The Identity of Jesus Christ – Romans 1:3

Romans 1:3 … concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,

People have all kinds of opinions about the identity of Jesus Christ. Even anti-Christian people have views acknowledging Jesus as a prophet, an enlightened master, a guru or a wise man. But Paul here gets straight to the point and tells us that:

1. Jesus is God’s Son. This does not mean that God had sex with Mary, the mother of Jesus, as some muslims suppose Christians believe, to produce an offspring. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. It means that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and has a relationship with God the Father of beloved Son to Father. It means that Jesus is the heir of all things. It is not about human sonship.

2. Jesus’ human lineage was through David. As I understand it, Luke’s genealogy of Jesus traces the ancestry of Mary, the mother of Jesus, back to King David and beyond, whereas Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus traces the line of Joseph back to King David. Joseph was only the adoptive father of Jesus, not the physical father. But through Joseph’s line, Jesus happened to be on the kingly line of David. Of course, this was God’s plan. Mary and her father were also descendants of King David.

3. Jesus Christ is OUR LORD. The true Christian can always say that Jesus Christ is his or her LORD. When we are in the Kingdom of God, the King of the Kingdom, Jesus, is our Lord. Beware of any Christianity that wants to take Jesus as something less than Lord in your life. You cannot receive salvation if you don’t want to belong to Jesus, if you want to hold fast to the rebellious principle of turning to your own ways, and following the imagination of your own heart. God has always been totally opposed to this principle.