole earth. No-one will be able to resist him. That is why repentance is in order. No true gospel can bypass the death and resurrection of Jesus. He died to take the punishment which our sins deserved (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). In these events he shows that he has defeated death (Hebrews 2:14,15) and the power of darkness (John 12:31;32). He is God’s powerful Son who is alive forevermore and consequently is alive now.
The Jesus of history who lived in Palestine who ate, slept and wept, is the same Jesus who died on the cross and rose again from the dead. By that action he bore our sins and he defeated death. He ascended into heaven and he sent the Holy Spirit into the world. Through his Spirit, Jesus comes to us now in the contemporary situation and makes “all things new” (Revelation 21:5).
He who was is he who is. The historical Jesus is the contemporary Jesus. He is the gospel we preach.