Looking out over the ocean you become aware of the changing face of the waters, from rolling waves to quiet ripples. But you do not see beneath the surface. Beneath the surface is a world almost unto itself. There are undersea mountains, shipwrecks and a vast array of living things that do not resemble life on earth's surface. We are something like the sea, as well. Our outer person presents one impression of our identity, but there is much beneath the surface. The undersea world can only be viewed by using special equipment to breathe and illuminate those depths. Our "under-surface" world can only be seen with the illumination of God's Word and the breath of God's Spirit. This morning, as I considered Romans, Chapter 7 I came face to face with one of the unpleasant features of my "under-surface" nature. It turns out that we all carry an unwelcome resident in the "undersea portion" of our lives. The Bible calls this "Sin". God gave us many laws to clearly map out how we ought to live and even His chosen people could not keep those laws because of this phenomena within. We know that it almost has a force unto itself because, as Paul says in Romans 7:15 and 16, sometimes we do things that not only do we not understand, but that are in direct opposition to what we want to do, and in fact are things that we "hate" doing. It is as though some aspect of our lives is not under our control. I suppose that is exactly the problem...we need help to reign in a maverick piece of our identity that lies beneath the surface that is beyond our personal power to understand or control. Paul said that that we have a split personality, with minds that want to serve God and sin-natures that want to haul us in the opposite direction. This is why we need a force greater than ourselves, or any human agent. I suspect that Romans, Chapter 8 will provide some answers tomorrow!
Romans 7:24 Wretched man that I am? Who will set me free from the body of this death?
blessings, (with hope for tomorrow)
Rob Smith
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