He (the Father) raised Him (Christ) from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come- Ephesians 1:20-21 NASB

I am currently going through the book of Romans with a friend who I have a discipling relationship with.  Romans was her pick. When she picked it, I sighed inwardly but I did not have the heart to tell her it’s basically my least favorite book in the New Testament.  She was just way too excited for me to lay a heavy load of negativity on her.

So, I kept my thoughts to myself.

 It’s not the content or theology of Romans I take issue with. To the contrary, the content and the theology of Romans is some of the most profound in all the Bible. It’s Paul’s writing style that annoys me. Romans is what I call a “winding story”.  The apostle takes the long and meandering road to make the vast majority of his points. Furthermore, Paul routinely uses a hundred words when (in my opinion) fifty would more than do.  I simply prefer a more concise and tidy writing style. 

It’s just how I roll. 

However. I’m coming around to the book of Romans, mostly because it hit me kind of outa the blue that the whole book is basically just the “why” of Jesus. I do love to know the why of everything and the “why” of Jesus is, without question the most important “why” ever. There are ultimately five really good reasons why ALL people everywhere need Jesus. 

It all begins with the reality that:

All people are terrible- 

We just are. Humanity’s collective terribleness is the overarching theme of Romans 1:18-3:31. Humans love to sin because rebellion is a part of our human DNA. Jews and gentiles are both awful. The gentiles were/are terrible apart from the law (Romans 1:18-32) and the Jews were/are equally as terrible (in different ways) with the law as their guide and teacher (Romans 2:17-29). Paul sums it up neatly in Romans 3:11-18 where he quotes a bunch of Old Testament passages that tells us that no one is righteous and all people are at the core of who they are—really awful.  Humanity’s universal wickedness means that even our best efforts to do good are often self-serving and inevitably fall miserably short (Isaiah 65:6).  It’s a lot of bad news and it’s all still true in 2024.  

No one can stop being terrible without Jesus-

We just can’t.  But God knows we are prideful and self-willed so we would try. He gave the Hebrew people the Old Testament law with its system of sacrifices and rules to show us that none of us can be truly “good” in our own power.  The law was insufficient because it could not make anyone truly good or righteous (Romans 2:23, Hebrews 7:18-19). The problem wasn’t with the law. The problem was with people. A person could obey all the law and still have an evil unbelieving heart bent toward sin and evil (Matthew 5:17-48, Jeremiah 1:9, Proverbs 26:11). A better plan was needed. Jesus was that better plan. Jesus came to earth to die on the cross to become a once-for-all sacrifice, not just for the Jewish people but for all people (Hebrews 10:10, Romans 1:16-17). Jesus took on the sin of humanity so the problem of the sin could be dealt with once for all (Romans 8:3, Hebrews 9:26). He took the punishment we deserve. In doing so, the relationship between God and humanity could be restored to what it was before sin entered the world (Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 2). 

Jesus brings hope-

He just does.  Jesus was both God and man. He was born of a virgin woman because the seed of sin came through Adam (Romans 5:12). Because Jesus is God, He was able to live a sinless life. A perfect sinless sacrifice was what was needed to satisfy God’s warranted anger at mankind’s sin and rebellion (Romans 1:18). We also needed a way to actually be better. Jesus is the way. When we place our faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection God no longer sees our sin and terribleness (Colossians 1:21-22). Instead, God sees the goodness and righteousness of Jesus. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God (Psalm 32:1, Acts 10:43, Romans 4:7-8, Colossians 1:13-14). 

Jesus not only makes us righteous in God’s eyes He also makes us far less terrible from a practical perspective- 

Jesus not only died for our sins, He also lived a perfect, sinless life to teach us how to live a life that pleases God. When we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are no longer slaves to our sinful tendencies and desires (Romans 6:6, 2nd Corinthians 5:17, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11). We are set free to do what is right (Romans 6:16-17). Romans 12:1-21 gives us the road map for loosening the bonds of our sinful nature and being transformed into the image of Jesus. When we do what Romans twelve tells us to do we become what the apostle Peter called “partakers of the divine nature” (2nd Peter 1:4-10). When we choose to live a life of repentance and obedience we literally become like the God we serve.

And finally: 

Jesus gives people the ultimate purpose and hope for a better future. The book of Romans promises all of God’s people the joy of present usefulness, no matter their present situation (Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 15:14, Romans 15:17, Romans 12:6, 1st Corinthians 12:27-13:13). When we give our lives to Jesus He empowers with gifts that enable us to do His will in this world. As a result, we become change agents who bring light, life and truth to a lost and dying world. On top of all of that we get to spend all of eternity with the God of the universe (John 3:16, Romans 6:23).

And, that’s the why of Jesus.