SCRIPTURE: Romans 1:1-7 (ESV)
DATE: 6-18-17
SERMON INTRODUCTION
[HOLD UP BIBLE]
What’s your view of the Bible?
- Some people are very skeptical about the Bible. They wonder why people put their faith in this book and not in science. Maybe that’s you.
- Others view the Bible as a book of myths and legends or some other sort of fairytale type story.
- Others view the Bible as a lucky charm — like a rabbit’s foot — as if having a Bible around the house will bring you good luck.
- And others view the Bible as God’s Word — a sacred book that has authority — an authority that we submit to. And being that it’s God’s Word — it’s His story — because He is the Author.
Yet — for many of us — even those of us who believe that the Bible is God’s Word — we really struggle to understand what the Bible is all about. It’s an intimidating book to read. It’s long, has difficult names in it, foreign locations you’ll likely never visit, and it takes place over thousands of years of history…so it’s hard to keep your place and put the whole story together.
And part of my goal — in preaching — is to help you understand the Bible better. That’s why I have you say words out loud — which I know not everyone likes — but I do so because the words I have you say out loud are words I don’t want you to miss. And I’ve found that when I slow us down — and have you say words out loud — the Bible starts to come into focus for us.
And what I want to do today is show you that the Bible is One Story — because if you understand the story of the Bible — and who the Main Character is — then no matter where you are in the Bible — you’ll be able to understand what’s going on and what God is wanting you to learn.
So what’s the story of the Bible? The story of the Bible is the Good News of God’s rescue mission.
And if you pay attention, you’ll discover that this rescue story shows up everywhere in the Bible — in both the Old and New Testaments — because the Bible is ultimately one unified story of God rescuing His people.
And…
PROPOSITION
“If the Bible is one unified story, we will find the gospel in all of it.” We should expect to find the gospel message in all of the Bible because the gospel is God’s rescue story.
The gospel is the amazing news that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus — salvation — which means rescue — is offered to all who believe.
This includes rescue from…
- Satan, sin, death, and Hell.
- Rescue from our enslavement to other’s opinions, from the guilt of our past mistakes, and from the pride that destroys us.
- We’re even rescued — as we saw last week — from the shame of others.
And the gospel is a rescue story that every person needs to hear because we’re all in need of being rescued. And what the Christian faith says is that salvation has been made available to everyone who will believe the gospel. That’s the story of the Bible.
And if you’re here today and you aren’t sure what you think about the Bible — or you think people are crazy for believing it…have you read it?
Not “have you read what others say about the Bible,” but have you read it for yourself? And if not, are you willing to?
If you’re a parent, you’ve experienced one of your children say, “I don’t like it” — it — being some food they’ve never tried before but they “know” they don’t like it. And that’s so frustrating, isn’t it? Just ask my wife — I act this way all the time. It’s frustrating because you know if they’d only try it they might discover they like it or at least there’s been an attempt in trying the food before making a judgment call.
And all I’m asking of you — if you’re here today and you haven’t read the Bible — is would you give it a try before you say that you don’t agree with it or don’t like it or that it’s “not for me”? And sometimes you don’t like a particular food on your first try, but later on in life you do like it. So even if you’ve tried reading the Bible before…would you try reading it again?
Now even if you read the Bible regularly — it can be a confusing book. Thankfully there are many good books that help us to understand the Bible better. I’ve got two of them here.
- The first is titled “Why Trust the Bible?”
- And the second is “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.”
We’ve got copies of these books out in the lobby for a small donation. And if we run out, you can go to the Christian Bookstore in Findlay or find a copy online. Two helpful books if you want to understand the Bible better.
Another resource in the lobby — this one’s free — is a booklet I’ve written titled “How Do I Grow?” I get asked all the time, “Josh, how do I grow in my faith? How do I help my family grow spiritually? How do I grow?” And in this booklet I offer some suggestions to your question. You can grab a copy out in the lobby if that interests you.
