Romans 1:1-7 What’s in a Name?

Romans 1:1-7 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised in advance through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. 3This gospel is about his Son—who in the flesh was born a descendant of David, 4who in the spirit of holiness was declared to be God’s powerful Son by his resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ, our Lord. 5Through him we received grace and the call to be an apostle on behalf of his name, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, 6including you, who were called by Jesus Christ.

7To all those loved by God who are in Rome, called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What's in a Name?

I.

There has always been something interesting about names. Certain surnames, or last names, came to be because someone worked in a certain profession, or came from a certain town. Some of them express parentage like Lars-son, Hermans-son, or Stephens-son.

More recently a trend has developed around hyphenated last names. When a couple gets married, often the wife doesn’t want to lose her last name entirely, so hyphenates her last name and her husband’s last name together. Children of the couple often have the hyphenated last name.

More interesting to me are the first names. I’ve been running into more and more of them that are unique. Sometimes parents spell a first name with a different letter in the mix than is usually seen. Sometimes there’s an ethnic component to the name—if you are familiar with the ethnic background, you can completely understand how the first name was chosen. But then there are others. They are like the hyphenated last names, but there’s no hyphen—two or more first names seem to have been mashed together to get a completely new and unique name.

What’s in a name? It’s a way to identify a person. When I was in grade school there were several Steves and several Tims and several Marks in every classroom. Teachers had to differentiate between them by including the first initial of their last names when they wanted to call on one particular student. Sometimes it might have been nice for the Tims and the Marks and the Steves to have more unique names.

Are you in the “pick an unusual name to make it distinct” camp, or in the “pick a name that has some history” either in the family, or just a well-used name within society? My children were doomed to always have to spell their last name, so we tended to give them first names that could be easily spelled when they were asked to state their name.

II.

Mary and Joseph didn’t have to agonize over what to name their child. In the Gospel for today you heard the angel give Joseph exact instructions about what to name Mary’s child: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21, EHV).

That name, Jesus, had an historical significance. You remember the leader of God’s people who came after Moses: Joshua, which means: “The Lord saves.” Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua.”

What’s in a name? In the case of Jesus, born to Mary, everything. “The Lord saves” describes exactly what he came to do. He was the One God promised.

Sometimes Christians get the mistaken impression that the Old Testament is nothing but law, and the New Testament is all gospel. Not true. The first explicit gospel message is found in the curse God pronounced on Satan shortly after the first sin. God said: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel” (Genesis 3:15, EHV).

“Seed” can be translated “offspring” or “descendants,” as well. At first God’s curse looks like it refers to all Eve’s offspring—every human being, and all Satan’s offspring—unbelievers. But God says “He will crush your head.” God is referring to One particular seed. That One particular seed was the promise of the coming Savior.

Over and over God’s promise was repeated to his people. They needed to hear the gospel message that something would be done about their sin. Sin demands a life as payment—each sin demands a life. The cost was simply to high for any human being to make it him/herself.

In today’s Second Reading, Paul calls this: “The gospel of God, 2which he promised in advance through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (Romans 1:1-2, EHV). The gospel never really changed, it just became more clear. Paul—and all New Testament preachers—have the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promises.

III.

“This gospel is about his Son—who in the flesh was born a descendant of David” (Romans 1:3, EHV). In one verse Paul talks about the two natures of Christ. Jesus is both fully and completely human, and fully and completely God, something we confess in our creeds each week. “About his Son” indicates that Jesus is God’s Son, with God from the very beginning, as the Christmas Gospel will proclaim in a few days.

The same passage speaks about Jesus’ human nature. Most translations read about the same as the EHV: “Who in the flesh was born a descendant of David.” A very literal translation would read: “Having come out of the seed of David according to the flesh.” There’s that word “seed,” just like in the first gospel promise in Genesis. The gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth remind us of the humility in which he came. He was born among the animals in the little town of Bethlehem to fulfill God’s promise about the coming Seed.

Jesus came, giving up some of his divine power. He took on the weaknesses and limitations of a human being. He took on himself every aspect of humanity except one—sin; Jesus was completely sin-free.

What’s in a Name? The Name Jesus reminds us that “The Lord saves” his people. A mere human being could not take away the sinfulness of the whole world. But God does not experience the human existence. “The Lord Saves” was—and is—both God and man. He experienced human existence, yet paid the penalty of every sin ever committed by human beings.

“In the spirit of holiness [he] was declared to be God’s powerful Son by his resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ, our Lord” (Romans 1:4, EHV). Jesus came in a state of humiliation to make the payment required for our sins. But when it was all finished, Jesus began his state of exaltation and took back the full use of his power as God.

What’s in a Name? In the case of Jesus, everything. He remains both God and man. Jesus rose as the obedient One who completed salvation for all mankind of the cross. He has been exalted even according to his human nature.

IV.

“Jesus Christ.” The words are used together so much that we might begin to think it’s a hyphenated name. Or perhaps we think of that as a first and last name combo. “Jesus” identifies his purpose: “The Lord saves.” “Christ” identifies his official position, or title. Christ is the same as Messiah; it means “Anointed One.” Jesus was installed by God to do the work of salvation he completed for you and me.

Paul opens his letter: “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1, EHV). At the end of this opening section of his letter, Paul says: “You, who were called by Jesus Christ. 7To all those loved by God who are in Rome, called to be saints” (Romans 1:6-7, EHV). While Paul mentioned specifically the recipients of his letter, those who were living in Rome, it applies those called to be saints, set apart by God, in all places, times, and cultures. You and I are set apart for Christ.

What does being set apart mean? It means that we become dedicated to Christ. The name “Christian” means that we bear his Name. Christians are dedicated to do everything we can to spread the message of the manger—and the message of the cross. Jesus won salvation for all.

“Saints” are those who have been set apart, those who have been “made holy.” Jesus death on the cross gave Jesus’ holiness to us—holiness to call our own. Paul says: “Through him we received grace and the call to be an apostle on behalf of his name, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles” (Romans 1:5, EHV). You and I, just like Paul, received the grace of God—the undeserved love of God—for a purpose. Each of us is to spread Christianity by our actions, words, and attitudes.

V.

What’s in a Name? “The Lord saves.” That’s what the Name “Jesus” means. Because of that Name, we have received God’s undeserved love. Time after time Old Testament Israel showed that they didn’t deserve to be called God’s people. They disobeyed again and again.

We are no different. Each of us disobeys God again and again. We don’t deserve his love. But God continues to show us his love; he continues to call us his own. Paul would say it very explicitly later in his letter: “While we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6, EHV).

God planned our salvation so completely that there is nothing left for us to do. And so, Paul concludes: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7, EHV).

God’s undeserved love is ours. That brings us peace. Not the kind of peace the world clamors for all the time, but peace between us and God; peace that comes from knowing that God, in his grace, sent Jesus.

What’s in a Name? “Jesus.” “The Lord saves.” That’s the One God sent for us at Christmas: the One who came to save us from our sins.

What’s in a name? “Saints.” You and I were called to be saints; called to be set apart by God for his grace. Thanks be to God! We have been given the name: Christian. Wear the name of Christ proudly as you celebrate his birth. Amen.