Who Will Rescue Me?

Oh what a “wretched man” I am! Those are the words of Paul expressing the frustration of the person who has bought into the lie of sin that, “I’m a good person.”

This is a life of trying to meet a high standard and falling short every single time.  This is answering an altar call for the 1,000th time for the same sin and feeling condemned that you can’t get over it. It is a life of justifying our actions and shortcomings by comparing ourselves to others. This is the pain of knowing the wounded person you truly are on the inside hides behind the facade of self righteousness. It is trying to do enough good to make up for all the bad and somehow balance it on the right side of the scale. This is a religious life lived underneath the law never feeling secure.

Paul then asks, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) 

Let those words hit hard.  

There was a form of punishment that the Romans employed where they would take the body of a murdered individual and bind that dead body to the murderer. The punishment was designed so that the death and decay of the dead would transfer onto the body of the living. It was a death sentence at the hands of death itself. 

That is the picture I have in my mind when I read those words of Paul. Every single one of us came into this life, bound up to a body of death. No one is born good.  We come into this world carrying that dead flesh that robs us of life. However, there comes a moment when we realize that no amount of self-help or self-discipline can rescue us from the body of death. We need a Savior to come to our rescue.

Paul then tells us who that savior is, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (vs 25).

We don’t fully grasp the power the Gospel. Jesus does more than rescue us from the dead man. He gives us His life. He takes our sins and unrighteousness and gives us His righteousness. I’m not good, Jesus is good and He gives me His goodness. And in a reversal of that picture, Jesus carries the body of this dead man (which is me) and instead of my sins destroying Him, His life comes on me.  

If you find yourself in that place of tripping over the dead man, look to the one who lives. Let your eyes be focused fully on Jesus. He is the one who rescues us – and oh what a great salvation that is! Far more than we realize.  

This Sunday we are going deeper. We are diving into the truth of salvation. I can’t with to see you there!

Immeasurably More, 

Pastor

PS: This weekend is Graduation Sunday. We will be honoring our high school and college graduates. Sign up here to get more details on all the events happening in May for your graduate!