Now what are the benefits if you read the Bible — even if you’re skeptical of it? For starters, you’ll be able to make an informed decision as to what you think about the Bible. It’s fine to listen to the opinions of others, but investigate the Bible for yourself.
And for the person who doesn’t understand the Bible — the worst thing that’ll happen — if you read it — is that you’ll gain some familiarity with it. It’s kind of like moving to a new city. At first, everything is unfamiliar. But after you’ve lived there awhile, have driven around town, and so on — you gain some familiarity. The same thing happens when you read the Bible.
So if the Bible is unfamiliar to you — start reading it and grab a copy of the resources out in the lobby before you leave today. Speaking of the Bible…
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
Please turn with me to Romans chapter one. We’ll be looking at verses one through seven together today.
And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do here at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question into the number that’s on the screens or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ THE TEXT
And what we’ve been talking about — that the Bible is one unified story — is what we see in the opening verses of Romans. Look with me in verse one — and when you see a word in all caps, yellow, and underlined…say those words out loud with me — in verse one Paul writes…
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the GOSPEL of God, 2 which he PROMISED beforehand through his prophets in the holy SCRIPTURES…” (Romans 1:1-2 ESV)
So Paul says that God promised the gospel in the past through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.
Now for Paul, the Bible — the holy Scriptures — is what we call the Old Testament. And Paul says that we can find the gospel — God’s rescue story — in the Old Testament.
So what we’re going to do is use Paul’s opening words in Romans to demonstrate that all of the Bible is telling One Story — God’s rescue story — the gospel.
And hopefully you’ll leave here today with a better understanding of how to read the Bible — particularly the Old Testament — with the gospel in mind.
Now — I mentioned earlier — that God’s rescue story has One Main character. Any guesses as to Who the main character is? Jesus is the Main Character.
Now if Jesus is the Rescuer — who else do you need in the story? People needing to be rescued, right? And who needs to be rescued? Everyone…everyone needs to be rescued.
So let’s start by finding the Main Character in God’s story. For…
MAIN POINT 1
“If the Bible is one unified story, we will find Jesus in all of it.”
We find Jesus in all of the Bible — including the Old Testament — and I’m gonna keep emphasizing the Old Testament for a few reasons.
First, it’s pretty easy to find Jesus in the New Testament — just start reading one of the gospels.
But second, most of us are more at ease in the New Testament than in the Old and I want to help make the Old Testament feel a little more understandable — a little more accessible for all of us.
So let’s discover how to find Jesus in the whole Bible. Look with me in verse one.
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was DESCENDED from David according to the flesh 4 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…” (Romans 1:1-4 ESV)
If the Bible is one story, we will find Jesus in all of it.
So Paul mentions a few things about Jesus that are found in the Old Testament. He mentions…
- That Jesus would descend from David’s line,
- That He would be the Son of God,
- And that He would be resurrected — so all kinds of things we could go find in the Old Testament.
But let’s look at the gospel promise that God’s Son would descend from David — that’s King David — where do we find this promise in the Old Testament? And — remember — I want to show you how to find the gospel in all of the Bible so that when you read your Bible you’ll read it with God’s story in mind.
In First Chronicles chapter seventeen we read, “When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers (meaning when you’re dead, David), I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, 14 but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” (1 Chronicles 17:11-14 ESV)
So God tells David that he will have a male descendant in his family line who will one day sit on a throne that will last forever. And God says, “I will be a Father to this descendant of yours, David. And the descendant will be My Son.”
So who is this descendant of David who sits on a throne that will last forever? Jesus is — we find Jesus promised here in the Old Testament. Now that wasn’t too hard, right?
So when you read the Bible — particularly the Old Testament — look for promises that find their fulfillment in Christ. The easiest ones to find are those explicitly mentioned in the New Testament — like Jesus being a descendant of David.
