Greek letters normally began by naming the sender, and then the recipients. But Paul is so focused on the gospel that, before he names the readers, he blurts out the gospel! In effect, he puts his message at the top, before he even gets to the Dear so-and-so line.
"3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,"
God’s message is “concerning his Son.” It is about the Son of God; the promises found in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, “who was descended from David according to the flesh”. Paul connects the gospel to the Old Testament past to appeal to his Jewish readers and remind the Gentile readers of their Jewish roots.
But the gospel does not stop with Jesus. It also includes us: “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name” (verse 5). He says that “we” have not only received grace, but also apostleship. Paul is reminding the new believers of their commission to "feed His sheep"; to take the gospel to all peoples. They have received the grace of spreading the gospel.
Paul is so excited about Jesus that he can't help but share! Like Peter and John in Acts 4:
"But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."
And then, finally, after he has shared the gospel, he addresses those to whom he is writing:
"To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:"
I pray that I may be so excited by the gospel that it is foremost on my lips!
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