Who are we?

Who are we?

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who [a]was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; Romans 1:1-6

It reads just like a storybook, doesn’t it?  Paul tells his whole life story in six verses, along with the story we all share as Christians.  He also tells the story of Jesus and the story of the gospel.  Not only that but we’re told the story of God’s love for humanity and His plan to save humanity.  All in six verses!  Paul has always been one to pack a lot into a few verses but reading the first few verses in Romans 1 seems to tell us just about everything we need to know about Paul and his love for the gospel.

Consider what he says…Paul is a bondservant of Jesus, called to be an apostle, separated for the preaching of the gospel.  Then he talks about the gospel revealed by the prophets in the Old Testament, and that gospel concerns Jesus, God’s son, who is our Lord.  That Jesus was born of David’s seed in the flesh and declared God’s son with power through the Spirit through the resurrection from his death.  Then he tells us that through Jesus we have grace in order that we might be obedient to this faith all over the world for His name’s sake.  That makes us all the called of Jesus.  God’s love for all nations prompted Him to send His son to die and be raised for that grace, and now we have also been called, just as Paul was, to deliver this faith forward to others.

When you read these verses, you get the feeling that Paul was very much into the gospel. Plenty of other scriptures describe that dedication, but in this short phrase he perfectly sums up what he’s all about and what we should be all about who call Jesus Lord.  Can we say about our own lives what Paul says about his?  Can we call ourselves bondservants, separated for the purpose of sharing the good news of Christ and obeying by faith His call to action through His Spirit?  

As Christians, we have a similar calling that Paul received, that all Christians receive who follow Christ.  Perhaps it might be hard to sum up our lives and what we are here for in a paragraph at times, but what is most important, what is of first importance, can.  Let’s do all we can to be faithful and obedient to our calling in Christ, and let the gospel and Christ define us all.

God bless,

Michael