We also saw hints — of the gospel promise — that Jesus would be the Son of God in First Chronicles.
We also find this promise in Psalm eight-nine where we read, “He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 27 And I will make him (God says) the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him.” (Psalm 89:26-28 ESV)
So this future descendant of David will call God “My Father” — which implies that this person will be God’s Son — which is an Old Testament gospel promise about Jesus.
Now at this point you may be thinking one of two things. First, you may be thinking, “Josh, how in the world do you know that these Old Testament passages are really about Jesus? Aren’t you kind of reading things into the Bible?”
And the second thing you may be thinking is, “Josh, how in the world do you know that these Old Testament passages are really about Jesus? Aren’t you kind of reading things into the Bible?”
And yes, that’s the same question twice, but you may be asking it for two different reasons.
The first reason you may be asking is because you’re wondering if it’s right to find Jesus in the Old Testament at all. Thankfully, Jesus tells us that not only is it OK to find Him in the Old Testament — He tells us that we should.
Let me show you. After Jesus’ resurrection — there’s an interesting story in Luke’s gospel.
Two of Jesus’ disciples are walking to a village named Emmaus — and while they’re walking Jesus joins them. And they don’t recognize Him — something keeps them from knowing it’s Jesus walking with them.
And the guys are pretty depressed — so Jesus asks them, “Why are you so depressed?” And they say to Him…
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them (so this is Jesus talking), “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:18-27 ESV)
He shows them how the entire Old Testament — how “all the Scriptures” — are about Him. So the reason why we’re to look for Jesus in the Old Testament is because He tells us that the Old Testament is about Him.
Now the second reason you may be wondering if it’s OK to find Jesus in the Old Testament — is because you read the New Testament without connecting it to the Old Testament and vice versa. Meaning you’re not reading the Bible as One Story — you read it as individual stories — and for the longest time this is how I read the Bible.
So here’s a better to read the Bible. First, make sure you understand what’s happening on the ground level of the story you’re reading. And then fly up to thirty thousand feet to see how the story fits into the One Big Story of the Bible — and don’t forget this second step.
Let me give you an example. Let’s take the Exodus story.
In the book of Exodus we have the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt — it’s a story of God rescuing His people. You’ve got the ten plagues, then the people are released by Pharaoh only to wander around in the wilderness for forty years.
And to speed things up, let me ask you a question, but I’ll answer it for you — that way we all get the right answer. In the Exodus story, is Jesus’ name mentioned? The answer is “no.”
We read about a fire at night and a cloud by day — which represent the presence of God — but nowhere does Moses write, “FYI. Jesus rescued the Israelites out of Egypt.” Yet, I can say with confidence that Jesus rescued the Israelites out of Egypt. “Well how so, Josh?”
Because that’s what we find in the New Testament. In the book of Jude we read, “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” (Jude 1:5 ESV)
Now. This isn’t mentioned in the book of Exodus.
So if we read the Exodus story and stay on the ground level — just in Exodus — we’ll miss the Big Story that points us to God’s Rescuer — Jesus — and what He was doing for Moses and the Israelites.
But how does Jude know this — that Jesus is the Rescuer in the Exodus story? I have no idea. But what I do know is that Jude was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words and he tells his readers that they know that Jesus was the Rescuer in the Exodus story — so this was some sort of common knowledge at the time.
So these words — in the New Testament — shine light on our understanding of the Old Testament. And when we read the Exodus story we have to read it with God’s Big Story in mind — and God’s Big Story tells us that it was Jesus who rescued the Israelites out of Egypt.
Jesus tells us that the Old Testament is all about Him and the New Testament writers tell us the same thing — so we should expect to find Jesus in all of the Bible
So what’s my point?
First, I want you to read the whole Bible with Jesus in mind — look for the promised Rescuer — especially in the Old Testament. You can approach the Old Testament with confidence because you know that in it you will find Jesus and the good news of God’s rescue story.
