Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7)

In these first seven verses, the name Jesus Christ is mention four times.  This assures us that Jesus is the main subject matter. Jesus is who Paul is writing about. Paul has got one thing on his mind and that is Jesus. Our first example or lesson that is laid out is the preeminence of Jesus.  “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:17,18) That is who Christ should be to us today. This encourages the brethren that Jesus might have the preeminence; that Jesus would be first in our thoughts and conversation as it was in Paul’s; that Jesus would be first in our decisions and questions; that Jesus would be first in our trials and troubles; that Jesus would be on our hearts and minds; that we fall further in love with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you remember when you first fell in love with your spouse? You were young and didn’t have the responsibilities you have now. The thought of your love consumed every facet of your life, your thoughts, and your time. Everything you did was based on or rooted in her or him. You would think and dream about your love every moment of the day. She had the preeminence in your life. Is it possible that Jesus Christ, our Saviour, our knight in shining armor who saved us, Jesus who commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us, that he might have the preeminence in our life. In these first seven verses of this epistle Paul mentions his Savior four times. That is four our of seven. The bible says “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” (2 Corinthians 3:2)  How many times is Christ mentioned in your epistle. How would we score love of Christ? How many times would our heart declare the Lord Jesus Christ. “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

What an amazing person like Paul, and Luke, and John; that God would use to write these epistles. We say the bible is complete. We say it is canonized. It cannot be added unto. Yet let it be know that God is still writing epistles for all of man to read. There are many that will never pick up a bible and read it; but they’re reading you and me from cover to cover. What do the first seven verses of our epistle read? Paul’s was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Before we go further, some people say that Christianity should come naturally. They say an apple tree makes apples; and that if there’s no fruit, then there must be no root. There is nothing wrong with that. There’s a lot of truth to that. But apple trees don’t grown on their own. They must be nurtured, pruned, watered, protected, fed, and waited upon. Simply said, you’ve got to try. And this goes for anything; but most importantly for Jesus Christ to have the preeminence in your life, you have got to try and work at it. There is so much out there in this life competing to get your attention, but only one deserves it. When all this is said and done, we’ll find out that He is really all that mattered.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.

To know Paul is to know that this statement is not about him. It is not meant to describe himself, but to glorify Jesus Christ. He’s not saying, “Look at me, the humble servant” But rather, “Place your eyes upon my Master, Jesus Christ.”  This is a whole message or book in itself, Jesus Christ, the Master. This is a term we are wholly unfamiliar with. The days of people ownership are long over in this country. We no longer have indentured servants or slavery, thus we have no masters. All employment is for the most part voluntary. So the senses of the world master or the word servant have been lost in this day and age.

Allow a few things. The master owns the servant.  What a strange statement that is indeed. This is repugnant to us. “Nobody owns me! I’m free! This is America!” We are programmed to hate servanthood. However, there is a beauty there for us to experience. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…” (1 Cor 1:27) To be owned by somebody is of course repugnant. To be thought of as cattle is offensive.

However, look at the affection a dog gives his master. They say a dog is man’s best friend. A dog wouldn’t have it any other way. A dog loves his master. He runs to him as soon as he comes home. He’s excited to see him. He jumps up and down in joy. He licks his face. He can’t wait to be pet, to be scratched, and to be talked to. I remember, at one time, we had these two dogs, Fifi and Mo. Every morning they’d greet me. It didn’t matter if they were up all night chasing skunks and racoons. It didn’t matter. They’d drag themselves out from underneath the house, half asleep, dragging along, but they’d come out every morning. A dog will protect hismaster even to the death. A dog is a faithful friend. What’s amazing is I don’t feel worthy of the affection of a dog. He a dog. He’s a filthy mutt. He’s disgusting. But I’m not worthy of the affection of such an animal. He’s a servant that wants and needs a master to serve and love. To me, he’s just a mutt, a mangy old mutt, a filthy flea-bag that I really don’t want to touch me; but that poor little dog wants to be loved and wants to love his master. He’ll do flips for his master and wait on his every word. There’s thousands and thousands of stray dogs out there that need a master. We don’t want these filthy animals around. We had another one just the day. “Don’t feed him! Don’t acknowledge him!”

Jesus, the master, is not like that. We have a master that loves us and feeds us and leads us. He’ll take us for a walk. He’ll give us attention. He’ll protect us. He’ll bind our wounds. Jesus is a wonderful master. We have a master that worth doing flips for. We have a master that’s worth getting excited about; that’s worth leaping for joy. We have a master that is worth getting up every morning to greet. We have a master that’s worth loving. We are the mangy mutts. We are the filthy beast with rona. But our master is not repulsed by us. No, he’s moved to compassion. He has run to help us.

What a master we have! What a wonderful Saviour we have. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) What a master! My Master went all the way up to Calvary. He let wicked men drive nails through his hands and feet for me. He let them jamb a crown of thorns on his head for me. He did it all for me. That’s my master. I belong to him.

Paul, a servant of Christ, bought and paid for by Jesus himself. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18,19) It is not PAUL, a servant of Christ. It is Paul, a servant of CHRIST. Jesus Christ.

Called and Separated

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God…”

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

 

Cowboys and Separation. The world is on a mad rush to hell. This world is on a stamped to hell; like “horses rushing to battle.” The Holy Spirit is heaven’s cowboy. He’ll take ou off that path and put you on the gospel path; a path in which the foundation is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; a path whose end is a celestial city made by the hands of God. It may be long. It may be rough. But there’s comfort and joy knowing that it is the path that Jesus has set for me. It’s a path of purpose. It’s a path that Jesus put me on, a path he leads me on, and a path that he as at the end of. I’m separated to a path that’s all about him. In fact, it is him. Jesus said I am the way.