An Ancient Message

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son

Having briefly introduced himself as a servant of Christ and a called apostle, Paul now turns to the main theme of this letter - the gospel of God.

In this opening greeting, he makes two very important statements about the gospel of God.

First, he states that the gospel was promised in the past through the Biblical prophets.

The Christian gospel is not something novel or totally new. On the contrary, it was promised centuries earlier by the prophets whose words are recorded in what Christians now call the Old Testament.

These prophets were given revelation and insight by God into this gospel that was to be fully revealed in the coming of God’s Son.

The promise of the gospel (or good news) is found everywhere in the prophetic writings. Isaiah predicted the coming of a “servant�? who would bring salvation and would be called Prince of Peace. The psalms describe the ministry of an “anointed one�? who would suffer and die for his people. Daniel saw the growth of God’s kingdom, ruled over by “one like a Son of Man�? who received the worship of the nations.

There are literally hundreds of promises concerning the coming of salvation and foretelling the gospel in the Old Testament.

The gospel is the fulfilment of Jewish hopes. It is the message predicted by the prophets.