By Rev.Tim Pauls
The Road of Life “Beloved, you have often heard that God allows the form and experience of death, sins and devil to remain in us so that sins gnaw at me, grab me in the conscience and want to drown me in doubt. For instance, the law of God frightens me so that death also grips me and wants to shake me and the devil puts his foot on my throat and wants to drown me. For God allows the outer sinful appearance to remain and takes nothing away.This mask must remain. And here, under these masks, lies life, innocence and lordship over death, sins and the devil as He Himself says.‘Upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’” —Martin Luther
H I G H E R
T H I N G S __ 26
I. Romans 6:1–7 The road was getting darker and colder, the sun a smudge in the sky.The concrete city walls closed in at times as if trying to choke my path. But there was only one way to go, and so I trudged. Maddening. In fact, I could feel the frustration welling up into anger as I passed another of the endless alleys.
I heard a throat clear in the shadows. My shoulders slumped. It was no use running. I wanted to scream. One by one, they stepped out of the darkness, a circle around me.“Adam,” I said to the leader.“You’re looking old as ever.” A shove from behind sent me almost to my knees.“You may call me Adam the First,” he sneered. “All you ever do is walk down this stinking road. But no matter how far you go, you never get anywhere. How far back did you leave us? And yet, suddenly you get angry and here we are again.” His posse snickered, then there was silence. I was in for a beating.“Well, let’s get this over with,” I said.There were always wages to be paid. “It doesn’t have to be this way, you know,” Adam cooed.“You used to run with us. It was fun. We had a good time. But it’s not like that anymore.You got washed, and now we only meet like this.” His voice turned persuasive.“Tell you what. Why don’t you join up with us again and head back down the alley? Then we can avoid all the unpleasantness.” It was tempting, but I shook my head.“Sorry. I don’t do that anymore. It’s against the Law.” “The Law,” Adam repeated. He looked annoyed, talking to the child who never listened.“Don’t you know that your beloved Law spurs us on? It’s what makes us so fun! If we weren’t illegal, we couldn’t hurt you the way we do.” He shrugged.“Have it your way.” His eyes glanced behind me, and he nodded. It came, quick and sharp and blinding. It was only one blow, but enough to send me to the ground, gasping for air. I’d felt it before, but it still hurt. “Man, oh, man.” Adam was standing over me, his boot on my back to make sure I couldn’t rise.“You should know better.You’ve got your faith in some promise that you’ve been delivered, but I’m betting my boot feels a lot more real. We’re still more powerful than you. We own you, man.”
