Jesus, All For Jesus

 Meditations on Romans

July 8, 2021

Jesus, All For Jesus

“. . . and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 1:4

Read: Romans 1:1-7

Paul’s letter to the Romans is a systematic presentation of God’s plan of redemption for the entire world. In the first five verses, Paul outlines this plan which he fully developed in the sixteen chapters of this letter. Perhaps more than any other book in the New Testament, Paul’s letter to the Romans has been used by God to keep his people on the right track. My goal in reading Romans again is to allow the wonder of Paul’s revelations about God to sweep over me anew.

In the NRSV Bible, the first seven verses are one sentence and are somewhat convoluted, making it difficult for me to grasp Paul’s point. The NLT breaks this passage into nine sentences where Paul’s passion is easier to see. Paul is writing to a group of Christians in Rome, which at his time was the political, financial and military center of power for the known world. Implicit in Paul’s announced intention of his letter is that while Caesar may claim to be god, the only true and living God has sent His Son to be the Savior for the entire world.

Paul’s introduction to Romans also gives me an important insight into my understanding of the Gospel: the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Gospel isn’t good news because I believe it or because of how the Gospel has changed my life. The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, is a fact of human and divine history. It is for this reason that Paul would write, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:2 NRSV). That simple sentence embodied everything Paul wrote in Romans 1:1-7.

My Takeaway:

Jesus, all for Jesus

All I am and have and ever hope to be

Jesus, all for Jesus

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans

Jesus, all for Jesus

For it's only in your will that I am free

Jesus, all for Jesus

Jesus, All For Jesus

Robin Mark

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.