A VIEW TOWARD THE HORIZON

Romans 1:3b-4

...who as to his human nature was a descendant of David and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.





The resurrection did not make Jesus the Son of God -- it revealed His identity and proved His claims. John 8:23, Jesus speaking, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world." Therefore Jesus was 100% God, but He was also 100% man ("who as to His human nature was a descendant [seed or sperm, KJV] of David").
The next part of our passage today contains the word "declared" which comes from the Greek word "horizo", and is the source of our English word "horizon". I find it a little easier to understand this passage when it is written this way: "...who through the Spirit of holiness was horizoned out to be with power, the Son of God..."
A few years ago I took my wife Sherry and daughter Amanda with me to a business conference in Washington DC. After the conclusion of the conference, the three of us spent several days sight-seeing. On one particular day Amanda was having trouble with our present location in relationship to where we had been and where we were going. So we took an elevator to the rooftop of a nearby building to gain a better perspective. As I pointed out the various landmarks, Amanda's eyes widened as she understood -- we looked behind us to see where we had been -- then out to the horizon for our next destination.
I think that is a big part of what Paul is explaining to us in our passage today -- if we look at Jesus with His resurrection on the horizon we gain a heavenly perspective. It is a lot easier to understand the prophecies of the Old Testament (Romans 1:2), His life while on this earth (His humanity), and ultimately the power in His resurrection (His proof of divinity).





Sometimes we all get lost in the day to day business of living. Once in awhile, when we lose our sense of direction, we need to climb above all the problems, stress and activity to gain a heavenly view -- toward where we are going. It sure makes what might happen today a lot less important if looked at from an eternal point of view. Have you been guilty of losing your perspective? I know I have from time to time. What will it take to get you back on the right path, to clear your head, and clarify your direction and purpose?

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