OUR RESCUE FROM WRETCHEDNESS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

Romans 7:24-25

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Can you remember when you were growing up and your parents caught you doing something wrong?

I know I can. It was never a great feeling to have to stand before them without a defense and know I let them down. They worked so hard to try and instill the right values in me and I know it was disappointing for them, with more than a healthy dose of frustration when it appeared I had just decided to not honor their guidance and choose to do what I knew wasn’t right.

How do I know how they must have felt?

Because I later became a parent myself and went through the emotions on the parental side as my own children repeated the mistakes of my childhood past.

Yes, it’s never pleasant to stand before anyone because of wrongdoing, knowing you have failed them in some way. It’s a place filled with shame, a place of wretchedness.

From a spiritual perspective, this place of wretchedness is all too familiar for every single person who has ever lived. This is because every person stands before God, the almighty Father of all, as a sinful miscreant, guilty of violating His expectations and standards for right and righteous living. God cares for every single person He has ever created in a special way. No one on earth loves as He does and He never lets anyone down.

We on the other hand...well, we’re not quite as faithful are we?

If we’re honest with ourselves, we fail miserably when it comes to being the people God wants us to be.

What makes this truth even worse is that we disobey a God who hates disobedience, so much so that He can destroy any person who willingly sins with little to no effort. In other words, people every day knowingly place themselves in a place of sure peril with the threat of God’s judgment looming.

As we look at the closing verses of Romans 7, we see Paul speaking for himself and the position he once held as a sinner without a Savior. Look again at his words here:

“So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” v. 25

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” v. 24a

Paul knew he was a sinner who had fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). In fact, he knew he was enslaved by his transgressions, held captive so firmly that he was left to ponder who could possibly rescue him from the sure death and destruction awaiting him from God’s judgment. Surely no person on earth could help defend him against the Lord of heaven and earth. Paul knew only a miracle could rescue him from wretchedness and God, the great Initiator of miracles, the great Deliverer of His people, did just that.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

This single verse from the Gospel of John provided the answer to Paul’s question as to who would provide the rescue he (and all other sinners) needed from wretchedness. It’s why Paul could go on and say this in the latter part of verse 24:

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Indeed, God did not wish for us to perish in our wretchedness so He sent His Son to die for us. A sinless Jesus, the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God, atoned for the iniquities of all mankind by bearing the sins of the world on Calvary’s cross. And just like that, God delivered any sinner who believed in Jesus as Savior into everlasting life, justifying them through His Son.

In the 118th Psalm, the psalmist writes this in the 24th verse:

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

For all Christians, each day is another opportunity to rejoice and give thanks because God didn’t wish for us to perish in our wretchedness. Rather, He provided us an opportunity for deliverance through His Son Jesus. Let’s all follow Paul’s lead and be glad and thankful for this.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com