He is God

Meditations on Romans 

August 31, 2021

He is God

And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Romans 9:5b

Read Romans 9:1-5

Wow, what a shift in tone. From the exhilarating proclamation in chapter 8 of all that God has worked into the life of the followers of Jesus, Paul begins chapter 9 with his personal confession of sorrow for his Jewish brothers and sisters. Yogi Berra said when you come to a fork in the road, take it. Here Paul makes clear that it is hugely important which fork you take. Jesus is God’s Messiah who came first to God’s people, Israel, to show them how to live in a right relationship with God and thus fulfill their destiny. But the Messiah came for not just Israel, but for the entire world, and according to Paul, following the Messiah is the only way to live in a right relationship with God. Paul is completely heartbroken that his brethren have denied their Messiah. Paul’s personal lament is an invitation to each of us to consider how heartbroken, or not, we are over those within our own family, our neighbors and others within our circle of influence, for whom the love of God in Christ Jesus is yet a stranger.

My Takeaway: I saw an ad recently from The Great Courses, a lifelong learning company, for a course on, How Jesus Became God. While there is no doubt that the divinity of Jesus is a significant theological underpinning of the Western worldview, it really isn’t a mystery. Jesus didn’t become God; Jesus is God! Paul stated it pretty emphatically in verse 5, “Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.” (See also Colossians 1:15-20)

Yes, Amen!

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.