The Gospel of God Was God's Plan All Along
Thinking about Romans 1:2.
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, (Romans 1:1-2)
Over the next several verses in Romans, Paul will introduce different aspects of the gospel of God.
What he emphasizes about the gospel in Romans 1:2 is 1) God is the source of the gospel, 2) the promises of the gospel occurred long ago, and 3) God communicated the gospel through His prophets’ writings.
God is the source of the gospel.
The gospel is the story of God’s love for sinful humankind and His righteous hatred of sin. We cannot pick and choose between these two - both are true.
God so hated sin that He gave His only begotten Son, or, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. These two sentences are stating identical truths. They cannot be separated in our minds without distorting the nature of the Godhead.” - Barnhouse, Romans Vol. 1, 25-26
Humanity sinned and brought about the consequences of sin (Genesis 3:16-19). The gospel is that God provided the sacrificial Lamb to bear our sin so that “we might become the righteousness of God in Him [the Lamb]" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Paul tells the Christians in Rome that he was not the source of the gospel he proclaimed - God was the source of the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).
The promises of the gospel occurred long ago.
The gospel was not a last-second change of plans by God. It wasn’t some “Plan B” message. The gospel had been what God was promising all along.
Later on, Paul stood before King Agrippa and proclaimed that he taught precisely what Moses and the prophets said would happen.
Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." (Acts 26:22-23)
As we will study later in Romans, Paul's proclamation of the gospel was closely connected to Abraham and God’s promises to him (Romans 4:1-25).
This is an essential point in the book of Romans - especially when we consider that many Jews thought Paul had lost his mind and was blaspheming God with the gospel message (Acts 22:22-23).
God communicated the gospel through His prophets’ writings.
The Holy Spirit moved the prophets as they wrote God’s Word, meaning God guided the entire process.
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19-21)
The words in the Old and New Testaments are the words of God (2 Timothy 3:16). The gospel did not originate with humanity - it originated with God.
Sometimes the prophets didn’t even understand what they had written. They would carefully study what they had written after being “moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:10-12)
Sometimes, God even told the prophets that what they had written wasn’t for them to understand.
Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these things?" And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:8-9)
As Jesus taught the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection - the prophets taught that Christ would suffer and enter His glory.
Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
The mind of mankind did not produce the gospel of Christ - the gospel is from God.
The gospel was not a change of plans for God - it was what He always planned to do.
As the Old Testament was being written, God was weaving together His promises that pointed to Jesus Christ.
As we grow in our understanding of the gospel and seek to live out what we learn - let’s remember that we are learning about God’s plan from the foundation of the world. We are getting a glimpse into the mind and nature of God Himself. And in turn, we will also receive an honest assessment of ourselves.