Romans 1:4 Commentary and Bible Study

When Christ was born into the world, he had to largely lay aside his divinity and his visible power. He had to do that because he had to be as a man with human weakness; not a human sinful nature, but with human weaknesses, made in the likeness of sinful flesh. So he had to be in a frail body which could know pain and exhaustion and suffering. He had to earn heaven as the representative man, pure and holy. No matter how much temptation the devil and his hosts hurled at him, no matter what wicked men did to him, he had to maintain perfect holiness. It had to demonstrate no sin, but only pure and godly thoughts and goodwill in order to be our Redeemer. There had to be a man who was perfect to earn heaven for all of us. So he had to lay aside his glory. The Greek word translated ‘declared’ means something like demonstrated, appointed, proved ‘to be the Son of God with power.’ He was the Son of God, and he was proved to be the Son of God, the one of infinite power and glory, by the resurrection. It was demonstrated. In what way? First of all the resurrection clearly marked him as the Son of God with power. To be resurrected, to rise from the dead, he had to have the power of God: power over death, and the power to give himself life. When you see the Son of Man, Christ, on earth, you see snatches of his glory. It showed itself whenever he worked a mighty miracle, but for the most part ,while he was on earth, his power as the Son of God was hidden. They tried again and again to assassinate him, but he would exert his power to avoid assassination. He did it not to protect himself from suffering, but so that they could not do it before the appointed day. He would die on Calvary's cross and the Father would lay on him the sins of all who would be saved and he would be punished in their place. So to preserve himself for Calvary, you read that sometimes he would just pass through the middle of a mob and walk away, and somehow they couldn't touch him. There were these demonstrations of his power when the chief priests, and the scribes and the Pharisees, and the temple officers came to arrest him in the garden with their clubs and their swords. Though he was unarmed, as they advanced upon him, with one word from him they all fell to the ground. After that he didn't exhibit his power anymore, but allowed himself to be arrested and taken in apparent weakness so that he could be crucified and slain. But why was there that last little demonstration of power in which all the armed men fell to the ground? Because it was telling us that he could so easily have averted it. The power was there to deliver him if he wanted, but he hadn’t come to earth to do that. He was on earth to go to Calvary's cross for us. So he had the power, but it was hidden. But once he had died for our sin, once he had accomplished salvation for us, once by his power he rose from the dead, then it was different. Now is the day of his power. It begins from the resurrection, and it is now obvious that he is no longer limited with human weakness. Now his power can be demonstrated. The resurrection marked the successful completion of his entire redemptive work. It was his Father’s seal of approval on what he had accomplished. He was the Son of God possessed with power; he always had been the Son of God. But that power had been hidden and the resurrection showed us that he could break the bands of death, that Calvary had succeeded and that he was the Son of the infallible God with power. It shows that now he has earned the kingship of all creation and of the redeemed of God. The wonderful deed has been accomplished, and now it can be declared.