³ … concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, ⁴ who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Messiah is the name Jews gave to this promised one. He is referred to in the New Testament as the Son of God. He was certainly fully human, as our passage asserts, “according to the flesh.” He was of the Jewish race, and in particular, a direct descendant of King David, the celebrated monarch who brought the people of Israel into prominence in the ancient world. First of the Davidic dynasty, King David embodied the picture of a man who was fully committed to God (despite his personal failings). He was the one with whom all successive kings were compared. While Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation (Gen 12:1-3), the father of nations (Rom 4:17), and the father of faith (Rom 4:11), in that through him and his faith came all the Jewish people, and Moses was the lawgiver who brought structure to Abraham’s descendants, turning them into a nation, David was the glorious king, the one of whom God said, “he is a man after My heart” (1 Sam 13:14, Acts 13:22). Jesus is specifically identified as this David’s descendant, a qualification required of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1).

But that is not all. He was not only a human being with a lofty heritage. At the outset of this treatise, the apostle Paul presents the primary credential of Jesus Christ, namely that He is the Son of God, a status and relationship He had before He became human (see Romans 8:3). Not only did the Father declare this on a number of occasions (Ps 2:7, Matt 3:17, 17:5), but this relationship was proved at His resurrection from the dead. Some have suggested this is what Psalm 2:7 (“You are My Son, today I have begotten You”) pointed toward, the installation, as it were, of the Son upon His resurrection and ascension to the throne of God. Whereas He was always the Son in spirit, He later became the Son as the God-man. Always the Son, but now also the incarnate Son.

Scripture teaches that through faith we are all children of God (see Galatians 3:29, Romans 8:19, etc.). But His Sonship is unique; He is the “only begotten from the Father” (John 1:14), “the” Son of God; He is in a separate class as the divine Son of God. He is Lord.

The Gospel is all about this Jesus, the descendant of David, the Son of God who was raised from the dead who is Christ the Lord. This is not a religious philosophy or system of behavior. Whatever else we say about the Gospel of God, it is the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, I center my life on You. Nothing else matters if I get this truth wrong.