Romans 1:8 – 13

 ⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you- ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

            Before Paul jumps head first into the content of his letter, he wants to thank God for the church in Rome.  Look who Paul thanks and how.  Paul thanks God, meaning God the Father.  Notice that Paul uses the possessive “my,” showing us his intimate relationship with God.  Paul doesn’t refer to God as “a God” or “the God,” but as “my God.”  Paul, remember from verse 1, is a slave of Jesus Christ.  Paul is owned by God, and this term “my” is indicative of Paul’s ownership. 

            But he prays to God the Father through Jesus Christ.  We approach God through the work of Jesus.  Remember, He is our mediator.  Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2 that, ⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.  The writer to the Hebrews also refers to Jesus as our mediator, stating ¹⁵Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.  The American Heritage Dictionary defines mediator as “one that reconciles differences between disputants.” This is what Jesus did on the cross; he reconciled God’s differences with man, and now through the man Jesus we can approach God with our prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving.  Jesus is the way in which God reached out to us, and the way in which we now can approach God.  Paul gives thanks to God for the Roman Christians through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.