Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study 12 of Romans, chapter 1, and we are continuing to read Romans 1:3-4:

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

In our last study, we were looking at the word translated as “firstbegotten” or “firstborn.” We started by looking at Psalm 2:7:

I will declare the decree: JEHOVAH hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

That verse was quoted in Hebrews 1:6:

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

So God is the author of the Bible and He made this statement declaring that He had brought the firstbegotten into the world, and this is the reason why we can find verses that do speak of Jesus before He went to the cross and before He had come into the world and where He is called the Son of God, according to Psalm 2:7; and according to Hebrews 1:5 where it said, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee;” and according to our verse here in Romans, chapter 1. Let me read this verse again. It is referring to Jesus, and it says in Romans 1:4:

And declared to be the Son of God with power…

Now let us go the last part of the verse, where it says in Romans 1:4:

… by the resurrection from the dead:

That is, He was declared to be the Son of God by or through or via “the resurrection from the dead.” When we read Colossians, we saw exactly what God has in mind, as we read Colossians 1:13, and the last word in verse 13 is “Son,” as God was speaking of His dear Son. Then we read in verse 15 that the Son was the firstborn of every creature or the firstborn of all creation. Then God said in Colossians 1:16:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…

And this matches with Hebrews 1:2 where it said the Son created the worlds. So it is not just that we can find verses that refer to Jesus as “the Son of God” in just the Gospel accounts and before He went to the cross (after he entered into the world through the Virgin birth), but we can find verses here in Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 that refer to Jesus as the Son of God before this world was created.

Now that is very important and highly significant and it has to do with this whole question we are asking, and that question is this: At what point did Jesus become the Son of God?

The Bible says in Romans 1:4 that He was declared to be the Son by the resurrection from the dead. Then we also saw in Colossians 1:17-18 where it says He was before all things. And, again, it is referring to the Son. And it goes on to say in Colossians 1:17-18:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…

That is our word again. It is translated as “firstborn,” Strong’s #4416 in the concordance, and remember it is a compound word that literally means “before born” or “first born.” Again, it says in Colossians 1:18:

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The word “preeminence” comes from another Greek word that means “pro-tos,” where we get our word “prototype.” For example, a prototype car is the very first car off the assembly line. It is the very first, and that is the point God is making. Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead; that in all he might have the preeminence.” That goes along with everything else we read about Him being the firstborn of all creation. Nothing is before Him. That is the “preeminence” that is in view.

And He is “firstborn from the dead,” and now we are getting further information and further clarification regarding how it is that Jesus came to be called “the Son of God.” He is Almighty, everlasting God – He has always been. God the Father has always been God. God the Holy Spirit has always been God. God was always One God and, yet, three Persons.

And, yet, something happened in eternity past wherein Jesus took upon Himself the name or title of “Son,” and God took upon Himself the name or title of “Father.” What was it? Well, the thing that took place had to have been a “resurrection from the dead.” Jesus was the firstborn from the dead and, again, that fits perfectly with Romans 1:4: “declared to be the Son…by the resurrection from the dead.”

And, by the way, we know this happened in eternity past because of what we read in Revelation 13:8:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

We wonder at that! Of course, no one could possibly understand that statement in previous history, until our time, the time of the end. God kept it hidden; it was hidden within the Scriptures until the time of the end. And we have learned just how important this doctrine is because it impacts some other things regarding God’s end time program.

So we cannot deny this fact, and it has to be taken into consideration. We know Jesus is the Lamb of God. We know He is the One in view and the One who was “slain” from the foundation of the world. It identifies with being killed, and if you are slain, you are dead. So this is incredible Biblical information. It was a tremendous mystery that God touched upon here: Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Then we have these other verses. He is the firstborn from the dead, and Colossians 1 places a heavy emphasis on “the Son” being before all. He is before everything in all creation, and the foundation of the world would be before all creation, would it not?

For anyone listening, if you are holding on to the idea that Christ paid for sin in 33 A. D., please set aside your preconceived notion for just a minute. Look at Colossians 1 and look at Hebrews 1:2 where it says that the Son created world. And you have to admit that it is referring to Jesus as the Son before the world was, and Romans 1 tells us that He was declared to be the Son by or via the resurrection from the dead. Revelation 13:8 is further telling us that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and to be slain means to have died. You see, it all fits together. That is the curious thing.

We read this in Revelation 1:5:

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead…

That would be the same as saying the “firstborn” in Colossians 1:18 and the “firstbegotten” in Hebrews 1:6. Jesus is the first begotten of the dead. That is the second time God has said it, first in Colossians 1:18 and now here in Revelation 1:5. This is confirmation that when God speaks of Jesus as the “first begotten” or the “firstborn,” He is referring to His first begotten Son, He is referring to Jesus being “firstborn” in a very special way, and that has to do with the fact that He had died and came to life again.

It must be that understanding. If Christ had died and not returned to life, then He would not be “born.” To be born has to do with existence. It has to do with living. So Christ died and came to life again. Furthermore, these statements tell us it could not possibly have been referring to 33 A. D. because He was already the Son. Let us go back to Hebrews 1.

And, yes, I am going to read it again. For me, it sometimes takes many readings of a verse, and I am sure that is true of many of you, too. You read it, and read it. You think about it and pray about it, but maybe you do not get it. But I really hope, and it is my desire that there could be someone out there that has not understood this, but maybe you will get it (understanding) this time. That is our prayer and hope.

But, again, it says in Hebrews 1:5:

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee…

Now we understand that when God is speaking to Jesus with the reference to “begetting” Him, it has to be with begetting from the dead.

