“Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord…”
¨ This is a remarkable passage, by which we are taught that the whole gospel is included in Christ, so that if any removes on step from Christ, he withdraws himself from the gospel. For since He is the living and express image of the Father, it is no wonder, that He alone is set before us as one to whom our whole faith is to be directed and in whom it is to center… We hence learn, that he who has made a due proficiency in the knowledge of Christ, has acquired everything which can be learned from the gospel; and, on the other hand, that they who seek to be wise without Christ, are not only foolish, but even completely insane. John Calvin
¨ Paul confesses Jesus to be God’s Son. He means that the Savior was God’s Son entirely apart from and antecedently to His assumption of the human nature. Exactly how it was possible for the completely intact and glorious divine nature of the Savior to dwell in intimate union with His human nature, the latter burdened with the load of our guilt and all the unspeakable agonies this condition implied, surpasses human comprehension. William Hendriksen
¨ [This shows] the excellency of the gospel, that it does not treat of vulgar and ordinary matters as of the gods of the Gentiles, of the actions of [mere men]; but of the Son of God Himself. Matthew Poole
¨ [Jesus] is the sum and substance of the Gospel: He is here described by His relation to God, His Son, of the same nature with Him, equal to Him, and distinct from Him; by His usual names, "Jesus Christ", the one signifying a "Savior", the other "anointed", and both, that He was anointed of God to be the Savior of His people; and by His dominion over the saints our Lord, not merely by creation, but by redemption and grace, and happy is the person that can claim interest in Him, as is here done. John Gill
¨ Christ is called the Son of God because He is consubstantial with the Father, and therefore equal to Him in power and glory. The term expresses the relation of the second to the first person in the Trinity, as it exists from eternity. It is therefore, as applied to Christ, not a term of office, nor expressive of any relation assumed in time. He was and is the Eternal Son. Charles Hodge
“[…] which was made of the seed of David…”
¨ Two things must be found in Christ, in order that we may obtain salvation in Him, even divinity and humanity. His divinity possesses power, righteousness, life, which by His humanity are conveyed to us. Hence the Apostle has expressly mentioned both in the summary he gives of the gospel, that Christ was manifested in the flesh – and that in it He declared Himself to be the Son of God… That he specially notices the descent and lineage of Christ from His ancestor David, is not superfluous; for by this he calls back our attention to the promise, that we may not doubt but that He is the very person who had been formerly promised. So well known was the promise made to David, that it appears to have been a common thing among the Jews to call the Messiah the Son of David. This then – that Christ did spring from David – was said for the purpose of confirming our faith. John Calvin
¨ Had He not been a descendant of David He could not have been the Messiah, for prophecy concerning Him must be fulfilled. William Hendriksen
¨ Christ – as the seed of David and the Son of God – the grand burden of the Gospel. [This] was the predicted Messianic line, Jesus of Nazareth behooved to come of it, if He was to have any just claim to be ‘the Christ of God…’ The apostles were at pains to bring this claim of Jesus… to be their predicted Messiah under the notice of their countrymen, in their earliest dealings with them (Acts.
¨ […] in regard of His divine subsistence, he was begotten and not made; in regard of His manhood, He was made and not begotten. When he says the Son of God was made, &c., it is undeniably implied, that He did exist before His incarnation, and was the Son of God before He was the Son of man. This place proves clearly these two truths: 1. That in the person of Jesus Christ there are two natures. 2. That there is betwixt these a communication of properties; here the Son of God is said to be made of the seed of David; and elsewhere the Son of man is said to have come down from heaven (Jn. 3:13). Matthew Poole
“[…] according to the flesh.”
