What is the meaning of Romans 1:3? regarding His Son • The gospel Paul proclaims centers on a Person: “concerning His Son” (Romans 1:3). The message is not first about morals, programs, or philosophies, but about Jesus Himself. • God has always pointed us to His Son as the focus of salvation: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). • Jesus is uniquely the “one and only Son” whom the Father gave for us (John 3:16). Eternal life is wrapped up in Him: “Whoever has the Son has life” (1 John 5:12). • All of heaven’s revelation culminates in the Son: “In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2). who was a descendant of David • Jesus did not appear in history at random. He arrived in the precise family line God promised: “I will raise up your offspring after you… I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13). • The gospel writers underscore this lineage. “The record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matthew 1:1) and the angel’s word to Mary, “The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:32-33). • Prophets foretold a royal shoot from David’s line: “A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). Paul echoes this in Acts 13:22-23, declaring that from David’s descendants God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus. • This Davidic ancestry legally qualifies Jesus for the eternal throne and confirms God’s faithfulness to covenant promises. according to the flesh • “Flesh” points to genuine humanity. The eternal Son took on our nature without ceasing to be God. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). • Paul will balance this phrase in Romans 1:4 by stressing Jesus’ divine power, but here he highlights incarnation. • Jesus entered our world “when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). • He humbled Himself “being found in appearance as a man” (Philippians 2:8), sharing “in their humanity” so that “through death He might destroy the one who holds the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14-17). • By stressing “according to the flesh,” Paul affirms that the Son experienced real birth, growth, hunger, fatigue, sorrow, and death, making Him a perfect substitute and sympathetic High Priest. summary Romans 1:3 tells us the gospel is about God’s own Son, anchored in real history through David’s royal line, and entering fully into our humanity. Jesus is simultaneously the promised King and the relatable Savior. In knowing Him—true God and true Man—we meet the center of God’s good news and the sure fulfillment of every promise. |
    |