GOD OVER ALL, BLESSED FOREVER

Paul is here describing the unique role of Israel in God’s purpose for the salvation of mankind. Having listed several of Israel’s distinctive glories, the greatest of them all is announced as this, that from her came the Messiah, Jesus Christ, according to the flesh. That, in itself, would be a superlative matter, but Paul is not finished. There is emphasis on the comment ‘as concerning the flesh’, suggesting that Paul has more to say. In fact, Messiah is not simply of Israel’s flesh and blood, but He is ‘over all, God blessed for ever’, RV. These statements represent the high water mark of the distinctive and divine privileges conferred by grace on the nation, and indicate two things:

1. Messiah is Lord over all.

2. Messiah is Himself God.

There has been some debate amongst translators as to how exactly the verse should be rendered, and some versions would render it in such a way as to avoid the assertion of the deity of Christ. We believe that this is a serious mistake and that the KJV and RV fairly represent the force of the original.

It is noteworthy that Paul’s presentation of the deity of Christ is paralleled by Romans 1. 3-4, ‘of the seed of David according to the flesh; … declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead’. The advent of the divine Messiah, who is ‘over all’, stirs the heart of Paul to worship as he adds ‘Amen’. Messiah’s coming is seen as the crowning blessing that suitably embraces all others in this progression of privileges. He personified the ideal Israel, Exod. 4. 22; in Him all the promises of God are ‘yea and … Amen’, 2 Cor. 1. 20; in Him shone a glory that eclipsed even the Shekinah, John 1. 14.

The record of Israel’s privileges, culminating in the advent of a Messiah who is divine, serves to emphasize the following: the tragedy of present Jewish unbelief, the depth of Paul’s sorrow on their behalf, and the continuing fact of their election (‘Romans’, C. E. B. Cranfield). For our part, let us learn from Israel that we dare not rest in spiritual privilege alone: only faith in the God of all grace will suffice.