Then it goes on to say in Hebrews 1:5-6:

And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

He did not bring “Jesus” into the world or “the Word” into the world, or some other names or titles that could have been used here, but He brought in “the firstbegotten from the dead” into the world. And He brought Him into the world when Christ entered into the womb of the Virgin Mary and spent nine months there, and then He was born. Then He lived His time on earth to the time of His ministry, and then He went to the cross, died and resurrected in 33 A. D. But long before that, He had already been the “firstbegotten from the dead.” And that is what cannot be explained by anyone still holding to the idea that this pertains to Jesus dying and resurrecting on the cross as we read about in the Gospel accounts, and which took place in “time” in 33 A. D.

No – that cannot be. He was already the Son. He was already the “firstbegotten from the dead” when the Father brought Him into the world.

More than that, we know from the Bible that there had been many individuals that had died and resurrected. For example, Moses was someone who died and was buried and, yet, God resurrected Moses. Moses was on the mount of Transfiguration with Elijah, speaking with Jesus before Christ went to the cross. Therefore, that took place before Christ died on the cross and resurrected that Sunday morning in 33 A. D. And, yet, there was Moses, who had died and been resurrected, so how could Jesus be the “firstbegotten from the dead” when Moses had already done so?

You know, this is something that Satan was arguing with God about, as he disputed about the body of Moses. You can read about that in the Epistle of Jude, where the devil was disputing with Michael the Archangel (another name for Jesus), and the dispute had to do with Moses’ body. When we factor in all the information the Bible gives us, it certainly must have had to do with the resurrection of Moses’ body. So maybe the accuser of the brethren was somehow accusing God: “Now, look, you have made these statements that Jesus was the first and Christ has the preeminence, so if Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, how can Moses be resurrected prior to Christ going to the cross?”

So that is “problem number two,” and, believe me, the problems will continue to mount when you have a wrong doctrine and erroneous teaching, and this idea that Christ paid for sins at the cross is definitely a problem that will lead to other difficulties and other errors in understanding other parts of the Bibles.

But, again, we see that Jesus died at the foundation of the world, as it flatly declares in Revelation 13:8, and He was declared to be the Son when He died and resurrected at that point in eternity past, and then He created the world as the Son of God. There is harmony with Hebrews 1:2. There is harmony with Colossians 1 and all the statements therein. He does have the preeminence – He is the firstborn of all creation. Also, He died and resurrected before the world began, so God can do whatever He wants regarding Moses, and so forth. Moses was not first because Christ had already experienced death and resurrection before the world was. Harmony.

We must correctly divide the Word of truth, by God’s grace and through His Spirit leading and guiding us as we compare Scripture with Scripture, and then the Holy Ghost teaches us that there is a major problem if Jesus did not die at the foundation of the world because there would be no “blood” available to cover sin. There was no death of the Testator which would activate the will and the inheritance. So you would have additional errors if you are holding onto 33 A. D. How did Abel become saved? How did Noah become saved? How did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph and all the Old Testament saints become saved? How did the people of Nineveh become saved, which was apparently a large number? You cannot just say, “Well, they were saved by the grace of God. They were saved by the promise that was given “in principle,” as the theologians say. They say that Jesus is only the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in principle because before the world was God had determined that Jesus would go the cross in 33 A. D., and since God cannot lie, therefore, in principle Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It is all principle. There is no basis in reality. It was all based on some future hope that the blood would be shed, but that cannot be, because we read in Hebrews 9:15-17:

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

For example, what if I said this? “My rich uncle has named me in his will, and he is going to leave me a million dollars, so I am going to find a million-dollar home and I am going to buy it. And when it comes time to make the payment to settle the purchase, I am going to say that I am named in my rich uncle’s will. Here, I will show you. I am going to receive a million dollars.” They are going to be pretty rude to you, and they are going to say, “What? You do not have any money now? You do not have any funds available now?” And I reply, “No – but it is certain. It is guaranteed in the future.” But that will not be good enough and I have nothing to pay them with, so the deal would fall through, and there is no way I am getting the house.

So God is saying that it requires the real and genuine death of the testator before the will can be enforced or activated. There must be death first of the one who is bequeathing the inheritance to those that will receive it. And, again, if Jesus did not die (for sin) until 33 A. D., then how could He bequeath anything to the Old Testament saints for the 11,000 years of history prior to when He would die on the cross?

We also read here in this same passage in Hebrews 9, in Hebrews 9:20-22:

Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood…

Now notice that it does not say “all things,” but it says, “almost all things,” because God is perfectly accurate. And remember that the Gospel can forgive all manner of iniquity and sins by which man has blasphemed God, except for the sin of blaspheming the Holy Ghost. So there is an exception, and we will not get into what that means in this study. So God does not say here that the blood covers all things, but “almost all things. Again, it says in Hebrews 9:22:

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

The Greek word translated as “remission” can also be translated as “forgiveness.” So without the shedding of blood is no forgiveness. Now just try to apply the idea that theologians have devised out of their own minds, as they say, “Well, in principle, Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; that is, in principle, He shed His blood.” But is that what God is saying here in Hebrews 9:22? No – He is not saying that. It has nothing to do with something done “in principle.” It is something that must be done. Without it, there is no forgiveness of sin! You see, this would mean that no one in the Old Testament could have truly become saved (had their sins forgiven), until Christ had actually shed His blood in 33 A. D. If He did not shed His blood for sin until 33 A. D., after 11,000 years of history had already passed, then there could be no forgiveness of sin until after that point.

But, once again, if He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, then there is no problem. The blood was available for Abel and everyone else right away.