¨ […] he adds this, that we may understand that He had something more excellent than flesh, which He brought from heaven, and did not take from David, even that which he afterwards mentions, the glory of the divine nature. Paul does further by these words not only declare that Christ had real flesh, but he also distinguishes His human from His divine nature… John Calvin
¨ […] not by transmutation of Him into flesh, but by an assumption of human nature into union with His divine person…, [this] supposes that He had another nature, otherwise there would have been no need of this limiting and restrictive clause. John Gill
¨ The limitation…, according to the flesh, obviously implies the superhuman character of Jesus Christ. Were He a mere man, it had been enough to say that He was of the seed of David; but as He is more than man, it was necessary to limit His descent from David to His human nature. Charles Hodge
Personal Summary:
What a beautiful picture we are being drawn in the beginning of this epistle. After having presented us with his qualifications to the office of Apostle and having set an example for us to have a servantile devotion to our Lord, he then joined the concerns of the Old and the New together in unity; now he begins to show us the fulfillment of what he had previously mentioned. The Old and the New are joined together by the Gospels and Christ Himself is the glorious essence found therein. What a beautiful time we live in that the types and shadows are removed and we see the true hope we have in Jesus Christ! Philip Doddridge says, “I would take every opportunity of promoting in your minds, and my own, the highest regard to this blessed and evangelical dispensation with which God has favored us; relating chiefly to His only begotten and beloved Son Jesus Christ, our great anointed Savior, our ever honored Master and Lord…"
Christ is here being well qualified as the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, the Savior of God’s elect; both truly man and truly God as was necessary for our salvation. Charles Hodge spends quite some time discussing the Sonship of Christ in his commentary on this verse; if you have access to that I would recommend you read it. We must spend time in our lives meditating on who Christ is, who the Bible claims He is, and why that is or is not important to us. If we’re only able to recognize that salvation comes through Christ we do a good thing; if we recognize why that is and what He accomplished to bring that blessed truth to bear then we do better. (If you are interested in diving a little deeper into the study of His Sonship then I will provide this link to a study on Ps. 2:7 where it was thoroughly discussed http://dannystudyofpsalms.blogspot.com/2010/07/psalms-27.html.)
I was listening to a sermon by Herman Hoeksema one time and he said, “The beauty of salvation is not that we are forgiven our sins primarily, as important as that is, the beauty lies ultimately in Christ restoring us to communion with the Father.” The Gospel message shows us this truth, we find intimate union with our Triune God and the beauty that leads us to this reality is found in Christ Himself. To contemplate who Christ is and what He has done for His people could overwhelm a pious mind, it is beyond unfathomable that He would bear so much pain for our sakes! But oh the tender heart that our Savior displays towards His Father and towards His people. He gave his life for a bunch of wretched undeserving sinners at great cost to Him and at zero cost to us. If you have marveled at the Gospels then marvel at Christ who is the very foundation, the essence, the beauty, the hope, the life everlasting that we find therein. Without Christ being truly God and truly man, without Christ being the very focus of that good news we would have nothing more than a vain mythology just as the wicked accuse us. But, if true, and we know by faith and the clear testimony of Scripture, which appeals to sanctified reason, that He was and is the Eternal Son, then we have a certain unshakable hope that we have been saved and that we will be glorified with our God in heaven for eternity. What a blessing it is to serve our Lord! To imagine the gospel apart form Christ is to abandon Christianity altogether, to descend into the abyss of insanity, it is to relinquish our salvation entirely. To abandon the two natures of Christ is to equally descend into those pits of insanity and any exercise of religion at that point would be the fruitless exercise of false religion. Christ is our everything and without Him there is no hope; only justifiable condemnation. Because of Christ we are true children of the true God and we may come running with all our cares and desires before Him crying, Abba Father!
With convicted hearts may we behave towards our Lord even as Matthew Henry describes Paul, he says, “Observe, when Paul mentions Christ, how he heaps up His name and titles, His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, as one that took a pleasure in speaking of Him; and having mentioned Him, he cannot go on in his discourse without some expression of love and honor…” Overwhelmed by His love may we embrace Him in our hearts and share Him with the world as men that take pleasure in speaking of Him and as those compelled to give some expression of love and honor. Praise be to our Lord and Savior!
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