Body of Death

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There is nothing more gruesome nor offensive to our human sensibilities than looking at a dead human body. Death is something that is against the natural order. We fight it. We rush to the emergency room to avoid it. We mourn when someone close to us dies. We really don't even like to think about dying, much less talk about it. Yet, death is all around us and permeates our news media, entertainment, and discussions.

Dead bodies are bad enough, but executed bodies are even worse. They remind us that sin has a wage to be paid. A capitol crime brings about a capitol punishment. It's no surprise that the Romans were particularly good at the horrors of execution. Murder brings with it the feeling of atrocity. It is built into who we are to hate that someone's life has been taken in cold blood. So, the Romans came up with a way to get revenge by use of the dead person's body. Here's how it worked in horrific detail:

The murderer was bound hand and foot, face to face, body to body and then thrown into the heat of the Mediterranean sun. As the corpse decayed, it ate death into the living man as he stared into the eyes of the decaying man who got his vengeance as the murdered body quite literally became a body of death. (Romans, John Phillips)

This vivid description is not from some twisted horror story. It is the cry of the Apostle Paul when he was living his life on the fence. He was not not a lost man, nor a spiritual man. He was living a life that is called "carnaility." He had one foot in sin, and the other knowing how he should be living:

But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. (Romans 7:23 HCSB)

Then, he got to the end of himself, couldn't keep living that way anymore, and and cried out...

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? (Romans 7:24 HCSB)

(For more on living in victorious joy...SEE "No You May Not." Excerpt: "We now know that Christ empowers us to live life joyfully and without guilt.")

That is the wretchedness of the carnal believer. Think about it, you have been there. You have mixed your allegiances as well. There have been times that you yielded parts of your body which were intended by God to be used for His kingdom and His glory, and used those incredible gifts as weapons against your Savior. It should tear you apart inside. If not, it could be that you don't have a relationship with the Savior. Today could be your day of salvation. You can know what it's like to have a relationship with Him that offers grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, and freedom from such heart wrenching torment. Thanks be to Jesus who always gives us victory! (Romans 7:25)

Pastor Trey Rhodes

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