And when you read the Bible this way, you’ll appreciate the Old Testament more — you won’t ignore it. And you’ll read the New Testament more carefully and discover connections between it and the Old.
One thing I find is that the more I see these connections between the Old and New Testaments — the more I see the continuity of the whole Bible — and the more I trust the reliability of the Bible — because its unity is breathtaking. So why not try reading the Bible and discover for yourself the unity that’s there?
If the Bible is one unified story, we will find Jesus in all of it.
Jesus is the Main Character, but we can’t forget about ourselves. Because…
MAIN POINT 2
“If the Bible is one unified story, we will find ourselves in all of it.” We find ourselves in all of the Bible.
Now I don’t mean that you’re going to find your name in the Bible — unless you’re named after someone in the Bible — but what I mean is that if the Bible is one unified story we should expect to find Jesus — the Rescuer — and ourselves — those in need of rescue — in all of it.
Let me show you what I mean. Let’s go back to the beginning of Romans chapter one.
“Paul, a SERVANT of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, SET APART for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 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, 5 through whom WE have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including YOU WHO ARE CALLED to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are LOVED by God and called to be SAINTS: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:1-7 ESV)
If the Bible is one unified story, we will find ourselves in all of it.
Now — like the gospel promises about Jesus — there are too many promises about us to go find right now. So let’s take a look at just one so you will know how to find the gospel in all of the Bible when you read it.
Let’s take a look at the phrase in verse seven “to all those in Rome who are loved by God.” That’s a seemingly insignificant phrase — easy to pass over because we’re not in Rome — but the word “all” is huge because Paul is being very inclusive.
You see the church in Rome was a mix of Jewish converts to Christianity and Gentile converts. And Jews and Gentiles were not two groups you’d expect to be in one church. And Paul says, “God loves you if you’re Jewish and He loves you if you’re a Gentile. It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is — God loves you.”
And this is something that rocked the early church as Jewish Christians struggled to accept Gentile believers into the church. But this is a gospel promise that’s found in the Old Testament.
The book of Hosea is the story of a man who God tells to marry a prostitute — so if you think the Bible is boring — well there you go. And the prostitute is unfaithful to him — surprise! — but they have some children together.
And God tells Hosea to name his daughter “No Mercy” because — God says — “I’m going to have no mercy on the nation of Israel.” And God tells Hosea to name his son “Not My People” because — God says — “the nation of Israel is no longer my people.” So Hosea’s story is a pretty bleak one.
But then there’s a promise in Hosea chapter one. “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” (Hosea 1:10 ESV)
They — who were not God’s people — are now His children. That’s a gospel promise here in Hosea.
And in chapter two, God gives a vision of the future — when He will rescue His people — and He says, “I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he (the people of God…they…) shall say, ‘You are my God.’” (Hosea 2:23 ESV)
So “No Mercy” will now experience the mercy of God. And those who are “not My people” are now God’s people — not because of anything they’ve done, but because of God’s faithfulness in rescuing His people — that’s the gospel story.
So what does this have to do with Paul’s words “to all in Rome who are loved by God?” And what does this have to do with us? Where are we in Hosea’s story? Paul shows us.
Later in Romans he writes about God’s mercy towards the Jews and the Gentiles. And then Paul quotes from Hosea and says, “As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.'” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” (Romans 9:25-26 ESV)
So where are we? We are the “all” — that significant word in Paul’s opening words. We are the people whose name was “No Mercy” — because — we did not deserve the mercy of God. And we were called “Not My People” — because — that’s who we were — not God’s people. Yet in God’s great mercy He now calls us “My People.” And He calls us “My beloved.” He gives us a new name. He makes us part of the “all who are loved by God.” Because He has rescued us. And this is true for all who believe in Jesus.
Now we don’t have time to see how being a servant of God is a gospel promise found in the Old Testament. Or that being called, and set apart, and recipients of grace, and so much more — here in the opening words of Romans — are gospel promises about us in the Old Testament.
