First of All, Here is Who I am and Here is Who God Is
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
Look at how Paul describes himself. This whole beginning part is Paul knowing who He is in relation to Jesus, and then expressing with confidence exactly who Jesus is. He’s about to dive into some pretty serious stuff in writing the book of Romans. It’s appropriate that he not only identifies himself but that he identifies the Lord from the beginning.
You may have seen devout Catholic people make a sign of the cross before they do something. You see it at sporting events and sometimes as a joke in movies. That person is basically reminding themselves of who they are and what their identity in the Lord is (as well as praying!). I’m not saying that we should start making the sign of the cross before the things we do, but there is something good about identifying yourself before you undertake something big.
Lutheran Pastor Deitrich Bonhoeffer made the sign of the cross before writing letters, preparing for dangerous conversations, etc. near the end of his life. Police announce that they are police before they enter a dark house. Speakers introduce themselves to audiences if the emcee didn’t do it already.
Jesus Christ announced Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit through the prophets and even King David.
There is something about knowing who we are and who God is before we get into something. If you have a first step, make it acknowledgment of the Lord.
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