May 16
7
Deliverance For the Wretched
Chris Cunningham
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:24-25)
Paul answers his own question, and what a question! One all believers have asked themselves time and again. This is precisely the mourning our Lord spoke of when He said inMatthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Paul is mourning his own wretchedness, and he is comforted in the realization that through Jesus Christ our Lord, he is and shall be delivered.
This is what David prophesied of in Psalm 102:19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death. Paul is the groaning prisoner here, bound and held captive by his sinful flesh, appointed to the body of this death, and the Lord Jesus hears such from on high and has compassion. He provides Paul with the answer to his groan, which answer, He Himself is.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to every question worth asking. Philosophers and so-called wise men have always asked questions like the following:
What is the origin of man? The answer? The Lord Jesus Christ. John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
What is the end of man? The answer? The Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What is the purpose of man? The answer? The Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
What is the hope of man? This is essentially what Paul asked in our text. The answer? The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul thanks God that through our Lord Jesus Christ, there is deliverance from the body of this death, deliverance for the soul.
God cannot (will not) save a sinner except through Christ. There is no righteousness for the sinner apart from Christ. There is no payment for sin, no sin-offering God will accept but Christ. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. There is no other hope of deliverance, but thank God, we need no other. “It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.”