Romans 1:1-5 – …the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.
In writing his longest and deepest book of the Bible, Paul starts with Jesus. As obvious as this might seem, it really is the secret of his success.
If we want our lives to experience the blessing of God’s anointing, we need to devote ourselves to the service of Jesus Christ as our first priority. Too often, we seek to be successful, focus our time and energy on the fame of our name, and then wonder why God does not show up in power to make our dreams come true. God does not want to serve our vision; God wants us to serve His vision. God does not want to bless us for doing what we want, but God does want to bless us for doing what He wants.
Think of it in terms of a parent and child. Any child who ignores their parent, makes plans that their parent disagrees with, and then demands that their parent obey them should not be surprised when the parent reminds them who the parent in the relationship is. In our relationship with God, we are the child and the Father is the parent.
God’s plan and priority is that everyone everywhere hear about the good news of Jesus Christ. People have a lot of problems, but their first and biggest problem is sin which separates them from God. Our first priority must be to introduce people to Jesus Christ so that He can fix their biggest problem and then help them with all their other problems.
Practically, this means that we should start everything with Jesus Christ. We should start our day by meeting with Jesus Christ. We should start our marriage by devoting it to Jesus Christ. We should start our budget by giving first to Jesus Christ. We should begin our parenting by dedicating our children to Jesus Christ. We should start our friendships by praying for people through Jesus Christ.
Is there any area of your life that does not have Jesus Christ as your first priority?
To find the free Romans study guide for individuals and small groups, hear Pastor Mark’s entire sermon series on Romans, or find a free mountain of Bible teaching visit realfaith.com or download the realfaith app.