But I hope you see that we are in the Old Testament. And whenever you read a story in the Bible you’re seeing people who are in need of rescue — don’t miss that — because that’s you and me. We almost always focus on the rescuer in the stories — but remember — who’s the Rescuer in the Bible? Jesus is.
So be careful not to read yourself in as the hero of the Bible stories. And always remember that their heroic efforts were temporary at best as every hero in the Bible was also in need of a Rescuer.
So allow the heroes in the Old and New Testaments to point you — not to something you need to do or be like — allow them to point you to your need to be rescued and to the One who has come to Rescue — Jesus.
One last Old Testament example — to drive home this point — an example you’re probably familiar with — David fighting Goliath — what’s the point of the story? Is the point something like “In faith you can stand up to the giants in your life” — because I’m certain that many of you have heard that before. Is that the point?
Who are you? Who am I? Who are we in the story of David and Goliath?
We’re the Israelite army cowered in fear, unable to face the giant across the valley who has taunted us day after day after day. You see, the Israelite army needed a Rescuer — there we are in the story. We’re not David.
David points us to Jesus. For Jesus came to defeat the giants in our life so we no longer have to cower in fear — David points us to Jesus. But don’t be like David — the dude committed adultery — he’s not a perfect hero — the only reason to be like David is because he recognized that he was a flawed man who needed a Rescuer.
And — hopefully — what you now see in the story David and Goliath is what happens with every Bible story when you read them through the lens of the gospel. For the gospel is promised in all of the Bible — in both the Old and New Testaments. And because of this, we find Jesus — the Rescuer — in all of the Bible. And we find ourselves — those in need of rescue — in all of the Bible.
CONCLUSION
And I stress this because ultimately there are only two ways to read the Bible: With pride or with humility.
We can read ourselves into the Bible as the heroes of the story — and we’ll strive to be like David or Hosea — we’ll strive to be the hero of our own story — even the hero of God’s Story — but that’s the way of the proud.
Or we can read the Bible with humility. Seeing ourselves as those in need of rescue. We’re Hosea’s unfaithful wife. We were given the name No Mercy and Not My People. We’re the frightened soldiers with a giant of a problem. We’re in need of a Rescuer.
And the question for you and I — the question for us as a congregation — is “which people will we be: the humble or the proud?” Will we read ourselves as the hero of God’s Story or as those in need of being rescued?
[HOLD UP BIBLE]
I began by asking you what your view is of the Bible. I’ve challenged some of us who may be skeptical of it — to read it. Give it a fair shake. See what’s in it and then decide what you think about it.
And for those of us who believe that the Bible is a sacred and holy book — I hope you now see that it’s telling One Story. And in it — in all of it — we find Jesus and we find ourselves. We find the Rescuer and we find those in need of rescue. And because this is God’s Gospel Story, we need to read all of the Bible with His Story in mind.
Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for your wonderful story — Your Gospel Story — Your Rescue Story. Father I pray that anyone here skeptical of the Bible would take the time to read it for themselves and then make a decision as to what they think of You and of Your Word.
I pray that we — Your people — would read Your Word, love Your Word, and study Your Word. And that we would read it looking for the One Story that the whole Bible is telling. The story of a Rescuer who has come — and the story of a people in need of rescue.
And help us to read the Bible humbly. Knowing that we are not the hero of Your Story — Jesus is. And yet read the Bible with much joy as we realize that — though we don’t deserve to be rescued — because of Your love for us — rescue has been provided. We are now Your People. We are now Your Beloved.
Finally, Father, if anyone here today desires to experience Your rescue, I ask that You would save them. May their hearts respond to Your call and receive the forgiveness and life that You are offering them.
We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
BENEDICTION
The Bible is One Story — the story of God rescuing His people. So go humbly reading all of the Bible with God’s Gospel Story in mind. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.