Creative Idea :: Romans 7

“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?”–Romans 7:24This is one of my favorite passages in Scripture. A few years ago my ole’ roomy Geoff helped me out in a video version of verses 15-24. It was for a Seminary class. In it, to the sounds of Sarah Mclaughlin’s “Angel”, the talent walks dejectedly in the Dallas Trinity river floodplain with CG (character generator) cover from this passage. It’s black & white, very moody, and extremely effective. Sadly, I’ve rarely had chance to use it. Created as a Bible study opener, it just kinda poses the question/problem of Romans 7, but never wraps it up. Its a GREAT piece, if I do say so myself.If you would like to download the video, called “No Condemnation”, visit the site which shall not be named or here for a limited time.Point being. I used this clip at the beginning of my message on the passage, then talked through the passage, ending up in Romans 7:24. The Greek says, ‘who’ll deliver me from this body of death?’! In studying, I found that there are several references in literature and history of people, in the B.C. and Pauline days, chaining dead corpses face-to-face and hand-to-hand to live humans for torture, sport, and punishment. Eventually, the rotting carcass would begin to infect the live person with decay causing his death also.What an amazing picture of this body of death (the flesh) that we must live within!To illustrate, I carried chains throughout the sermon. And during the conclusion, I gently allowed them to clang as a reminder to those involved of the power we have (through our union with Christ) over this body of death.