Jesus Christ, writes Paul, is of the “seed” or lineage or family of King David. In Romans 1:3 the fact that Jesus is the Son of David is critical to his argument. Paul is telling the Roman believers that Jesus Christ is both Son of Man and Son of God. Christ is listed in both genealogies of Matthew (1:1-17) and Luke (3:23-38) as the culmination of the line of David, with Luke going past David to Adam. Thus, what the gospel writers did in following Jesus’ lineage back to David and beyond, Paul summarizes here in Romans 1:3. Jesus is a real Man physically (i.e. “according to the flesh”-v.3). Further, Jesus is the Son of God as well. This reality is testified to by the resurrection. How did the resurrection “declare” the Sonship of Jesus? Because death was conquered when Jesus arose from the dead. His rising was a demonstration of the power of God via the work of the Holy Spirit as His Agent for bringing Jesus back from the dead. This historical event demonstrates that the Father was pleased with the Son’s sacrifice.
Therefore, when we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to include the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The gospel is the power of God (Romans 1:16). The message of the cross and resurrection is His instrument for the conversion of sinners to Himself. This is the declaration of the power that God exerted that wonderful day when the body of Jesus, which was in the tomb of a rich man (Mt. 27:57-61; cf. Isaiah 53:9), came back to life and exited the tomb. The death of Jesus was a defeat of sin and a satisfaction of the death penalty upon sinners instituted by God during the days of creation (see Genesis 2:16-17). The resurrection of Jesus was the defeat of death itself and the triumph of life, eternal life, over death. This event of the resurrection is so magnificent and so stupendous that it deserves repetitive attention. Thus, we meet to worship God and edify His saints on Sunday as a commemoration of this declaration of God over death.
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